The 2508-line poem tells the story of two friends, one of whom is punished by God with leprosy for engaging in a trial by ordeal after the other has been seduced and betrayed.

The poem is praised for the technical competency displayed in the stanzaic organization, though its quality as a chivalric romance has been debated.

The poem's plot revolves around two sworn friends, Amis and Amiloun, who are born to different parents in different parts of a kingdom but look identical.

Amis and Belisaunt get married and he succeeds the duke but Amiloun, now a leper, is driven out of the land by his wife.

"[5] Gibbs also notes that while Belisaunt is initially a "vivid and forceful" woman, she quickly turns into "a featureless upholder of the poem's morality.