34 Philo M. Buck, Jr. 



good financial match. Braggadocchio and Trompart duped Mal- 

 becco into trusting them and then robbed him. Burleigh was in a 

 similar way duped by the Alencon marriage treaty, not once but 

 repeatedly. At present, I have nothing better to offer in the way 

 of an explanation of these incidents. Certainly Spenser would 

 not wish to make the allegory too clear. 



In Cantos xi-xii Satyrane and Britomart proceed together 

 and save a young man from the giant Ollyphant. We seem to get 

 back again to the English and Dutch operations in the Nether- 

 lands.'*^ They separate and Britomart meets Sir Scudamovir who 

 is in great distress because the gentle Amoret, his mistress, is in 

 the power of Busyrane, the wicked magician. This again presents 

 some difficulties. For the present, I need only state that by 

 Scudamour, I understand the Earl of Essex who was kept from 

 winning Amoret, Elizabeth, by the wiles of Burleigh (Busyrane). 

 Britomart does not slay Busyrane, but binds him in chains, to 

 symbolize the destruction of Burleigh's power. The full story of 

 Scudamour is reserved for the Fourth Book.''^ It is possible 

 to regard Busyrane as Philip II, who early courted Elizabeth, and 

 the magical fire as the fire of the Inquisition. It needs only to be 

 added that Spenser may have borrowed his idea of the Masque 

 of Cupid from a Masque of Cupid performed before the Queen 

 at Norwich shortly after the affair at Kenil worth. 



^ The young man may be Henry of Navarre. 



" I did once hope that it was possible to see in this adventure the 

 marriage of Lady Penelope Devereaux to Lord Rich, that ended so un- 

 happily for her and for her true lover Sir Philip Sidney. Another possible 

 explanation of this incident may be seen on page 21. The satire on Lord 

 Burleigh may seem daring, and perhaps unjust ; but we must remember 

 that Elizabeth's chief minister was Leicester's chief rival, and that Leices- 

 ter was Spenser's hero. 



192 



