Kirkrapine is the boyfriend of Corceca in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. He is a thief who has been funding Corceca and her daughter Abessa.
Once again, he represents the corruption in the Catholic Church, specifically how they perceived the Catholic Church as robbers of the people to benefit the clergy.
Kirkrapine attacks Una, but is promptly killed by the lion, a clear political statement as the lion represented the crown, which at this time was the head of the Church of England.
See our complete list of Arthurian characters for more entries like this one.
Arthurian Bibliography
- Norris Lacy, Geoffrey Ashe, Debra Mancoff – The Arthurian Handbook (Second Edition)
- Alan Lupack – The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend
- Ronan Coghlan – The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends
- Anonymous – Lancelot-Grail, the French Vulgate
- Sir Thomas Malory – Le Morte d’Arthur
See also my ever-expanding list of primary and secondary sources.
