Durham E-Theses Colour, seeing, and seeing colour in medieval literature Huxtable, M. J. How to cite: Huxtable, M. J. (2008) Colour, seeing, and seeing colour in medieval literature, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2175/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Colour, Seeing, and Seeing Colour in Medieval Literature by M. J. Huxtable A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Studies, University of Durham 2008 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author or the university to which it was submitted. No quotation from it, or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author or university, and any information derived from it should be acknowledged. 2 1 MAY 2009 Abstract Colour, Seeing, and Seeing Colour in Medieval Literature This thesis re-approaches medieval literature in terms of its investment in visuality in general and chromatic perception in particular. The introduction raises the philosophical problem of colour: its status as an object for science, role in perception, and relationship to language and meaning as expressed within inter-subjective evaluation. Two modes of discourse for colour studies of medieval literature are proposed: the phenomenological (from the philosophical tradition of such as Maurice Merleau-Ponry) seeking localised networks and patterns of inter- subjective, embodied, perceptual meanings and values; and linguistic (informed by the philosophical psychology and language philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein), focusing on the lexicalisation of colour experience and creation of semantic distinctions corresponding with changing colour concepts, which in turn shape individual perceptions (both first-hand experience and that of reading). Part One introduces key medieval ideas and theories pertaining to visual perception in general, and chromatic perception in particular. The authority for, and influence on medieval writers of Plato's Timaeus, Aristotle's De Anima and Parva Naturalia, and relevant biblical material is considered. Subsequent chapters explore Patristic and Neo-Platonist developments in extramissive thought, locating within this tradition the roots of a synthesis of natural philosophy with Christian theology that is found in later medieval thought and its dealings with perception and colour. A key movement in the theology of light in relation to colour is connected to the wider philosophical movement from largely "extramissive" to largely "intromissive" models of perception. This shift in theory and its significance for colour perception is explained in terms of the impact of Aristotle's material colour theory as found in De anima and the De sensu et sensato section of his Parva Naturalia from the late twelfth century onwards. The part concludes with a detailed study of the nineteenth chapter of Bartholomaeus Anglicus's thirteenth-century encyclopedia, De Proprietatibus Rerum, which provides access to an important range of ideas and sources relevant for accessing the medieval mind in its intellectualized perception of colour. Lastly, such philosophical and theological sources and ideas as are found in Part One are compared with relevant examples from literary texts, ranging from the Middle English poem, The Parliament of the Three Ages, to Christine de Pisan's Le Livre de la Cite des Dames. Part Two treats colour perception in relation to a particular medieval phenomenon: the rise of medieval heraldry and the armorial function of the herald. It considers the spiritual and secular ideologies of chivalry and their relationship to armorial displays as found portrayed and construed in various genres of chivalric literature. Texts under discussion include books of chivalry and arms from the early thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, such as those principally indebted to New Testament armorial allegory and motif (from writers such as Ramon Llull to Geoffrey de Charny), to later fourteenth-century treatises employing Aristotle's De sensu et sensato to establish a secular hierarchy of chivalric colours. The study culminates with Part Three, offering responses to and discussions of particular medieval fictions in terms of their phenomenological, linguistic and intertextual treatment of colour perception. Medieval texts addressed include, amongst others, Le Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lords and Jean de Meun, and four Middle English metrical romances: Sir Gowther, Sir Amadace, Sir Launfal and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those who have helped me in this project: the Arts and Humanities Research Council, my supervisor Professor Corinne Saunders, the Department of English Studies at the University of Durham, St. Chad's College, Durham, the Durham Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Progress in Colour Studies Conference (Glasgow University), Nicholas Barton, M.Ed., and, The White Lions (Supporters of the College of Arms). My particular thanks go to my friends and family for achieving the most welcome and substantial colouration of my life. Durham, September 2008. M.J.H. Eek though ] spoke of love unfelingly, No wondre is, for it no-thing of newe is; A blind man can nat juggen wel in hewis. Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde Clown. Let her hang me: he that is well hanged in this world needs to fear no colours. William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night CONTENTS INTRODUCTION (a) The phenomenological approach 2 (b) The linguistic approach 10 PART I: Light, Colour, and Visual Perception in Medieval Thought and Imagination The medieval gaze at grips with a medieval world 15 The Christian synthesis of optical extramission 22 Of lux, lumens and divine significance 28 The light of reason 33 Of hierarchies of light 39 Extramission and hierarchy in Havelok the Dane 44 From the extramission to intromission of perceived light 46 Elemental colours in Aristotelian philosophy 52 Of colours as chemical mixtures 63 A poetic example of Aristotelian natural colours 73 Intromission and "the proper object of sight" 82 The encyclopaedic approach: visual perception and colour theory in Bartholomaeus Anglicus' De proprietatibus rerum 90 Of medieval colour values, associations and symbolism 125 PART II: Armorial Colour and Perception in Medieval Literature Introduction 148 Historical and literary contexts for medieval armory 149 Armory or heraldry? 159 The rise of the herald 162 Armory and chivalry 178 Armorial colours in spiritual chivalry 188 Hierarchy and colour in Geoffroi de Charny's Livre de Chevalrie 215 The hierarchy of colours in fourteenth-century books of arms 228 The inferiority of "vert" in fourteenth-century books of arms 241 PART III: Colour, Seeing, and Seeing Colour in Medieval Romance Introduction 246 Visuality and colour in Le Roman de la Rose 247 Colouring perception in Guillaume de Lorris's "religion of love" 248 Perceiving colour in Jean de Meun's "mirror of love" 259 Heraldry or pseudo-heraldry in medieval fiction? 270 "Of all Cryston knyghttus tho flowre": Sir Gowther and the spiritual hierarchy of chivalric colours 288 'Ryghte as he an angell were, / Cladde he was in quite': Sir Amadace and the true cost of secular knighthood 301 "Hys armur that was whyt as flour, / Hyt becom of blak colour": Chromatic transformation and interaction in Sir Launfal 312 "Ande al gray^ed in grene f)is gome and his wedes": Hierarchical pseudo-heraldic colour values in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? 326 CONCLUSION 337 BIBLIOGRAPHY 339 INTRODUCTION Colour was seen differently in the past. This naive statement is a useful starting-point for the study because it immediately introduces the philosophical problem of colour as it has been encountered throughout our cultural and intellectual history. Linguistic and philosophical questions: "What do you mean by the word colour?" and "What do you mean by the word see?" leap to mind, closely followed by and overlapping with philosophical and scientific questions: "What is colour?" and "What is seeing?" Some appeal to philosophy is necessary from the outset of an attempt to investigate the uses of and reference to colour in the creative arts. There has always been room in our approach to and understanding of colour, chromatic vision, and colour language, for more than is supplied by objective explanations of the apparatus of the eye, the brain, and interactions with light, these being the predominant physical and biological bases for explanations throughout the modern era and, in terms of differing concepts, much of our early history as well. The chromatic aspect of human experience has been both a subject for and medium of artistic expression and different societies' encoding of "meaning" throughout history. However, a fraught relationship between polarising