Robert Grosseteste’s “Chasteu d’amur”: A text in context

225 Pages·2002·7.976 MB·English

by  Evelyn Anne Mackie

U M I
MICROFILMED 2002
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ROBERT GROSSETESTE’S CHASTEU D A’ MUR
A TEXT IN CONTEXT
by
Evelyn Anne Mackie
A Thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
the Centre for Medieval Studies
University of Toronto
Copyright by Evelyn Anne Mackie 2002
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Dissertation Abstract
"Robert Grosseteste’s Chasteu d’amur. A Text in Context" by Evelyn Anne Mackie,
• 2002.
A dissertation submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto.
This study of Le Chasteu d’amur, a thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman poem
by Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln 1235-1253, examines the intended and
actual audience for the text, and provides a new critical edition. Through
assessment of the manuscripts preserving the text, records of the text in medieval
library catalogues, and a review of book ownership and vernacular literacy in
Anglo-Norman culture, the study shows that readership included scholars, clergy,
religious, and lay men and women.
The text itself is demonstrated to be more closely allied to biblical
translation and commentary than to courtly literature. Discussion of newly
discovered sources for the castle allegory in the Apocalypse and contemporary
biblical commentary support this conclusion. Crossover between Grosseteste’s
Latin theological works and Le Chasteu is illustrated in the textual analysis and the
forts fbntium to the edition.
ii
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Acknowledgements
A dissertation is never written in isolation, and so I would like to
acknowledge those who have assisted me throughout this process:
the scholars whose works have become frequent companions and upon whose
work my own is built; my teachers at the Centre for Medieval Studies;
my committee, Ann Hutchison, Brian Merrilees, and Robert Taylor, whose input
has been invaluable; my supervisor, Joseph Goering, who has encouraged me at
every turn and whose patient direction has always improved my scholarship; and
finally, my family and friends, without whose love and support this journey would
never have been undertaken.
iii
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter One
The Physical Context: The Manuscripts 4
Chapter Two
The Cultural Context: Author, Audience, and
Contemporary Literate Culture 41
Chapter Three
The Text: Analysis, Content, and Sources 58
The Edition 85
Glossary 191
Appendix I
External Prologues 192
Appendix II
Textual Variations 198
Bibliography 207
Tables and Figures
Table 1.1 Medieval Library Catalogue Records pp. 39-40
Figure 1 Manuscript Stemma p. 88
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Introduction
The thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman text known as Le Chateau d’amour
has been variously viewed by scholars as "a compilation from various sources
hastily put together,"1 "a vernacular romance on the redemption,"2 and 'the fullest
expression of [Grosseteste’s] pastoral theology for a popular audience."3 While
these opinions are not necessarily mutually exclusive, they indicate significantly
different emphases in the assessments made of the work. No consensus has been
achieved on the date of composition, nor on the nature of the intended audience.
Lack of clarification on these two questions has prevented greater understanding
of the place of the text within the context of Grosseteste’s life and work. The one
point on which there has been general agreement is that the work was written by
Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln from 1235 to 1253.
Le Chasteu d’amur4 is one of four independent Anglo-Norman treatises
attributed to Grosseteste in S.H. Thomson’s bibliographical study, The Writings of
Robert Grosseteste.5 Transcriptions from two manuscripts of the poem were
1 M.D. Legge, Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background (Oxford, 1963), p. 223.
2 K. Sajavaara, The Middle English Translations of Robert Grosseteste's ChSteau d’amour.
MSmoires de la Soci6t6 Ndophilologique de Helsinki, XXXII (Helsinki, 1967), p. 43.
8 R. Southern, Robert Grosseteste: The Growth of an English Mind in Medieval Europe, 2nd ed.
(Oxford, 1992), p. 225.
4 The text is referred to in this work as Le Chasteu d’amur, to conform with the orthography of
the base text, Lambeth 522.
5 S.H. Thomson, The Writings of Robert Grosseteste (Cambridge, 1940), pp. 152-9.
1
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published for antiquarian interest in 1852,6 and a critical edition was published in
1918.7 No formal study of the Anglo-Norman text has been published since.8
The need for a new critical edition has been recognized by scholars since
1967 when Professor Sajavaara published his work on the Middle English
translations of the poem.9 Sir Richard Southern reiterated this need in light of the
discovery of new manuscripts and increased knowledge of Grosseteste’s life and
writings.10
Since the publication of M. Dominica Legge’s survey of Anglo-Norman
literature, scholars have suggested that the work was written during Grosseteste’s
episcopacy, for the instruction of the youth in his household,11 or as entertainment
suitable for the great hall of a noble household.12 While there is no doubt that the
work could have been used in both contexts, manuscript evidence suggests that it
was composed prior to this period, and that the text enjoyed a much wider
audience, among both scholarly and lay communities. The history of Anglo-
Norman literature and culture, and aspects of Grosseteste’s own personal life offer
8 M. Cooke, R. Grossetete Carmina Angfo-normannica. Robert Grossetete's Chasteau d'amour
to which are added'La Vie de Sainte Marie Egyptienne’ and an English version of the Chasteau
d’amour (London, 1852).
7 J. Murray, Le ChSteau d'amour de Robert Grosseteste EvSque de Lincoln (Paris, 1918).
8 For the study of the Middle English versions of the poem published in 1967 see K. Sajavaara,
The Middle English Translations.
0 Cf. Sajavaara, pp. 37-39.
10 Cf. Southern, The Growth of an English Mind, p. 227, n. 35.
11 M.D. Legge, Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background, p. 223; Sajavaara, p. 47.
t2 Southern, The Growth of an English Mind, p. 225.
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