Search

Le Registrum Epistolarum de Gregoire le Grand est le premier recueil de lettres pontificales qui offre un ample panoramique des relations entre le Pape et les royaumes romano-barbares. En etudiant a travers ce recueil le theme des devoirs dus au principe chretien, l'article se propose d'evaluer en quoi Gregoire innove soit par rapport aux pratiques pontificales soit par rapport aux modeles ordinaires de bon comportement royal

In questo mio contributo mi progongo di fare un bilancio su presenza e caratteristiche del classicismo nella tarda antichita latina. Nel linguaggio della critica letteraria, le categorie di »classico« e »classicismo« si applicano, come e noto, a fenomeni di vario genere: [1] classico e un testo o un autore canonizzato, che esprime grandi temi in forme esemplari; ma classico si definisce anche — in contrapposizione a manierismo e barocco — un modo di scrivere che eviti squilibri e disarmonie. [2] Analogamente, il termine italiano »classicismo« (che ricopre le aree semantiche dei due termini tedeschi Klassik e Klassizismus) puo essere adoperato sia per designare la scelta di uno stile, sia per indicare atteggiamenti di imitazione attiva o ammirazione passiva nei confronti dei classici e delle idealita di cui essi sono portavoce. Poiche non esiste corrispondenza biunivoca fra la categoria di classico e la serie di realta cui essa rinvia, e necessario specificare di volta in volta a quale titolo si parli di classicismo. Nell’ambito della mia indagine ho pertanto operato una distinzione di base fra classicismo come culto dei classici, e classicismo come aderenza ai modelli. Quest’ultima puo realizzarsi sul piano dello stile, del metro, della scelta dei temi e delle forme letterarie, ma potra parlarsi di classicismo in senso forte solo quando alla scelta di una forma letteraria tradita (o addirittura di una specifica opera presa come modello) si accompagnino l’adesione al registro stilistico ed al linguaggio che le pertengono, e la riproposizione dei temi che le sono propri.

The Old English Prose Psalter (Paris, B.N., lat. 8824, eleventh century) poses a variety of problems to the reader, one of which is its debated attribution to king Alfred the Great. After an overview of the diffusion of the Psalter in Anglo-Saxon England, of the king's tendency to appropriate scriptural voices and of the early development of the Alfredian myth, the present paper focuses on Psalm 43, which represents a classical example of a plea against the oppression of the enemies. The analysis of some key terms to be found in it and a comparison to other vernacular Psalm translations or glosses contribute to state the distinctive features of the prose Paris Psalter and to attribute the work to the difficult period of the Viking’s wars in Alfred's time rather than to the eleventh century manuscript context.

I examine how Paulin of Périgueux proceeded to poetically rewrite a biography, two dialogues and a collection of miracles by erasing their generic markers, in order to merge these three types of works into a hagiographic epic that is both meditative and epidictic, the Life of Saint Martin in six books. I confront this work with the almost elusive genre of hagiography, as it developed in the Merovingian period., J’examine comment Paulin de Périgueux a procédé à la réécriture poétique d’une biographie, de dialogues et d’un recueil de miracles en en effaçant les marqueurs génériques, pour fondre ces trois types d’œuvres en une épopée hagiographique à la fois méditative et épidictique, la Vie de saint Martin en six chants. Je confronterai cette œuvre au genre lui-même presque insaisissable de l’hagiographie tel qu’il se développe à l’époque mérovingienne.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the most ambiguous texts of Middle English literature, will be here analyzed from the perspective of its author’s approach to the marvelous. The paper aims at showing the way the anonymous author presents the scenes where, according to literary conventions, the supernatural is at work, and reshapes the marvelous and the fantastic elements by placing them in a sort of realistic frame. This kind of marginality of the supernatural can be seen in the so-called “temptation episodes” that happen upon a bed. The paper argues that the author employs, as a starting point, the traditional adventure of the lit merveille, that appears in many works of different literary traditions dealing with Gawain, deprives the scene of its marvelous nature and transforms the adventure into a fight where the Lady of the Castle seems to be more dangerous than the weapons and the ferocious lion which elsewhere attack Gawain on the marvelous bed.

International audience; The narration of the « crusades » of the epical hero Ogier the Danish appears in the last quart of the XIVth century in John of Outremeuse’s Myreur des Histors and in the version of Liège of John of Mandeville’s Travel. The Myreur relates the world’s history from the Deluge to the XIVth century, with an emphasis on the events of Liège. John of Outremeuse uses epical materials, in particular about Ogier the Danish : he transforms him into a true historical character and makes him the hero civilizer of Liège. When John of Outremeuse writes his Myreur, there already is a literary tradition about Ogier’s eastern travels. But he amplifies it, completing with other legends, about the Priest John, Alexander the Great’s travels, the terrestrial Paradise. Ogier the Danish is educated at Charlemagne’s court. After having undertaken constructions in Liège and Tongres, he joins Charlemagne in his expeditions in Saxony, Italy, Jerusalem, Constantinople and Spain. Then Ogier accomplishes his vow to conquer the Eastern countries over the Saracens. Ogier and his companions subjugate successively Arabia, Samaria, Nubia, Arachosia, Assyria, Media, Palestina and India. John of Outremeuse claims that the description of their travel was inspired by Mandeville’s writings about India where the latter lived for 33 years. This article presents the use and the transformation of the Eastern marvels thematic by Outremeuse. The Myreur and Mandeville’s version of Liège propose an actual political and religious project in the guise of a literary fiction. Beyond the description of marvelous and rich countries, they suggest not only the possibility of reaching them, but also the utopy of their submission by setting up of Western princes and by converting the Muslim peoples to Christianity.

International audience