La Geste Du Chevalier Au Cygne
La Geste Du Chevalier Au Cygne

Author: Berthault de Villebresmes

Publisher: University of Alabama Press

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9780817304638

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Berthault de Villbresmes, a prominent lawyer and adviser to Charles d'Orleans, completed this prose version of the first three branches of The Old French Crusade Cycle some time between 1465 and 1473. He undertook his "compendieuse translacion" of the Swan Knight story at the request of Charle's widow, Marie de Cleves. Daughter of Lamarck, Marie had a particular interest in this matter for the house of Cleves had claimed descent from Helias, the fabulous grandfather of Godfroy of Bouillon some time after the extinction of the house of Bouillon-Boulogne. It is tis particular interest that explains why Berthault's adaptation of the Old French epic matter stops short of the account of the Crusade proper even though the First Crusade continued at the time to be a powerful stimulus to the literary imagination.Berthault de Villebresmes's La Geste du Chevalier au Cygne will be especially welcome to all concerned with the recovery and study of late medieval literature and with the linguistic analysis of Middle French. The Old French Crusade Cycle consists of a series of nine volumes of epic poems that together form a cycle concerningnthe First Crusade and the legendary events associated with Godefori de Buillon. See index for a listing of the volumes published thus far in the series.

The Performance of Self
The Performance of Self

Author: Susan Crane

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2002-05-28

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9780812218060

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"Crane's consideration of 'court performances' of later fourteenth- and earlier fifteenth-century English and French literature and culture is both polished and erudite, written both deftly and with clarity throughout. A finely crafted and imaginative study."—Paul Strohm, University of Oxford

The Chanson d'Antioche
The Chanson d'Antioche

Author: Dr Carol Sweetenham

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2013-07-28

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 1409482758

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The Old-French Chanson d'Antioche has long intrigued historians and literary scholars. Unusually among epic poems, it follows closely a well documented historical event – the First Crusade – and appears to include substantial and genuine historical content. At one time it was believed to be based on an account by an eye-witness, 'Richard the Pilgrim'. Carol Sweetenham and Susan Edgington have combined forces to investigate such claims, and their findings are set out in a comprehensive introduction which, firstly, examines the textual history of the poem from its possible oral beginnings through several re-workings to its present form, achieved early in the thirteenth century. A second chapter assesses the Chanson's value as a source for the crusade, and a third considers its status as a literary text. A complete prose translation follows, the first in English and based on the definitive edition. The Chanson is revealed as a lively narrative, with tales of chivalry, villainy, and even episodes of humour. There are extensive footnotes to the translation, and an appendix provides supplementary material from a different manuscript tradition. There is also a cast list of heroes and villains with biographical information for the 'real' ones and literary analogues for the fictional characters. The Chanson d'Antioche can now be read for enjoyment, and for a whole new perspective on crusading in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The Chanson d'Antioche
The Chanson d'Antioche

Author: Carol Sweetenham

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-23

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 1317038762

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The Old-French Chanson d'Antioche has long intrigued historians and literary scholars. Unusually among epic poems, it follows closely a well documented historical event - the First Crusade - and appears to include substantial and genuine historical content. At one time it was believed to be based on an account by an eye-witness, 'Richard the Pilgrim'. Carol Sweetenham and Susan Edgington have combined forces to investigate such claims, and their findings are set out in a comprehensive introduction which, firstly, examines the textual history of the poem from its possible oral beginnings through several re-workings to its present form, achieved early in the thirteenth century. A second chapter assesses the Chanson's value as a source for the crusade, and a third considers its status as a literary text. A complete prose translation follows, the first in English and based on the definitive edition. The Chanson is revealed as a lively narrative, with tales of chivalry, villainy, and even episodes of humour. There are extensive footnotes to the translation, and an appendix provides supplementary material from a different manuscript tradition. There is also a cast list of heroes and villains with biographical information for the 'real' ones and literary analogues for the fictional characters. The Chanson d'Antioche can now be read for enjoyment, and for a whole new perspective on crusading in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Godefroi de Buillon
Godefroi de Buillon

Author: Jan Boyd Roberts

Publisher: University of Alabama Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 9780817308551

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Godefroi de Buillon is an edition of folios 1 through 60 of Paris, Biblioth?que Nationale, fonds fran?ais 781, a prose version of the Old French Crusade Cycle dating from the close of the 13th century. It includes the Beatrix version of the Naissance du Chevalier au Cygne, Le Chevalier au Cygne, Les Enfances Godefroi, La Chanson dÕAntioche, Les ChŽtifs, and La Chanson de JŽrusalem. It is of considerable interest for the history of French literature because it is apparently one of the earliest mises en prose, preceded perhaps only by Robert de BoronÕs prose Merlin. The author explicitly refers to his purpose: ÒlÕai commenchie sans rime pour lÕestore avoir plus abregiet et si me sanle que le rime est mout plaisans et mout bele mais mout est longue [I undertook it without rhyme to have it shorter, for it seems to me that rhyme is beautiful but very long]Ó (1:3-5). In fact, he has rendered the original verse into prose by two distinct methods. The Swan Knight branches of the Cycle are severely abbreviated. Collation with the verse texts is impossible; individual verses are only rarely identifiable. On the other hand, the more historically based branches are the product of an almost verse for line dŽrimage, more often than not by the simple elimination of the second hemistich, as well as the elimination of repetitive, descriptive, and affective passages.

The Chanson des Chétifs and Chanson de Jérusalem
The Chanson des Chétifs and Chanson de Jérusalem

Author: Carol Sweetenham

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-04-22

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1317038738

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The First Crusade was arguably one of the most significant events of the Middle Ages. It was the only event to generate its own epic cycle, the Old French Crusade Cycle. The central trilogy at the heart of the Cycle describes the Crusade from its beginnings to the climactic battle of Ascalon, comprising the Chanson d’Antioche, the Chanson des Chétifs and the Chanson de Jérusalem. This translation of the Chétifs and the Jérusalem accompanies and completes the translation of the Antioche and makes the trilogy available to English readers in its entirety for the first time. The value of the trilogy lies above all in the insight it gives us to medieval perceptions of the Crusade. The events are portrayed as part of a divine plan where even outcasts and captives can achieve salvation through Crusade. This in turn underlies the value of the Cycle as a recruiting and propaganda tool. The trilogy gives a window onto the chivalric preoccupations of thirteenth-century France, exploring concerns about status, heroism and defeat. It portrays the material realities of the era in vivid detail: the minutiae of combat, smoke-filled halls, feasts, prisons and more. And the two newly translated poems are highly entertaining as well, featuring a lubricious Saracen lady not in the first flush of youth, a dragon inhabited by a devil, marauding monkeys, miracles and much more. The historian will find little new about the Crusade itself, but abundant material on how it was perceived, portrayed and performed. The translation is accompanied by an introduction examining the origins of the two poems and their wider place in the cycle. It is supported by extensive footnotes, a comprehensive index of names and places and translations of the main variants.

Ofcc V8 Jerusalem Continuations
Ofcc V8 Jerusalem Continuations

Author: Peter R. Grillo

Publisher: University of Alabama Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 1064

ISBN-13: 9780817307615

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The eighth volume in the monumental series The Old French Crusade Cycle, The Jerusalem Continuations recounts the legendary and semi-historical events in the Holy Land after the death of Godfrey, leader of the First Crusade, and continuing up to the arrival of Salah ed-Din. Published in the original old French text, the project began in 1965 and will be completed with three forthcoming volumes. The series will put into one standard format the entire collection of text that tells the story of the First Crusade--texts that are dispersed among 11 manuscripts written during the 13th-15th centuries. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR