DOCSLIB.ORG

Saracen Alterity and Cultural Hybridity in Middle English Romance

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Saracen Alterity and Cultural Hybridity in Middle English Romance UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Troubled Identities: Saracen Alterity and Cultural Hybridity in Middle English Romance By Jenna Louise Stook A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH CALGARY, ALBERTA OCTOBER, 2010 © Jenna Louise Stook 2010 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69465-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69465-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada ABSTRACT Middle English romances usually cast the Saracen, the medieval western term for Muslim, as a figure of absolute difference who is diametrically opposed to the heroic Christian knight. The conventional Saracen has up to now most frequently been interpreted in the context of crusading propaganda, incipient English nationalism, and England's proto- colonial enterprise. This study responds to this previous scholarship, and argues that such nationalist and colonialist projects are attended with identity uncertainty. Middle English romances dramatize the moment of cross-cultural contact through their depictions of Saracen conversion, intermarriage between Christians and Saracens, and acculturation to a new community. Contact with the other calls into question the rigidity of the (imagined) boundaries delimiting identity. This study examines the complexity of medieval identity formation through representations of Saracen alterity. Rather than focusing on the stereotypical Saracen, this study instead examines depictions of the desirable Saracen and the Saracenized Christian found in The King of Tars, Beues ofHamtoun, the Otuel and Ferumbras romances, and Richard Coer de Lyon. These characters are best understood as figures of hybridity who frustrate neat categorizations of identity, and who expose the fragility of classificatory boundaries because they threaten to dissolve the border between self and other. This study, in its consideration of identity and differentiation, takes up Bruce Holsinger's challenge to medievalists to make "a significant impact on the methods, historical purview, and theoretical lexicon of postcolonialism." Animated by the theoretical problematics derived from contemporary postcolonial theory, such as the representation of the other and the dynamics of cross-cultural contact, this study reexamines the disciplinary boundaries of postcolonial studies; explores the complexities of medieval considerations of ii selfhood, community and alterity; and historicizes concepts such as race and racial difference. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iv Chapter One Introduction Chapter Two The Genesis of an Idea: The Saracen Other 16 Chapter Three Medieval Categories of Difference and the Discourse of Race 31 Chapter Four Transgressive Unions: Female Conversion and Interfaith Marriage in The King of Tars and Beues ofHamtoun 66 Chapter Five "Had he been a Christian, he would have been a worthy baron": The Chivalrous Saracen Warrior in the Otuel and Ferumbras Romances 106 Chapter Six "Going Saracen": Problematic Avatars of Englishness in Beues ofHamtoun and Richard Coer de Lyon 141 Chapter Seven Conclusion 182 Bibliography 191 Appendix A: Romances Discussed in this Study 210 IV 1 Introduction The term "Saracen," according to Jeffrey Cohen, has "a long history in the Christian vocabulary for the negative representation of difference" ("On Saracen Enjoyment" 114). While "Saracen" connotes difference, the precise meaning of the word in its medieval context is difficult to ascertain. As Katharine Scarfe Beckett notes, the genuine etymology of the word "Saracen" remains obscure, but Latin authors likely adopted the term "Saraceni" from the Greek in order to refer to nomads of northern Arabia (93). The term "Saraceni" was a "useful term which inhabitants of the Roman Empire used to describe the combination of nomadism and Arab ethnicity" (Beckett 94). Medieval authors developed their own etymology derived from the Old Testament story of Abraham and his wife, Sarah. According to St. Jerome, Saracens erroneously claimed descent from Sarah; consequently, he etymologizes the name "Saraceni" as the "false genealogical claim [made] by the Saracens themselves" (Beckett 97). The term "Saracen" was used, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), "[a]mong the later Greeks and Romans [as] a name for the nomadic peoples of the Syro- Arabian desert which harassed the Syrian confines of the Empire; hence, an Arab; by extension, a Muslim, esp. with reference to the Crusades" ("Saracen," def. la). According to Diane Speed, the word "Saracene" referred to an Arab or Muslim, and was present in Old English as a Latin borrowing from the ninth century onwards. The Middle English word "Sarasin," and its variant spellings, appears in the mid-thirteenth century. According to the Middle English Dictionary (MED), "Sarasin" primary refers to a Turk, Arab or Muslim, although it also has the generic meaning of pagan or non-Christian ("Saracen(e), def. a, b, 2 and c).' The MED suggests the meaning of Saracen as Turk, Arab or Muslim was only current from c. 1300 onwards, associating earlier occurrences of the word with "pagan." Diane Speed, in her article "The Saracens of King Horn" challenges the MED's assertion that "Sarasin" did not connote Muslim until 1300, citing the word's original meaning in Latin and Old English. Indeed, the terms "Saracen" and "pagan" become, as Tolan observes, interchangeable throughout the Middle Ages (128). The problem of definition is further complicated when we consider "Saracen" referred to both ethnic and religious identity. The term, according to Suzanne Conklin Akbari, "identified its object as religiously different (not a follower of Christ, but of Muhammad), and ethnically or racially different (from Oriental regions)," though she notes that it was never used to identify Christian Arabs (Idols 155). The term "Saracen" thus "contain[s] within reductive flesh the diversity of the non-Christian world, especially - but not exclusively - Islam" (Cohen, "On Saracen Enjoyment" 114). The Saracen stands as a figure of religious and racial alterity who, in medieval chansons de geste and romances, is depicted as being diametrically opposed to the Christian knight. "The Pagans are Wrong": The Conventional Portrait of the Saracen For further information regarding the origins of the term "Saracen" and its relationship to other terms such as "Agarene" and "Ismaelite," see Beckett 90-104. See also Daniel, Arabs and Medieval Europe 53-54; and Tolan 10-11. This study examines Saracens in selected Middle English romances as (mis)representations of Middle Eastern Muslims. While Norman Daniel and Dorothee Metlitzki draw no distinction between "Saracen" and "Muslim" in their respective studies, often using the terms interchangeably, this study will follow the more recent practice of using "Saracen" to refer solely to representations of Muslims in medieval writings. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, for example, uses "Saracen" instead of "Muslim" in order "to mark the category from the start as produced through the passionate investment of occidental fantasies and desires, rather than as a historical marker of a simply misrecognized identity." See "On Saracen Enjoyment," 136, n. 3. Likewise, I will refer to the "Saracen religion" when discussing the beliefs and practices of the Saracens in medieval vernacular literature. "Islam" and "Muslim" will be used to refer to the religious sect and its adherents which we recognize today as characteristically Islamic. Finally, the name "Muhammad" will be used for the historic or religious person, while the Middle English "Mahoun" will be used when referring to the Saracen god. "Muslim" and "Islam" will be used, in the course
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE LOGISTICS of the FIRST CRUSADE 1095-1099 a Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Wester
    FEEDING VICTORY: THE LOGISTICS OF THE FIRST CRUSADE 1095-1099 A Thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate School of Western Carolina University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History By William Donald O’Dell, Jr. Director: Dr. Vicki Szabo Associate Professor of Ancient and Medieval History History Department Committee Members: Dr. David Dorondo, History Dr. Robert Ferguson, History October, 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee members and director for their assistance and encouragements. In particular, Dr. Vicki Szabo, without whose guidance and feedback this thesis would not exist, Dr. David Dorondo, whose guidance on the roles of logistics in cavalry warfare have helped shaped this thesis’ handling of such considerations and Dr. Robert Ferguson whose advice and recommendations for environmental historiography helped shaped my understanding on how such considerations influence every aspect of history, especially military logistics. I also offer my warmest regards and thanks to my parents, brothers, and extended family for their continued support. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................................v Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • Love of God Or Hatred of Your Enemy? the Emotional Voices of the Crusades O Amor De Deus Ou O Ódio Ao Seu Inimigo? As Vozes Emocionais Das Cruzadas Sophia MENACHE 1
    BLASCO VALLÈS, Almudena, e COSTA, Ricardo da (coord.). Mirabilia 10 A Idade Média e as Cruzadas La Edad Media y las Cruzadas – The Middle Ages and the Crusades Jan-Jun 2010/ISSN 1676-5818 Love of God or Hatred of Your Enemy? The Emotional Voices of the Crusades O amor de Deus ou o ódio ao seu inimigo? As vozes emocionais das Cruzadas Sophia MENACHE 1 Abstract : The present paper attempts to investigate three cornerstones of the history of the early crusades from a wider range of emotions while focusing on [1] the call to the crusade and the conquest of Jerusalem, [2] the fall of Edessa and, subsequently, the Second Crusade and its outcomes, and [3] the Christian defeat at the Horns of Hattin. Less than a century before the crusades, different groups in Christian society had been the target of the same pejorative emotions that were later used to denounce and reproach the Moslems. These terms should therefore be seen and analyzed, not to produce a superficial moral reading of the vilification of the Moslems, but as an essential part of the thesaurus in which Christian society analyzed itself. In fact, the use of the same Augustinian emotional index transforms negative attitudes toward the Moslems into an act of inverted inclusion of the Moslems within the Christian sphere; in other words, using illusionary inclusion in order to exclude. This inverted inclusion means that within its inner discourse, Christian society defeated the Moslems symbolically, independently of the real outcome on the battlefield. The transformation of the crusaders from Westerners into Easterners in Fulcher’s eschatology (note 45) is a conscious practice of erasing the “other” by expropriating its identity.
    [Show full text]
  • Tradition Et Renouvellement Dans La Chanson De Geste Tardive: Doon De Mayence Et Gaufrey
    Tradition et renouvellement dans la chanson de geste tardive: Doon de Mayence et Gaufrey by MARINA LUSHCHENKO B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2004 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (French) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2006 © Marina Lushchenko, 2006 11 ABSTRACT Written towards the close of the Middle Ages (late 13th - early 14th centuries) and rather neglected until now, the epic songs of Doon de Mayence and Gaufrey deserve nonetheless a study, because, in addition to their considerable literary value, they make it possible for us to understand the evolution of French medieval epic poetry. The object of the research is to evaluate the importance of tradition in these comparatively late works and, at the same time, to examine the innovations, laying particular emphasis on the authors' originality. To study intertextual references to other epic songs and Arthurian romances, to analyze versification and composition of the given songs, to take a look at epic rhetoric and the system of characters, - such are the stages of the present study. First conclusion : Doon de Mayence and Gaufrey are both at the junction of epic and romance traditions. Second conclusion : the epic songs in question borrow differently from these two genres. Third conclusion : realistic features add to the narration, making it, consequently, less archaistic. iii TABLE DES MATIERES Abstract • ii Table des matieres iii Remerciements -v CHAPITRE I Introduction ..: 1 CHAPITREII Genese de Doon de Mayence et de Gaufrey 5 2.1 Chansons de geste: formation de cycles 5 2.2 Emprunt d'episodes aux chansons de geste 14 2.3 Sources arthuriennes .".
    [Show full text]
  • Jonesexcerpt.Pdf
    2 The Texts—An Overview N’ot que trois gestes en France la garnie; ne cuit que ja nus de ce me desdie. Des rois de France est la plus seignorie, et l’autre aprés, bien est droiz que jeu die, fu de Doon a la barbe florie, cil de Maience qui molt ot baronnie. De ce lingnaje, ou tant ot de boidie, fu Ganelon, qui, par sa tricherie, en grant dolor mist France la garnie. La tierce geste, qui molt fist a prisier, fu de Garin de Monglenne au vis fier. Einz roi de France ne vodrent jor boisier; lor droit seignor se penerent d’aidier, . Crestïenté firent molt essaucier. [There were only threegestes in wealthy France; I don’t think any- one would ever contradict me on this. The most illustrious is the geste of the kings of France; and the next, it is right for me to say, was the geste of white-beardedPROOF Doon de Mayence. To this lineage, which was full of disloyalty, belonged Ganelon, who, by his duplic- ity, plunged France into great distress. The thirdgeste , remarkably worthy, was of the fierce Garin de Monglane. Those of his lineage never once sought to deceive the king of France; they strove to help their rightful lord, . and they advanced Christianity.] Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube, Girart de Vienne Since the Middle Ages, the corpus of chansons de geste has been di- vided into groups based on various criteria. In the above prologue to the thirteenth-century Girart de Vienne, Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube classifies An Introduction to the Chansons de Geste by Catherine M.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holy Lance of Antioch
    The Holy Lance of Antioch A Study on the Impact of a Perceived Relic during the First Crusade Master Thesis By Marius Kjørmo The crucified Jesus and the Roman soldier Longinus with the spear that would become the Holy Lance. Portrait by Fra Angelico from the Dominican cloister San Marco, Florence. A Master Thesis in History, Institute of Archaeology, History, Culture Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Spring 2009. 2 Contents Preface.........................................................................................................................................5 List of Maps..................................................................................................................................6 List of Illustrations.......................................................................................................................6 Cast of Characters.......................................................................................................................7 1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................9 1.1. Introduction...........................................................................................................................9 1.2. Lance Historiography..........................................................................................................11 1.3. Terms and Expressions.......................................................................................................13
    [Show full text]
  • DE HITON DE BORDEAUX a Thesis Presented to the French
    ANALYSE ET ETUDE LITTERAIRES DE HITON DE BORDEAUX A Thesis Presented to the French Department of Mc Gill U:hive:rsi ty In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of H.a.ster of Arts by J ean-M8.rcel Paquette August 1964 lNTRODUCTIOff •••••••••••••~•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••~~ P~ 1 PREMIERE PARTIE: MATIERE CHAPITRE PREMIER: De l'histoire A la légende •••••••••••••••••• CF..APITRE DEUXIEMEt Autour de Charlemagne ...... ~~~ .......... ~~. p~ tb DEUXIEME PART!Et CON JOINTURE CHAPITRE TROISIENE: Les éléments romanesques ••••••••••••• ••... P• a.~ CHAPITRE QUATR~Œ: Les éléments féeriques ••••••••••••••••••~• p~~ TROISmŒ PARTIE: SENEFIANCE" CHAPITRE Cn:IQ~Œ: L'aventure et ses symlx>les •••••••••••• ••.. P• 5 s- CHAPITRE SIXIEME: Colœlusion: La conta:mihation des genres • • • • • p~ ~ 1- NOTES" ••••••••••••••••••••••••• ·-· •••••••••••••••• ·-······........ p. q 1- BIBLIOGRAPHIE •·• •. • • .... •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • •. •. • •. •. • • • •• • • • • P•' \ 0 ' INTRODUCTION n semblera- d 1abord paradoxal que les trois mots de MATIERE, de CONJOTh"TURE et de SIDTEFIANCE, appartenant au vocabulaire du roman cour­ tois, servent, chacun, de titre aux trois parties de cette étude eon­ sacrée à une chanson de geste du cycle carolingien~ Cela est d'O., en partie, A ce que, Huon de Bordeaux constituant une oeuvre complexe, l'objet de la présente th~se sera d'établir jus-­ qu•·~. quel point l'oeuvre, d'apparence épique, a subi la contaminatfon du genre romanesque. Les médiévistes désignent par le mot de MATIERE, 11 ensemble des sources, historiques ou littéraires, dont ont pu s'inspirer les po~tes et les romanciers du Moyen Age. Ainsi parle-t-on de "mati~re bretonne" pour les romans arthuriens, et de "mati~re antiquen pour les romans, tel que le Roman d'Alexandre, inspirés des oeuvres et des th~es de r•·antiqufté.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. El Estudio De Las Palabras De Origen Oriental, Sus Variantes Y La Distribución De Sus Formas Es Una Parte, Pequeña Si Se Qu
    NOTAS DE HISTORIA LEXICA PARA LAS LITERATURAS ROMANICAS MEDIEVALES FRANCISCO MARCOS MARIN* 1. El estudio de las palabras de origen oriental, sus variantes y la distribución de sus formas es una parte, pequeña si se quiere, del es­ tudio de los contactos entre diversas comunidades humanas, entre dis­ tintas civilizaciones. Cada palabra tiene sus propios problemas: simpli­ cidad formal, complejidad semántica, o viceversa; contenido cultural más o menos interesante; variedad rica, en suma, que siempre agrada al investigador y puede atraer al lector curioso; pero, además, hay palabras que han formado familias complejísimas y que han servido para el trans­ porte de motivos a múltiples literaturas. En este último caso el panora­ ma se amplía de tal modo que el estudio lexicográfico, por complejo que sea, no es más que la puerta que da acceso a las investigaciones poste­ riores. En este estudio nos ocuparemos de una palabra de origen sánscri­ to, que designa a los miembros de la primera de las cuatro castas superio­ res hindúes: los sacerdotes o brahmanes. Este grupo social, conocido en Occidente desde tiempos muy remotos, se designa con formas lingüís• ticas diversas, pero que, por lo general, conservan íntegro, o muy poco evolucionado, el consonantismo de origen, BRHMN. En cuanto al voca­ lismo -en particular la vocal que, en la mayoría de los casos, es la ~segunda, tónica, como en el castellano brahmán, o átona, como en el inglés brahmín- se da una alternancia entre la -a- y la -i- que queda re­ flejada en los dos ejemplos inmediatamente precedentes. 2.1. En general, podemos decir que se conservan siempre las con­ sonantes BRM, y que, de las vocales, hay una a antes de la M, a que es frecuentemente átona; pero no necesariamente.
    [Show full text]
  • De La Chanson De Geste Au Roman Chevaleresque. Trois Mises En Prose Du Xve Siècle (Roman De Guillaume D'orange, Huon De
    Dorota PUDO DE LA CHANSON DE GESTE AU ROMAN CHEVALERESQUE Trois mises en prose du XVe siècle (Roman de Guillaume d'Orange, Huon de Bordeaux et Histoire de la Reine Berthe et du Roy Pepin) [OD EPOSU DO POWIEŚCI RYCERSKIEJ. Trzy XV-wieczne adaptacje prozą starofrancuskich pieśni o czynach (Powieść o Wilhelmie z Orange, Huon z Bordeaux i Historia Królowej Berty i Króla Pepina)] Thèse de doctorat sous la direction de Mme le Professeur Anna DRZEWICKA Kraków 2010 1 mojemu Mężowi 2 TABLE DES MATIERES Avant-propos...........................................................................................................................5 1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................6 1.1. Objectifs et méthodes du travail.....................................................................................6 1.1.1. Sujet de la présente étude...............................................................................................6 1.1.2. Corpus de textes..............................................................................................................7 1.1.3. Objectifs, méthodes et plan du travail..........................................................................10 1.2. Les mises en prose et leurs sources ….........................................................................13 1.2.1. Définition et description du phénomène.......................................................................13 1.2.2. Etat de la question.........................................................................................................17
    [Show full text]
  • Violence and Christian Piety in the Romances of the London Thornton Manuscript
    HOLY BLOODSHED: VIOLENCE AND CHRISTIAN PIETY IN THE ROMANCES OF THE LONDON THORNTON MANUSCRIPT DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Medieval English Literature in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Emily Lavin Leverett, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Ethan Knapp, Adviser Professor Richard Firth Green __________________________ Adviser Professor Lisa Kiser English Graduate Program Copyright by Emily Lavin Leverett 2006 ABSTRACT Graphic violence dominates the three romances in the opening section of the London Thornton Manuscript: The Siege of Jerusalem, The Siege of Milan and Duke Roland and Sir Otuel of Spain. In this dissertation I argue that these romances individually use graphic violence as a means of coping with late medieval English anxieties about Christian failures abroad and rising English heresy at home; together, along with the devotional texts surrounding them, they become examples of violent devotional expression. Whether studied alone or as a group, in these romances violence in the name of Christian devotion is imagined as both necessary and praiseworthy. Each romance fundamentally employs violence to reveal Christian and, at times, specifically English Christian dominance over a threatening group or ideology. At the same time, by repeatedly using violence as a marker of devotion, but portraying it as at the service of Church orthodoxy, these romances create boundaries, containing and directing the violence towards real political and ideological goals: the perpetuation of the orthodox Church in England. Finally, I argue that the graphic violence that so marks the three romances found in the opening section of the London Thornton manuscript is normalized and contained by the orthodox religious boundaries provided by the ii devotional texts surrounding them.
    [Show full text]
  • Matt King Research Project.Pdf
    1 We’re on a Mission from God: A Translation, Commentary, and Essay Concerning The Hierosolymita by Ekkehard of Aura Matthew LaBarge King A thesis presented to the History Department, University of Washington In completion of the History Honors Thesis Requirement Department of History University of Washington 7 March 2011 _____________________________ _____________________________ 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank a number of people for their assistance in the writing of this senior thesis. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor Dean Robert Stacey for his consistent help and feedback with any problems I might have had, whether relating to crusading historiography or the basics of thesis construction. His expertise in the field of history has proved invaluable, and I could not have been more honored to work with such a gracious adviser. For helping me with the intricacies of the Latin text, I owe an extreme debt to Professor Alain Gowing. I would also like to extend my thanks to Professor Purnima Dhavan, who oversaw this project over the last two quarters and was able to provide me with guidance as the project progressed from its infancy to completion. My fellow colleagues in the UW History Honors Program have also provided me with feedback about the course of my paper, and for that I also am indebted to them. Finally, I would like to thank my family, who has instilled in me a love of learning, through which this thesis was made possible. 3 Table of Contents Map of the First Crusade 1 Introduction to the Hierosolymita
    [Show full text]
  • Copeland2016.Pdf (1.069Mb)
    This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Declaration: This is to certify that that the work contained within has been composed by me and is entirely my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Date: 19/05/2016 Signature: ______________________________ From Fierabras to Stair Fortibrais: A Comparative Analysis of the Chanson de Geste and its Adaptations in Ireland E. Copeland Doctorate of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2016 Abstract Despite its apparent popularity in fifteenth-century Ireland—as attested by its presence in eight manuscripts—Stair Fortibrais, the Irish adaptation of the twelfth-century chanson de geste Fierabras has received very little scholarly attention. This fact proves especially unfortunate since the text possesses particular relevance for two important trends in recent scholarship, one concerning Celtic Studies and the other more broadly Continental in scope.
    [Show full text]
  • Remembering the First Crusade
    REMEMBERING THE FIRST CRUSADE: LATIN NARRATIVE HISTORIES 1099-c.1300 Barbara Packard Royal Holloway University of London PhD Thesis 1 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Barbara Packard, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: 04/01/2011 2 ABSTRACT The success of the First Crusade by the Christian armies caught the interest and arrested the imagination of contemporaries, stimulating the production of a large number of historical narratives. Four eyewitness accounts, as well as letters written by the crusaders to the West, were taken up by later authors, re-worked and re-fashioned into new narratives; a process which continued throughout the twelfth century and beyond. This thesis sets out to explore why contemporaries continued to write about the First Crusade in light of medieval attitudes towards the past, how authors constructed their narratives and how the crusade and the crusaders were remembered throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It will analyse the development in the way the First Crusade was recorded and investigate the social, religious, intellectual and political influences dictating change: How, why and under what circumstances was the story re- told? What changed in the re-telling? What ideas and concepts were the authors trying to communicate and what was their meaning for contemporaries? The thesis will also aim to place these texts not only in their historical but also in their literary contexts, analyse the literary traditions from which authors were writing, and consider the impact the crusade had on medieval literature.
    [Show full text]