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THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERATURE Medieval French literature encompasses 450 years of literary output in Old and Middle French, mostly produced in Northern France and England. These texts, including courtly lyrics, prose and verse romances, dits amoureux, and plays, proved hugely influential for other European literary traditions in the medieval period and beyond. This Companion offers a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to literature composed in medieval French from its beginnings in the ninth century until the Renaissance. The essays are grounded in detailed analysis of canonical texts and authors such as the Chanson de Roland, the Roman de la rose, Villon’s Testament, Chre´tien de Troyes, Machaut, Christine de Pizan and the Tristan romances. Featuring a chronology and suggestions for further reading, this is the ideal companion for students and scholars in other fields wishing to discover the riches of the French medieval tradition. is Professor of French at King’s College London. is a Professor of French at Princeton University. SIMON GAUNT SARAH KAY Both have published widely on French medieval literature, and are also co-editors of The Troubadours: an Introduction (Cambridge, 1999). THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERATURE E DI T E D BY SIMON GAUNT AND SARAH KAY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sa˜o Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521679756 # Cambridge University Press 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2008 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library ISBN ISBN 978-0-521-86175-5 hardback 978-0-521-67975-6 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. CONTENTS List of illustrations Notes on contributors Chronology page vii ix xii Introduction SIMON GAUNT AND SARAH KAY WHAT IS A MEDIEVAL FRENCH TEXT? PART I 1 21 The Old French Vulgate cycle 35 P E G G Y MC C R A C K E N 3 Le Roman de la rose 48 NOAH D. GUYNN 4 The Testament of Franc¸ois Villon ADRIAN ARMSTRONG PART II 5 WHAT IS A MEDIEVAL FRENCH AUTHOR? 63 77 Chre´tien de Troyes MATILDA TOMARYN BRUCKNER 6 19 The Chanson de Roland JANE GILBERT 2 1 79 The Chaˆtelain de Couci SIMON GAUNT 95 v CONTENTS 7 Guillaume de Machaut 109 DEBORAH MCGRADY 8 Christine de Pizan 123 MARILYNN DESMOND PART III WHAT IS THE VALUE OF GENRE FOR MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERATURE? 137 9 Narrative genres 139 KEITH BUSBY 10 Lyric poetry of the later Middle Ages 153 JANE H. M. TAYLOR 11 Genre, parody, and spectacle 167 SARAH KAY 12 Theatre and theatricality 181 HELEN SOLTERER PART IV HOW CAN WE READ MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERATURE HISTORICALLY? 195 13 Feudalism and kingship JAMES R. SIMPSON