University of Massachusetts Amherst

From the SelectedWorks of Donald Maddox

2012

Melusine; or the Noble History of Lusignan Donald Maddox, University of Massachusetts - Amherst Sara Sturm-Maddox, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/donald_maddox/12/

Melusine; or, The Noble History of Lusignan , By Jean d'Arras, Translated and with an introduction by Donald Maddox, and Sara Sturm-Maddox

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Melusine; or, The Noble Other Ways to Acquire History of Lusignan Buy from Amazon.com Buy from an Independent Bookstore Buy from Powell's Books By Jean d'Arras, Translated and with an introduction by Donald Maddox, and Sara Sturm-Maddox

Publish Date: 8/11/2012 Sign up for e-mail Join Dimensions: 6 x 9 notifications about new Page Count: 264 pages books and catalogs! Illustrations: 2 maps Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-271-05412-4

Hardcover Edition: $69.95 Add to Cart Read a Sample Chapter “Part history, part fantasy, part romance, the story of Melusine—brought to life in this readable and lively translation—opens a window onto late medieval European chivalric culture, its refinements, its brutality, and its anxieties. Ranging from Related Subjects Ireland to , the story of the Melusine and her family provides a Literary Studies wealth of descriptive detail about courtly life and the cultural importance of family Medieval and Early Modern and property. Supported by an excellent introduction and relevant, informative Studies notes, this translation brings to light a book and an imagination that will appeal to students, general readers, and scholars.” —Carolyn Collette, Mount Holyoke College Also of Interest

“The fourteenth century comes alive in this superb new translation of the classic French masterpiece Melusine; or, The Noble History of Lusignan. The work is packed with romance and adventure, by turns poignant and hilarious, and the author’s lively and inviting prose style is guaranteed to delight fans of historical fiction as well as students of all ages. This is by far the most lucid, authentic, and enjoyable English-language version of this enchanting available today, and I expect it to be universally recognized as the definitive translation for many years to come.” —Nancy Goldstone

Student Edition “The Mélusine of Jean d'Arras is a work of particular importance for its fusion of By Gerard J. Brault historiography and fiction, a work whose appeal was quickly acknowledged by the copying of numerous late medieval manuscripts, further recognized in the early days of printed books, and reconfirmed ever since by translation into many languages (Middle English, German, Spanish, modern French, etc.). The new translation is an excellent addition to this veritable library of Mélusines: a long- overdue version in modern English that is, moreover, grounded in solid scholarship. The translators' introduction and extensive annotation of the

http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-05412-4.html[11/20/2012 11:22:33 AM] Melusine; or, The Noble History of Lusignan , By Jean d'Arras, Translated and with an introduction by Donald Maddox, and Sara Sturm-Maddox

text make it clear that their work has been prepared with an exemplary understanding of the narrative's social and historical context.” —Samuel Rosenberg, Indiana University

Parthenay in Romanesque Aquitaine By Robert A. Maxwell Jean d’Arras’s splendid prose romance of Melusine, written for Jean de Berry, the brother of King Charles V of , is one of the most significant and complex literary works of the later Middle Ages. The author, promising to tell us “how the noble and powerful fortress of Lusignan in Poitou was founded by a fairy,” writes a ceaselessly astonishing account of the origins of the powerful feudal dynasty of the Lusignans in southwestern France, which flourished in western Europe and the Near East during the age of the . The spellbinding story of the destinies of the fairy Melusine, her mortal husband, and her extraordinary sons blends history, myth, genealogy, folklore, and popular traditions with epic, romance, and Crusade narrative.

Preceded by a substantial introduction, this translation, the first in English to be amply annotated, captures the remarkable range of stylistic registers that characterizes this extravagant and captivating work.

By Christine de Pizan Edited by Karen Green, Donald Maddox is Professor Emeritus of French Studies and adjunct faculty member in Constant J. Mews, and Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Janice Pinder

Sara Sturm-Maddox is Professor Emerita of French and Italian Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

Melusine; or, The Noble History of Lusignan

Prologue

Crossed Destinies: Melusine and Raymondin

Founding Lusignan

Raymondin in

Founding a Dynasty in Poitou

Urian and Guyon Defend

Urian and Guyon: The Armenian Campaign

Antoine and Renaud in

Geoffrey Big-Tooth in Ireland

Crisis in the Near East

Betrayal, Fratricide, and Loss

http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-05412-4.html[11/20/2012 11:22:33 AM] Melusine; or, The Noble History of Lusignan , By Jean d'Arras, Translated and with an introduction by Donald Maddox, and Sara Sturm-Maddox

Geoffrey in Northumberland

Raymond: Pilgrimage and Penance

Six Sons of Lusignan Defend Alsace

Raymond’s Noble Funeral

Epilogue I: The Knight of the Tower

Epilogue II: The Castle of the Sparrow Hawk

The Legacy of Lusignan and the Duke of Berry

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

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http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-05412-4.html[11/20/2012 11:22:33 AM]