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IMC 2010: Sessions

Session 1628: Allusions to 12th-Century Queens in Old French Romance and Historiography

Thursday 15 July 2010, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:Siân Lewin Prosser, Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
Moderator/Chair:James R. Simpson, School of Modern Languages & Cultures (French), University of Glasgow
Paper 1628-aRewriting History: Women in Wace's Roman de Brut
(Language: English)
Gem Wheeler, Department of French, University of Sheffield
Index terms: Gender Studies, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - French or Occitan
Paper 1628-bQueens and Noble Figures in Hue de Rotelande's Ipomedon
(Language: English)
Paola Scarpini, Department of French, University of Sheffield
Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 1628-c'Riche dame de riche rei': Re-Examining the Supposed Dedication of the Roman de Troie to Eleanor of Aquitaine in its Manuscript Context
(Language: English)
Siân Lewin Prosser, Brotherton Library, University of Leeds
Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Abstract

Paper -a:
This paper will examine the methods Wace used to literally rewrite history, as he added echoes of real historical figures to models drawn from various literary sources. I will focus upon the significance that the remodelling of female protagonists had in terms of Wace's aims for the Brut as a whole, bearing in mind its status as a fusion of dynastic history and origin myth.

Paper -b:
Hue de Rotelande's Ipomedon is a 12th-century chivalric poem that tells of the deeds of the eponymous knight and of his beloved, La Fière Pucelle. Although the story is set in Southern Italy, far in the past, the author has interwoven the narration with some allusions to the Plantagenet family, especially Queen Eleanor and her daughter, Princess Joan. In this paper I will not only point out the link between the Queen of England and Ipomedon but also suggest some explanations of how this link relates to the rivalry between the French and the English royal peerages.

Paper -c:
In the critical edition of Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie, composed c. 1165, the narrator interrupts a misogynist diatribe to express his fear that he might be offending the lady whose merits cancel out the misdeeds of all other women. If this passage is indeed Benoît's way of dedicating the text to Eleanor of Aquitaine, why has it been omitted from so many of the extant manuscripts? Is this simply a case of 13th-century scribes deleting material perceived as irrelevant, or could the passage have been suppressed in response to Eleanor's imprisonment in the years following the composition of the poem?