The "Roman de la Rose" and Thirteenth-Century Thought

342 Pages·2020·1.609 MB·English

by  Jonathan Morton, Marco Nievergelt, John Marenbon

THE ROMAN DE LA ROSE AND
THIRTEENTH-CENTURY THOUGHT
Thethirteenth-centuryallegoricaldreamvisiontheRomandelaRose
transformed how medieval literary texts engaged with philosophical
ideas. Written in Old French, its influence dominated French,
English, and Italian literature for the next two centuries, serving in
particularasamodelforChaucerandDante.JeandeMeun’ssection
of this extensive, complex, and dazzling work is notable for its
sophisticatedresponsestoawholehostofcontemporaryphilosophi-
cal debates. This collection brings together literary scholars and
historians of philosophy to produce the most thorough, interdisci-
plinary study to date of how the Rose uses poetry to articulate
philosophical problems and positions. This wide-ranging collection
demonstrates the importance of the poem for medieval intellectual
historyandoffersnewinsightsintothephilosophicalpotentialboth
oftheRosespecificallyandofmedievalpoetryasawhole.
jonathan morton is an assistant professor in the French and
Italian Department at Tulane University and an Alexander von
Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of
Science, Berlin. He is the author of The ‘Roman de la rose’ in its
Philosophical Context: Art, Nature, and Ethics and is working on a
monographonthemedievaltechnologicalimaginary.
marco nievergelt is the author of Allegorical Quests from
DeguilevilletoSpenserandisworkingonaprojectentitledMedieval
AllegoryasEpistemology:Dream-VisionPoetryonLanguage,Cognition,
andExperience.
cambridge studies in medieval literature
FoundingEditor
AlastairMinnis,YaleUniversity
GeneralEditor
DanielWakelin,UniversityofOxford
EditorialBoard
AnthonyBale,Birkbeck,UniversityofLondon
ZygmuntG.Barański,UniversityofCambridge
ChristopherC.Baswell,BarnardCollegeandColumbiaUniversity
MaryCarruthers,NewYorkUniversity
RitaCopeland,UniversityofPennsylvania
RobertaFrank,YaleUniversity
AlastairMinnis,YaleUniversity
JocelynWogan-Browne,FordhamUniversity
Thisseriesofcriticalbooksseekstocoverthewholeareaofliteraturewritteninthe
majormedievallanguages–themainEuropeanvernaculars,andmedievalLatin
and Greek – during the period c.1100–1500. Its chief aim is to publish and
stimulatefreshscholarshipandcriticismonmedievalliterature,specialemphasis
being placed on understanding major works of poetry, prose, and drama in
relationtothecontemporarycultureandlearningwhichfosteredthem.
Recenttitlesintheseries
IrinaDumitrescuTheExperienceofEducationinAnglo-SaxonLiterature
JonasWellendorfGodsandHumansinMedievalScandinavia:RetyingtheBonds
ThomasA.PrendergastandJessicaRosenfeld(eds.)ChaucerandtheSubversionof
Form
KatieL.WalterMiddleEnglishMouths
LawrenceWarnerChaucer'sScribes
GlennD.BurgerandHollyA.Crocker(eds.)MedievalAffect,Feeling,and
Emotion
RobertJ.Meyer-LeeLiteraryValueandSocialIdentityintheCanterburyTales
AndrewKraebelBiblicalCommentaryandTranslationinLaterMedievalEngland
GeorgeCorbettDante’sChristianEthics:PurgatoryanditsMoralContexts
JonathanMortonandMarcoNievergelt,withJohnMarenbonTheRomandela
RoseandThirteenth-CenturyThought
Acompletelistoftitlesintheseriescanbefoundattheendofthevolume.
THE ROMAN DE LA ROSE
AND THIRTEENTH-
CENTURY THOUGHT
edited by
JONATHAN MORTON
TulaneUniversity
MARCO NIEVERGELT
with
JOHN MARENBON
TrinityCollege,Cambridge
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,ny10006,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,vic3207,Australia
314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,
NewDelhi–110025,India
79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108425704
doi:10.1017/9781108348799
©CambridgeUniversityPress2020
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2020
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd,PadstowCornwall
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
names:RomandelaRoseetlaphilosophieparisienneauXIIIesiècle(2016:Institutd’études
avancéesdeParis)|Morton,Jonathan,1982–editor,translator.|Nievergelt,Marco,editor,
translator.
title:The‘Romandelarose’andthirteenth-centurythought/editedbyJonathanMorton,
MarcoNievergelt.
description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,
2019.|Series:CambridgestudiesinMedievalliterature|Somechaptersweretranslatedinto
Englishbytheeditors.|Includesbibliographicalreferences.
identifiers:lccn2019042091(print)|lccn2019042092(ebook)|isbn9781108425704
(hardback)|isbn9781108348799(epub)
subjects:lcsh:Guillaume,deLorris,active1230.Romandelarose–Congresses.|Jean,de
Meun,approximately1240-approximately1305.Romandelarose–Congresses.|Philosophy,
Medieval,inliterature–Congresses.
classification:lccpq1529.r662019(print)|lccpq1529(ebook)|ddc841/.1–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019042091
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019042092
isbn978-1-108-42570-4Hardback
isbn978-1-108-44319-7Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Contents
ListofContributors pagevii
Acknowledgements viii
NoteonPrimaryTexts ix
Introduction 1
JonathanMortonandMarcoNievergelt
part i epistemology and language 25
1 MechanismsofBelief:JeandeMeun’sImplicitEpistemology 27
ChristopheGrellard(translatedbyJonathanMortonandMarco
Nievergelt)
2 VisualExperiencesandAllegoricalFiction:TheLexis
andParadigmofFantasieinJeandeMeun’sRose 45
FabiennePomel(translatedbyJonathanMortonandMarcoNievergelt)
3 Imposition,Equivocation,andIntention:Language
andSignificationinJeandeMeun’sRomandelaRose
andThirteenth-CenturyGrammarandLogic 65
MarcoNievergelt
4 SophismsandSophistryintheRomandelaRose 90
JonathanMorton
part ii natural law, politics, and society 109
5 ThePersonalandthePolitical:LoveandSociety
intheRomandelaRose 111
JuhanaToivanen
v
vi Contents
6 HumanNatureandNaturalLawinJeandeMeun’s
RomandelaRose 131
PhilipKnox
7 APolitico-CommunalReadingoftheRose:TheFiore
AttributedtoDanteAlighieri 149
AntonioMontefusco(translatedbyJonathanMortonandMarco
Nievergelt)
part iii unfinished business: forms of writing,
forms of knowledge 171
8 JeandeMeun,Boethius,andThirteenth-CenturyPhilosophy 173
JohnMarenbon
9 TheRomanceoftheNon-Rose:EchoesandSubversions
ofNegativeTheologyinJeandeMeun’sRomandelaRose 194
AliceLamy(translatedbyJonathanMortonandMarcoNievergelt)
10 MetalepsisandAllegory:TheUnityoftheRomandelaRose 210
LucianoRossi(translatedbyJonathanMortonandMarcoNievergelt)
Notes 233
Bibliography 282
Index 315
Contributors
christophe grellard isDirectorofStudies(Professor)intheHistory
of Medieval Philosophy at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL
University,Paris.
philip knox is a university lecturer at the Faculty of English of the
UniversityofCambridge.
alice lamy teachesclassicsattheHélèneBoucherLycée,Paris,andisan
associatememberoflaboratoryEA4081(‘RomeetsesRenaissances’)at
Paris Lettres Sorbonne and laboratory EA4284 (‘TrAme’) at the Jules
VerneUniversityofPicardie.
john marenbon is Senior Research Fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge, and Honorary Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the
UniversityofCambridge.
antonio montefusco isAssistantProfessorofMedievalLiteraturein
theHumanitiesDepartmentatCa’FoscariUniversity,Venice.
jonathan morton is an assistant professor in the French and Italian
Department at Tulane University and an Alexander von Humboldt
FellowattheMaxPlanckInstitutefortheHistoryofScience,Berlin.
marco nievergelt works on the literature of medieval and early
modernBritaininitsEuropeancontext.
fabienne pomel is a lecturer (Maître de conférences HDR) in the
LiteratureDepartmentoftheUniversityofRennes2.
luciano rossi hasbeenaprofessoremeritusattheUniversityofZurich
since2010.
juhana toivanen isanAcademyResearchFellowattheDepartmentof
SocialSciencesandPhilosophyoftheUniversityofJyväskylä(Finland)
andapart-timeresearcherattheDepartmentofPhilosophy,Linguistics
andTheoryofScienceoftheUniversityofGothenburg(Sweden).
vii
Acknowledgements
Thisbookgrewoutofaninternationalconference,‘TheRomandelaRose
andThirteenth-CenturyParisianPhilosophy’,whichwasheldattheParis
InstituteforAdvancedStudieson20and21June2016.Itwasorganizedby
theeditorsofthisvolumeandwaskindlysponsoredbytheInstitute.The
conference provided the opportunity for extended discussion and
exchange, and we would like to thank all participants and attendees,
whose contributions ultimately helped to determine the final shape of
this volume. In addition to the contributors to this volume, we would
particularlyliketothankKevinBrownlee,ChristopherLucken,Jean-Marc
Mandosio, Alex Novikoff, Earl Jeffrey Richards, Aurélien Robert, Kellie
Robertson, Irène Rosier, Ian Wei, and Olga Weijers. Further thanks are
due to Gretty Mirdal, at that time Director of the Institute, and the
ScientificOfficer,SimonLuck,togetherwiththeInstitutestaffformaking
theeventsoenjoyableandrewarding.
WearegratefultocolleaguesatCambridgeUniversityPressforalltheir
work, especially Linda Bree, Emily Hockley, Sarah Lambert, and Tim
Mason,andtoDamianPenfoldatIntegra,toBretWorkmanforhissharp-
eyed copyediting, and to Jane Sinnett-Smith for her valuable assistance
with the index. We (Jonathan and Marco) would like to express our
gratitudetoJohnMarenbonforhisgenerousadviceandinsightthrough-
outtheeditingprocess.JonathanMorton’sworkonthisvolumewasmade
possiblethroughthegeneroussupportoftheLeverhulmeTrust(UK)and
theAlexandervonHumboldtFoundation(Germany).
viii