After six hundred years, it finally worked.

In 1417, Lord Lestrange was convicted of an assault upon another peer. One of those secondarily implicated was Lestrange's priest, John Awdley/Audelay. In 1426, Audelay, by now at least partially blind and deaf and seemingly sick, set out to redeem himself by writing a sort of manual of repentance. This manual now survives (with major defects, including an unknown but large number of pages at the beginning) as Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Douce 302.

For most of the next five hundred years, Audelay was all but forgotten. There is no indication that his amanuensis manuscript was ever copied, or that any of the pieces he wrote ever spread beyond its covers. But in the early twenty-first century, mostly due to the work of Susanna Fein, there has been an attempt to rehabilitate him. There has been a full (if slightly modernized) edition of his writings, Susanna Fein, John the Blind Audelay: Poems and Carols (Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 302), Medieval Institute Publications, 2009, and there was also published this book, dealing with issues about Audelay's life and writings. Collectively, they argue for the skill with which Audelay wrote his poetry and arranged his book and attempted to teach the way to a better life.

On the last two topics, I think the various authors have something of a point. Audelay did assemble his book with some skill (although he arguably ruined it by adding additional material at the end; possibly he lived longer than he expected and had afterthoughts). Audelay's exposition of how to live a good life was reasonably good theology by medieval Catholic standards.

But as a poet? There are a few good items in his collection, particularly among the carols; I genuinely like "Wolcom Yule":
Welcum, Yole, in good aray,
In worchip of the holeday!
Welcum be thou, Heven Kyng,
Welcum, iborn in hom mornyng
Welcum, to thee now wil we syng --
Welcum, Yole, forever and ay! [pp. 180-181 in the Fein edition]

That is,
Welcome, Yule, in good array,
In worship of the holiday.
Welcome be though, Heaven('s) King,
Welcome, born in one morning,
Welcome; to thee now will we sing --
Welcome, Yule, forever and ay!

But there is every reason to think that this is an existing carol that Audelay touched up a little; it is one of the few items in his book that occurs elsewhere -- in this case, in the wonderful anthology known as the Sloane Lyrics. Outside of the carols, he is not very original and not very easy to read. Despite all the attempts in this book to convince us that Audelay was worth studying, I suspect his works will remain confined in specialist anthologies. Which is still a better memorial than most people of his era have. ( )