Incest and medieval imagination

310 Pages·2001·2.53 MB·english

by  Elizabeth Archibald

Incest and the Medieval Imagination
Incest and the
Medieval Imagination
ELIZABETH ARCHIBALD
CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD
3
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Acknowledgements
This book hasbeen a verylongtimein themaking, timeenough,
indeed,foramedievalfoundlingtogrowupandmarryhisunrecog-
nized mother. Myresearch into medieval attitudes to incest began
at Yale, where material I read for my Ph.D. dissertation on the
ApolloniusofTyretraditionfirstmademewonderaboutthepopu-
larityandusesoftheincestthemeinmedievalliterature.Icontinued
this work at King’s College Cambridge, and completed it at the
University of Victoria; I am grateful to both these institutions for
supporting my research through sabbatical leaves, and grants for
conference travel, computer equipment, and research assistants. I
have incurred so many other debts during my literary quest that
acknowledgement of everyindividualcontribution isimpossible. I
amverygratefultoallwhohavehelpedme,andespeciallytothefol-
lowingcolleaguesandfriendsforaskingquestions,supplyingrefer-
ences and texts, reading drafts, checking translations, and giving
encouragement:ChrisBaswell,JuliaBoffey,DanielleBohler,Laurel
Bowman, Keith Bradley, Patricia Clark, Victoria Cooper, David
Dumville, Elizabeth Edwards, Tony Edwards, Juliet Fleming, Rob
Foley,JaneGilbert,Paloma Gracia,PatrickGrant,DickHelmholz,
RalphHexter,AnneHiggins,IainHiggins,AmandaHopkins,Keith
Hopkins, David Hult, Sarah Kay, Michael Lapidge, Marilyn
Lawrence, Marianne Legault, Jill Mann, Randall Martin, Judith
Mitchell, Kathleen Morrison-Bell, Barbara Newman, Joan Noble,
PuriPazóTorres,AdPutter,MichaelReeve,NancyRegalado,Miri
Rubin,thelateandmuchmissedDadieRylands,JimSchultz,Leslie
Shumka,JohnTucker,DickUnger,andJoannaWaley-Cohen.Every
chapterwasreadandimprovedinanearlydraftbyagenerousfriend
who wishesto remain anonymousbecauseof our unresolvabledif-
ferences over punctuation. The anonymous reader for Oxford
UniversityPressmademanyhelpfulsuggestionsaboutalaterdraft,
asdidSimonGaunt,whoseadviceandsupportthroughoutthispro-
jecthavebeeninvaluable.
I have been fortunate in my research assistants in Victoria,
Tina Hamer, Catherine May, and Dorothy Rogers, who worked
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
enthusiastically at a series of arduous tasks including proofread-
ing, bibliography, and indexing, and also solved sometechnologic-
al problems. In Bristol Demelza Curnow did sterling work on the
index. The staff of various libraries, most notably the Cambridge
University Library and the Macpherson Library at the University
of Victoria, have been unfailingly courteous and helpful, as have
the staff of the English Department at Victoria. Kim Scott
Walwyn commissioned the book, and has remained enthusiastic
and encouraging during its long years of gestation. Sophie
Goldsworthy and Matthew Hollis have been patient and helpful
editors and Heather Watson a meticulous copy editor.
Part of Chapter 5appeared in a slightly different form in ‘Arthur
and Mordred: Variations on an Incest Theme’, in Arthurian
Literature 8, ed. Richard Barber (1989), 1–27. I am grateful to
Boydell & Brewer for permission to reuse this material.
The dedication expresses my greatest debt; I might not have writ-
ten this book had I not had the extraordinary good fortune to be
the pupil and friend of John Boswell. My classes with him, his own
work, and our wonderfully stimulating conversations over the fif-
teen years of our friendship were crucial in directing my ideas and
my research. Alas, he did not live to read the work that he inspired
in its present form—it would have been greatly improved had he
been able to do so—but nonetheless this is very much his book.
E.A.
Victoria
June 2000
Contents
Abbreviations xi
Conventions xii
A Note on Terminology xiii
Introduction: DANGEROUS PROPINQUITY 1
1. MEDIEVAL INCEST LAW—THEORY AND
PRACTICE 9
The Graeco-Roman Tradition 12
Other Evidence of Classical Attitudes to Incest 17
The Judaic, Biblical, and Patristic Tradition 21
The Development of Medieval Incest Laws 26
Observance of the Incest Rules in the Middle Ages 41
2. THE CLASSICAL LEGACY 53
Incest in Classical Myth, Legend, and Literature 54
Christian Approaches to Classical Incest Stories 66
Medieval Adaptations of Classical Incest Stories 70
Conclusion 101
3. MOTHERS AND SONS 104
Medieval Oedipuses: Judas, Gregorius, and
Their Literary Descendants 107
Romance Versions: Incest Averted 126
Mothers in Exempla: Deliberate Incest 133
4. FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS 145
Unconsummated Incest—The Flight from the
Incestuous Father 147
Consummated Incest 183
x CONTENTS
5. SIBLINGS AND OTHER RELATIVES 192
Siblings 193
Other Relatives 221
Conclusion 229
Conclusion: SEX, SIN, AND SALVATION 230
The Immaculate Exeption to the Rule 238
Appendix: Synopses of Flight from Incestuous Father
Stories 245
Bibliography 257
Index 283
Abbreviations
AASS Acta sanctorum, ed. J. Bollandus, revised by J. Carnandus, 69
vols. (Paris, 1863–1948)
CA John Gower, Confessio Amantis, ed. G. C. Macaulay as The
English Works of John Gower, 2vols., EETS 81–2(Oxford,
1900–1)
CFMA Classiques français du moyen âge
CT Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, The Riverside Chaucer,
ed. Larry D. Benson et al., 3rd edn. (Boston, Mass., 1987)
EETS os Early English Text Society (original series)
EETS es Early English Text Society (extra series)
EETS ss Early English Text Society (supplementary series)
HA Historia Apollonii regis Tyri
L-G Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-
Vulgate in Translation, ed. Norris. J. Lacy, 5vols. (New York,
1992–6)
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Hanover, 1828– )
LL Leges nationum germanicarum
OM Ovide Moralisé, ed. C. de Boer, Verhandelingen der
Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschapen te Amsterdam:
Afdeeling Letterkunde, 15, 21, 30, 36, 37, 43 (Amsterdam,
1915–38)
PL Patrologia cursus completus, series latina, ed. J.-P. Migne, 221
vols. (Paris, 1844–64)
PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association of
America
SATF Société des anciens textes français
TLF Textes littéraires français