CATALAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, 3: 55-68 (2010) Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona DOI: 10.2436/20.1000.01.39 · ISSN: 2013-407X http://revistes.iec.cat/chr/
“Volent escriure a vostra consolació e plaer”: Metge, Corella and other 14th and 15th century masters of Catalan prose
Lola Badia* Universitat de Barcelona
Received 6 May 2009 · Accepted 20 July 2009
Abstract
This article examines literary prose from the leading 14th and 15th century authors who turned care for their style into the centrepiece of their efforts as writers at a time when Catalan scripta had reached maturity, after having become consolidated in the latter part of the 13th century. Bernat Metge and Joan Roís de Corella are the most masterful of these writers, both of them trained in imitating Petrarch, the classics (Ovid, Cicero, Virgil and Seneca) and especially in Boccaccio’s writing in the vernacular. We shall also examine the contributions from Antoni Casals, the anonymous author of Curial e Güelfa, Joanot Martorell, Felip de Malla and Francesc Alegre.
Key words: artful prose, reception of Boccaccio and Petrarch, imitation of the classics, rhetoric, history of Catalan lit- erature
Catalan literary prose appeared in the late 13th century in the day, that of Giovanni Boccaccio, the instigator of the such extensive volumes as Desclot’s Crònica (Chronicle) complex period of Latinising structure who invented art- and the early works in the vernacular tongue by Ramon ful prose in the vernacular tongue and popular literature Llull: the Llibre de contemplació en Déu (Book of Contem- with a high rhetorical and intellectual content.3 The fact plation on God), the Llibre d’Evast e Blaquerna (Book of that the model was Boccaccio, whose The Elegy of Lady Evast and Blanquerna) and Fèlix or the Llibre de Merav- Fiammetta, Corbaccio and Decameron were translated elles (Book of Wonders). In the ensuing century, they into Catalan, does not mean that there was not also a di- were joined by other historical texts, such as Muntaner’s rect stimulus from Cicero, Sallustius, Livy and the moral Crònica (Chronicle) and the ones written on the orders of Seneca, authors who were also the subject of translations Peter the Ceremonious, as well as several translations of and adaptations. The cultivators of artful mediaeval Cata- narrative and educational works and the prolific output lan prose learned how to write by mimicking the Italian of friar Francesc Eiximenis, author of Lo crestià, an ency- masters, Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and the Latin clopaedia for the education of lay persons, the Llibre de les classics. The familiarity with poets like Virgil, Ovid, Sta- dones (Book of Women), the Llibre dels angels (Book of tius, Lucan and the Seneca of the Tragedies, the subject of Angels) and the Vida de Crist (Life of Christ). Therefore, translation and compendiums or of small collections of at the turn from the 14th to 15th centuries, Catalan had a opinions, enriched the set of rhetorical resources in the powerful textual support that not only covered the genres Catalan language.4 of the literary culture of the day, mainly coming from In the Catalan writings we are concerned with in this France and Occitania, but also was present in the realm of article, which are somewhere between interpolated trans- science and technology.2*In this article, we shall examine lation, creative gloss and newly-minted texts, attention to some of the authors who at that time, marked by the ma- style is indissociable from the choice of historical and turity of the Catalan literary scripta, made attention to moral subjects with classical roots, subjects that earned style the core of their trade as writers, men trained as both their prestige precisely through texts such as Dante’s lawyers and clerics and religious men who elevated Cata- Comedy, Petrarch’s epistles and Africa and Boccaccio’s lan to the level of the most elaborate Romance model of works of fiction and scholarly compilations. The spread of this kind of text began under the reign of Peter the Cer- emonious (1337-1386) but did not reach its full expres- * Contact address: Lola Badia. Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, De- sion until the times of John I and Yolande de Bar (1387- partament de Filologia Catalana, Universitat de Barcelona. Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 585. E-08007 Barcelona, Catalonia, EU. Tel.: +34 934035612. 1396), who came from the French royal house, which was Fax: +34 934035698. E-mail: [email protected]
Figure 2. Thumbnail of the Leges Palatinae of the the royal court of the Kingdom of Majorca, manuscript in 1337 (Royal Library of Brussels) “Volent escriure a vostra consolació e plaer”: Metge, Corella and other 14th and 15th century masters of Catalan prose Cat. Hist. Rev. 3, 2010 61 mented prominent Valencians gathered together to spend treme situation in which two ladies must be saved from a an evening in the home of Berenguer Mercader. The art- certain death, who would a sincere lover choose: the one ful rhetoric rescues Ovid’s erotic literature from the con- he loves in vain or the one who is hopelessly in love with demnation expressed by the Dominican Antoni Canals, him? Discussing a dilemma like this one, and carefully ar- partly justifying Bernat Metge’s reluctance to allow the guing the psychological and moral implications of the de- misogynistic invectives from Corbaccio reported by Tire- cisions, perfectly illustrates Corella’s tastes and those of sias in Lo somni. Both Metge and Corella take pleasure in his courtly audience: extreme sentimentalism, a tragic vi- the tale of Orpheus’ life, the man who, thanks to the “celsi- sion of amorous relations, fatalism linked to the passion tud transcendent” [transcendent loftiness] of his poetry, of love, invincible pessimism. managed to briefly rescue his dead wife from the under- The elaborate prose of his mythological tales convey world. The art of “saying what they think artfully” and the this conflict and this anxiety, which are also present in significant power of the ancient myths are the core pur- Ausiàs March’s lyricism (1400-1459), with its Baroque pose of literature. adjectives which implacably herald catastrophes and the As the second son of a family from Valencia’s petty no- systematic use of hyperbole and hypallage.34 After the five bility, Joan Roís de Corella studied theology, and in his myths in the Parlament en casa de Berenguer Mercader, adulthood he became famous as a holy preacher. His Corella wrote Lamentacions de Mirra, Narcís i Tisbe works include the lives of the saints, Marian poetry and (Lamentations of Myrrha, Narcissus and Thisbe), set in translations of pious works: the Psalms and the four vol- the author’s descent into a private inferno where enam- umes of the Carthusian Ludolph of Saxony’s Life of Christ. oured couples display their misfortunes. The amorous Corella is the first important Catalan author to dissemi- repertoire is rounded out by the Història de Biblis que nate works in the vernacular during his lifetime through s’enamorà de Cauno (Story of Byblis who Fell in Love the printing press: the first book printed in Catalan, the with Caunus) and Leandre i Hero (Leander and Hero), a Trobes en llaor de la Verge Maria (Poems in Praise of the narrative retelling from the Heroides that exchanges the Virgin Mary, 1474), contains one of his compositions and two main characters from Ovid’s work. Just as in Tragè- his Cartoixà (Carthusian) has reached us today in incun- dia de Caldesa, in it Corella alternates prose with decasyl- abula. labic lines which he uses to emblematically frame the Corella’s profane works include amorous poems focus- most dramatic moments or to construct emotional epi- ing on the subject of disappointment (La sepultura [The taphs. Here, we can see how love drives Leander to his Burial], Balada de la garsa i de l’esmerla [Ballad of the Magpie and the Merlin], poems to Caldesa), works about circumstances with remarkable formal skill (Sepultura de mossèn Francí Aguilar [Burial of Sir Francí Aguilar]) and remakes of mythological subjects such as the ones men- tioned above. His only narrative “invention” or original output is the Tragèdia de Caldesa (Tragedy of Caldesa), which can be dated from 1458, a highly dramatic, first- person rendering of amorous betrayal by a beloved young lady with promiscuous habits. Martorell turned it into a private play in chapter 283 of Tirant.33 Given the fact that Tirant was finished in 1464, all of its borrowings from Corella must date from before then, which confirms that the profane poetry and mythological prose are works from this author’s youth, probably written during his grammar studies before he went on to study theology. The mediaeval scholarly tradition always taught Latin through readings of the classics, and the repertoire avail- able in Valencia in the mid-15th century must have been rich enough to stimulate the desire to imitate the style. The religious studies then refined the purpose of moral emulation of the licentious contents in Ovid, Seneca and Virgil. Another work from Corella’s youth is his bilingual epistolary exchange with Charles of Viana, who died in 1461 and whose titles included Duke of Gandia, Corella’s hometown. Charles of Viana translated Aristotle’s Ethics into Spanish, but the subject of his debate with Corella is a Figure 3. John I. Thumbnail in a capital letter of the Privilegis de la question of love in the chivalric tradition, to wit: in an ex- Vall de Crist (National Library of Catalonia) 62 Cat. Hist. Rev. 3, 2010 Lola Badia end, drowned when he tries to swim the strait separating deaths of her children, husband and grandson, victims of him from his beloved: the fury of the implacable Greek victors. Exclamations, invocations and apostrophes intertwine with cries for the I, estant de peus en la banyada arena, dreçant los ulls reader’s attention so that they get involved in the tragic a la llum que, encesa en la torre d’Hero, lo seu cor ence- events: nia, tornà altra vegada llançar lo cos a la mar fonda, di- ent amb veu per amor esforçada: O cosa raonable, si la gravitat d’aquelles dolors que les altres totes passa, ab esparç e apartat llenguatge als –Lo foc que veig encès alt en la torre, oïns se parlava, e veus llagrimants, doloroses, nostra crema dins mi la por de la mar fonda: mísera destrucció representassen, trasportant los oïnts o pendré port en la illa de Cestos, entrestits en la presència de nostra gran pèrdua: no o beuré prest de la mort lo trist càlzer; consentissen sinó ab gemecs, tristor, sospirs e sanglots i ab vostres mans donant‑me sepultura, ésser oïdes! vós, per qui muir, tancar‑me heu dins la tomba, Aquestes son dolors de mare i estèril reina, e cativa llavant lo cos, de llàgremes ab l’aigua. d’aquells que, ella mirant, en la sua pròpia ciutat han No us espanteu besar ma boca freda. donat cruel e dolorosa mort a sos fills, tolent a Príam en un dia ensems la vida e los regnes! O invariables, inics e O escura ceguedat d’aquells qui desordenadament implacables fats, qui la varietat dels actes humans infal· amen! E ab quin ànimo, ab quina sol·licitud e diligència liblement ordenau! Per què forçau la mia trista ànima treballen ensems l’ànima ab la vida perdre! O animosa ésser present a fatigat cors per dies e treballs, així dèbil, por d’aquells qui, recelant, temen los perills de viciós envellit e caigut que, deixant-me de tan dolorós viure, morir e viure, e, ab invincible e discret ànimo, per lo altre no serà en color e magrea, sinó tal com era com regne del cel la vida abandonen!35 falç nom de viu tenia? Vixca, doncs, Hècuba puix la mort sola de misèria la Corella’s other mythological works belong to the Tro- pot traure. O mare, semblant a ovella que fecunda has jan series and are yet another example of the extraordi- parit los fills per ser trossejats, partits en diverses parts, nary success in the 14th and 15th centuries of the Històries rossegats a l’entorn de la tua ciutat, com arades fent troianes (Trojan Stories), which Guido delle Colonne, solcs de gran profunditat en la sangonosa terra! widely admired by Boccaccio, Martorell and the anony- O febrida espasa d’Aquil·les, gasta e oscada sovint ta- mous author of Curial e Güelfa, wrote in Latin in the 13th llant real carn en lo meu miserable ventre criada, i així century by compiling French narrative sources from the mussa e envellida en trossejar los ossos e carn dels fills, 12th century.36 In accordance with this tradition, which que envides ha pogut tallar lo dèbil coll del pare! Fir includes the Argonauts’ journey among the forerunners sens tarda, esquinça e talla les nostres carns femenils e of the conflict in Troy, Corella produced a remake of the molles per què les animes prestament fugen d’habitació story of Jasó i Medea (Jason and Medea) told from the derruïda; que sens comparació més cruel te mostres vantage point of the heroine, who condemns Jason’s be- cessant de ferir en nosaltres, que matant aquells per la trayal and the little faith that men have in general using mort dels quals en tant extrem avorrim la miserable words learnt in texts by Ovid and Seneca. The Juí de Paris vida. O defunct e no sobrat ni vençut, fill meu Hèctor, (Judgement of Paris), which develops one of the most fa- oges dels profundes inferns la mia dolorosa veu, digna mous classical episodes in the Middle Ages, is presented de moure los cruels infernats deus a misericòrdia! O, si as a collective work in which the poet Joan Escrivà re- la ous, per què venir tardes? Qui pot resistir a la tua ani- counts the myth of how the three goddesses with their mosa força? Encara en los escurs regnes Aquil·les te charms appeared before the young shepherd from Ida. contrasta? Deixa lo cors en lo sepulcre: devore’l la insa- Corella added to this a moral exegesis or tropology, com- ciable terra. Vine, desijada, lleugera ombra, que sola tu mon to the clerical culture of a theology master. bastes vençre los covards grecs que, de tu viu fugint, de The brief Lletra d’Aquil·les a Políxena37 (Letter from tes victòries son romasos; porta Tròiol en ta compa- Achilles to Polyxena) was inspired by Històries troianes nyia, que ensems principi feu a la honor e fi a la vida.39 and by the epistolary style of Seneca to once again explore a tragic sentimental motif, and the Raonament de Telamó Corella displays his very finest by combining two fa- i Ulisses (Reasoning of Telamon and Ulysses) re-elabo- vourite themes from his repertoire: the repulsion for vio- rates the verses that Ovid devoted to the debate on Achil- lence, which leads him to even reject the chivalric values les’ weapons in the Metamorphosis. Corella’s most suc- so esteemed by his contemporary authors, and mercy for cessful mythological prose was the Plany dolorós de la the vanquished, especially misfortunate women who, like reina Hècuba (Dolorous Complaint of Queen Hecuba), Caldesa or the evil Medea herself, deserve understanding inspired by Seneca’s Trojans, by Guido’s compendium on and commiseration. The pleasure and consolation that Troy and by the Metamorphosis.38 Hecuba is conferred readers find in Plany d’Hècuba couple sentimental expan- the dignity of a mater dolorosa after the horror of the siveness with a Christian-inspired pacifist stance. “Volent escriure a vostra consolació e plaer”: Metge, Corella and other 14th and 15th century masters of Catalan prose Cat. Hist. Rev. 3, 2010 63
Figure 4. Autograph of Bernat Metge. Perpignan, 31st January 1396 (National Library of Catalonia)
This is not the place to embark on a thorough invento- ermo who had been in contact with Charles de Viana. ry of all the mediaeval Catalan writers who practised art- His versions of Leonardo Bruni’s Primera guerra púnica ful prose or Valencian prose, especially the ones who dealt (First Punic War), dating from 1472, no doubt derive with theological or devout topics, because this would re- from this connection with a humanistic circle and from quire another article; they include Pero Martines, Sister Ovid’s Metamorphosis. This version has the added value Isabel de Villena and many others. However, we should of glosses taken from Boccaccio’s Genealogia deorum, spotlight the figure of the Barcelona Canon Felip de Malla and it is conserved in an incunabulum dating from 1494, (1370-1431), the author of an ascetic and allegorical trea- published in Barcelona by Pere Miquel and dedicated to tise written with a high degree of rhetorical discernment Joanna the Mad of Aragon. The translation of Alegre’s and peppered with classical references translated into Metamorphosis was rediscovered by 19th century schol- Catalan: the Memorial del pecador remut (Memoir of ars, who published excerpts with admiring comments on the Redeemed Sinner). Malla, trained at the universi- the quality of the prose. In the prologue, Alegre defends ties of Lleida and Paris, was a theologian and a political the full version of classical texts over the excerpts and man who was highly active during the change in dy- summaries of his predecessors in the enterprise, as well nasty (1410-1412) and in the reigns of Ferdinand I and as the function of explanatory glosses, both evemerist or Alphonse the Magnanimous. He stood out among the historical and naturalistic. Here is a sample of the matu- representatives of the Crown of Aragon and the Council rity and professionalism of Alegre’s style as he adapts the of Constance, and his library was one of the richest in last few verses of book XV from the Latin poem into classical authors in the Barcelona of his day. Felip de Mal- prose: la, who delivered the speeches at the Gaia Ciència festival in 1413, believed that poetry and artful prose should be Iamque opus exegi, quod nec Iovis ira nec ignis devoted to theological, moral and political subjects, so his nec poterit ferrum nec edax abolere vetustas. affection for Latin letters departs from the didactic line of cum volet, illa dies, quae nil nisi corporis huius Antoni Canals as well as from the Boccaccian poetry of ius habet, incerti spatium mihi finiat aevi: Metge and Corella. parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis In contrast, we cannot ignore Francesc Alegre, who in astra ferar, nomenque erit indelebile nostrum, addition to being a translator of Latin works also culti- quaque patet domitis Romana potentia terris, vated classically inspired fiction.41 His status as a citizen ore legar populi, perque omnia saecula fama, of Barcelona has enabled us to identify him as the figure siquid habent veri vatum praesagia, vivam. who served as the Consul to Palermo starting in 1482 and who died between 1504 and 1511. We can thus distin- Conclusió de la obra present guish him from his father, the merchant by the same Ja és venguda a la fi desijada la mia present obra, la name who lived between 1433 and 1495 and had com- qual no poran destruhir lo ferro ne lo foc, ni l’antiguitat mercial interests in Sicily and links to the court of King devoradora no la porà consumar. Quant vendrà aquell John II.42 The writer Francesc Alegre frequented the dia esperat ab espant, no tenint algun dret si no sobre lo school of Iacopo della Mirabella, a Greek teacher in Pal- cors, fenesca a son plaer l’espai de ma vida, que ab la 64 Cat. Hist. Rev. 3, 2010 Lola Badia
translated into Catalan, but that corresponds to no known model. Contemporary personalities are allegorically con- cealed behind the names of the ancient gods, perhaps a merchant (Neptune) and perhaps a nun (Diana), the characters in misfortunate loves marked by dishonesty. Diana’s transformation into stone from Venus’ ire is tak- en verbatim from several verses from the Metamorfosis. It would be improper to end this brief survey of 14th and 15th century artful prose in Catalan without exposing the writers’ vacillations and doubts about imitating the Italian and classical writers. Beyond the cliché of the translator’s false modesty and the inferiority of the ver- nacular language compared to Latin, which are present in the prologues of many of the romantic versions of classi- cal works, there is a hint of insecurity that views the use of certain literary motifs and rhetorical amplification de- ployed in its fullness as a challenge that is difficult to over- come. However, we notice that underlying the doubts and vacillations is a strong confidence in the legitimacy of art- Figure 5. Stamp of Maria de Luna, wife of Martin I. ful literature in the vernacular language, especially if it comes with a moralising pretext, as we have seen in the millor part de mi serà portat sobre lo cel lo meu nom works of Antoni Canals and Ferran Valentí.44 The anony- indelible e seré llegit per boca dels pobles en totes les mous author of Curial e Güelfa, about whom we unfortu- províncies sotmeses al poder dels romans, vivint en nately lack any documentation, expresses it with utter ac- tots los segles eternalment ma fama, si res de veritat ha curacy.45 Because of his level of cultivation, we know that en lo dir dels poetes.43 he was a courtier in the Aragonese Courts in the mid-15th century. His chivalric novel upholds military and courtly The Faula de les amors de Neptuno i Diana (Fable on values and faithfulness in love, with a clear militancy the Loves of Neptune and Diana) is an exercise in creative against the renunciation of the honest pleasures set forth imitation of Ovid and Boccaccio which explains a trans- by Tiresias in Lo somni. His prose is contained and wise, formation attributed to the poet Claudianus, presumably closer to Metge’s balance and intelligence than to Corel- la’s exuberance. The anonymous author, who cites Dan- tes’ Comedy several times, uses declarations from Petrarch and repeatedly re-elaborates suggestions from Boccac- cio’s Filocolo,46 believes that it is illicit to invoke the muses in the prologue of a work like his, which contains poetic elements but is a far cry from the Aeneid and the Comedy, which fully belong to what he calls the “reverenda lletra- dura” (revered literature).
E si serà lícit a mi usar de ço que los altres qui escrivi- ren usaren o han usat, ço és, invocar les Muses, certes jo crec que no. Abans entenc que seria cosa supèrflua, car elles no apareixerien ne es mostrarien a mi per molt que jo les apellàs en subsidi e favor mia, car no han cura sinó d’hòmens de gran ciència e aquells segueixen, en- cara que no sien demanades, e mi e mos pars així com ignorants han en estrany avorriment; per ço que jo, així en aquesta obra com en totes les coses que parle, són imitador de les míseres e garrules filles de Píerus, ene- migues capitals d’aquelles nou egrègies sorel×les habi- tadores de mont Parnàs. D’altra part, que elles se tenen per menyspreades si són meses en obres ínfimes e bai- xes, car no solen seguir sinó los molt alts e sublimes es- tils, escrits per solemnes e molt grans poetes e ora- 47 Figure 6. Martin I. Thumbnail of the Privilegis de la Vall de Crist dors. (National Library of Catalonia) “Volent escriure a vostra consolació e plaer”: Metge, Corella and other 14th and 15th century masters of Catalan prose Cat. Hist. Rev. 3, 2010 65
However, in the course of the vision of the main char- català a l’Edat Mitjana i al Renaixement. Universi- acter’s dreams in the temple of Apollo, we discover that a tat de Barcelona, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Christian knight like Curial, outstanding in wielding Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca 2006. weapons and educated in the noble arts of music, poetry [3] Francesco Bruni. Boccaccio. L’invenzione della let- and oratory, deserves such high consideration as that of teratura mezzana. Il Mulino, Bologna 1990. the main characters of the great tales by Homer and Vir- [4] Curt Wittlin. De la traducció literal a la creació lit- gil. The anonymous author does not dare invoke the mus- eraria. Institut de Filologia Valenciana, Publicacions es, but Calliope, in the dream, chooses Curial to serve as a de l’Abadia de Montserrat, Valencia, Barcelona judge in a high profile literary trial. The knight is obvi- 1995. Josep Pujol. “Traducciones y cambio cultur- ously awed by this: al entre los siglos xiii y xv”, in Historia de la Tra- ducción en España, edited by Francisco Lafarga Oh, egrègia senyora! E quals fades me fadaren que jo and Luis Pegenaute. Ambos Mundos, Salamanca tanta honor reebés, que nou germanes, filles del major 2004, pp. 623-650. See the website “Translat” at dels déus mortals, venguessen a mi e visitassen aquest
me whether you recall what you were before you Prudència, edited by Lluís Cabré. Barcino Barcelona were engendered.’ “I don’t recall anything, because (at press). I am the same as the others and I should follow in [16] Jaume Torró. “Bernat Metge i Avinyó”, in Literatura their footsteps.’ ‘Fine,’ he says, ‘you believe in what i cultura..., op. cit., pp. 99-111. you haven’t seen.’” [17] Giuseppe Tavani. “La Griselidis de Petrarca i la [10] Idem, p. 110. TN: “If I do not set forth as I should Griselda de Bernat Metge”, in Per una història de la the reason why I have come, I ask you to pardon me cultura catalana medieval. Curial, Barcelona 1996, for the great misfortune I have suffered. I have not pp. 158-171. come here to look at the infernal depths, to which [18] Lola Badia. De Bernat Metge a Joan Roís de Corella. every mortal must arrive, nor to enchain Cerberus’s Quaderns Crema, Barcelona 1988, pp. 62-65. neck, as some have done before me. The only rea- [19] Lola Badia. “La legitimació del discurs literari en son for my coming is my wife, who has died from a vulgar segons Ferran Valentí”, in Intel·lectuals i es- serpent when she was in the prime of her life. I have criptors..., op. cit., p. 174. tried to bear it patiently, but I have not succeeded. [20] Josep Pujol. La memòria literària de Joanot Mar- My love for her has vanquished me. Everyone has torell. Models i escriptura en el Tirant lo Blanc. loved like me. Accept, then, that my wife be brought Curial, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, back to me. Everyone must die, and this is our last Barcelona 2002. home. You possess perpetual kingdoms of the hu- [21] Lola Badia. De Bernat Metge..., op. cit., pp. 13-38. man species. When my wife reaches old age, she [22] Mariàngela Vilallonga. La literatura llatina a shall also be yours, but until then let me have her. Catalunya al segle xv. Curial, Publicacions de l’Abadia Do not deny me, because if you do, I will not leave de Montserrat, Barcelona 1993. See the website “Stu- and then you will rejoice in the death of both of us.” dia_humanitatis”:
Roís de Corella”. Caplletra, no. 15 (1993), pp. 49- [38] Lola Badia. “El Plany dolorós de la reina Hècuba de 61. Joan Roís de Corella. Restauracions i contextos”, in [31] Josep Maria Nadal and Modest Prat. Història de Homenatge Joan Fuster, edited by Antoni Ferrrando la llengua catalana. Edicions 62, Barcelona 1996, and Albert Hauf. Publicacions de l’Abadia de vol. ii, pp. 472-512. Montserrat, Barcelona 1991, vol. iii, pp. 195-223. [32] Josep Lluís Martos. Les proses mitològiques de [39] Josep Lluís Martos. Les proses mitològiques..., op. Joan Roís de Corella. Institut Interuniversitari de cit., pp. 142-144. TN.: “Oh reasonable thing if the Filologia Valenciana, Publicacions de l’Abadia de gravity of those agonies for our great loss consent to Montserrat, Valencia, Barcelona 2001, p. 237. TN: nothing more than moans and sobs! These are the “Through the transcendent loftiness of the lady of woes of a mother and sterile queen, captive in her the sciences, sacred Theology, I have descended own city by those who have killed her children and upon verdant, blossoming fields of affable poetry have taken the life of Priam and the kingdoms the and I have left the meadows of restful silence to same day! Oh implacable fates that infallibly order hoist with pleasant exertion the white sails against human acts. Why have you obligated me to witness the lowly antennae of vulgar poetry. I aim the prow all of this with my body now aged? Live, then, of my writing towards the tempestuous sea of Ve- Hecuba, as only death can remove you from your nus and I shall describe shipwrecks of those who misery. Oh mother resembling a sheep that has have come to a miserable end. Yet since I know born her offspring just for them to be dismembered nothing else, I shall only recite utterances that I and dragged around your city like ploughs carving have heard recently from some men, whose names, furrows in the bloody land. Oh weak sword of when reciting such well-reasoned prose, inspire Achilles, spent carving royal flesh raised in my envy because of their fame.” womb, and thus dulled and aged from chopping the [33] Xavier Renedo. “Turpia feminarum incesta lasciv- bone and flesh of the children, only then has it arum. El joc teatral al cap. 283 del Tirant lo Blanc”, slashed the feeble neck of the father! Do not delay, in Formes teatrals de la tradició medieval. Proceed- carve and cut our soft female flesh so the souls can ings of the 7th Colloquium of the Société Interna- quickly escape from the ruined room. You shall re- tionale pour l’Étude du Théâtre Médiéval (Girona veal yourself to be more cruel if you do not harm us 1992), edited by Francesc Massip. Institut del Tea- than murdering those whose death make us despair tre, Barcelona 1996, pp. 209-216. of life. Oh Hector, my son, dead but not van- [34] Josep Lluís Martos. Fonts i seqüència cronològica quished, listen to my dolorous voice from the infer- de les proses mitològiques de Joan Roís de Corella. nal depths, worthy of earning the mercy of the cruel Universidad de Alicante, Department of Catalan infernal gods! If you hear it, why do you delay in Language and Literature, Alicante 2001. coming? Leave your body in the grave and let the [35] Josep Lluís Martos. Les proses mitològiques..., op. insatiable earth devour it. Come, ethereal and de- cit., pp. 162-163. TN: “And as he shifted his eyes sired shadow, only you can vanquish the Greek from the beach to the light that lit up Hero’s tower, cowards who flee from you when recalling your vic- his heart caught fire, he once again threw his body tories; bring Troilus by your side who gave in prin- into the deep sea, saying with a voice driven by love: ciple to the honour and end of life.” ‘The fire that I see ablaze in the tower burns my fear [40] Martí de Riquer. Història..., op. cit., vol. iii, pp. of the deep sea: either I will reach the island of Cestos 387-425. Evangelista Vilanova. Història de la teo- or I will drink from the chalice of death; and when I logia cristiana. Faculty of Theology, Herder, Barce- am buried with your hands, you, for whom I die, lona 1984, vol. i, pp. 684-686. Josep Pujol. “Psallite must close me in the tomb, cleansing my body with sapienter: la gaia ciència en els sermons de Felip de your tears. Do not be afraid to kiss my cold mouth.’ Malla de 1413 (Study and editing)”, Cultura Neola- O dark blindness, that of those who love heedlessly! tina, no. 56 (1996), pp. 177-250. And how diligently you work until losing the soul [41] Martí de Riquer. Història..., op. cit., vol. iii, pp. with life! O courageous fear of those who cower at 249-253. the dangers of the vile life and with a discreet, invin- [42] Jaume Torró. “Officium poetae est fingere: Franc- cible soul abandon life for the kingdom of heaven.” esc Alegre i la Faula de Neptuno i Diana”, in [36] Guido delle Colonne. Les històries troianes, edited Intel·lectuals i escriptors..., op. cit., pp. 221-241. by Ramon Miquel i Planas. Biblioteca Catalana, Bar- [43] Francesc Alegre. Transformacions. Pere Miquel, celona 1916. Joan M. Perujo Melgar. “Difusió de Barcelona 1494, r[6]r. TN: “Conclusion of the motius de la llegenda de Troia: traducció i reinter- present work. I have reached the end of this work, pretació”, in ‘Vestigia fabularum...’, op. cit., pp. 13-30. which neither iron nor fire nor time may destroy. [37] Annamaria Annicchiarico. Varianti corelliane e When the day comes that we fearfully await and I ‘plagi’ del Tirant: ‘Achille e Polissena’. Schena, Fasa- have no more right over my body, may my life end no di Brindisi 1996. while my indelible name will be taken to heaven 68 Cat. Hist. Rev. 3, 2010 Lola Badia
and will be linked to this name in all the provinces am an imitator of the miserly and chattering daugh- subjected to the power of the Romans. My fame will ters of Pieride, enemies of those nine sisters that in- live eternally if what the poets say is true.” habit Mount Parnassus. They consider themselves [44] See Lola Badia. “La legitimació...”, op. cit. deprecated if they are placed in fleeting, lowly [45] Martí de Riquer. Història..., op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 602- works, as they do not tend to follow anything but 630. Pere Bohigas. “Curial e Güelfa”, in Aportació the lofty, sublime styles used by the great poets and a l’estudi de la literatura catalana. Publicacions de orators.” l’Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona 1982, pp. 277- [48] Ibid, p. 78. TN: “Oh, egregious lady! What fairies 294. Lola Badia. “De la reverenda letradura en el could predict that when you received such an hon- Curial e Güelfa”, in De Bernat Metge..., op. cit., pp. our, nine sisters, daughters of the greatest of the 121-144. mortal gods, would come to see me and visit this [46] Jaume Torró. “El manuscrit, els pròlegs i el Filoco- grave of ignorance? It is proper that you keep Hom- lo”, in Encontres sobre el “Curial e Güelfa”. Aspectes er, Virgin, Horace, Ovid, Lucan and many others lingüístics i culturals. Castalia Madrid (at press). too long to cite company. But what reason might Lola Badia and Jaume Torró. “Curial entre you have to come see me? I am not a learned man Tristán y Orlando”, in Actas Segundo Congreso de nor am I worthy of a visit by such excellent maid- la Semyr (San Milllán de la Cogolla 2008) (at press). ens. You leave Aristotle and Plato to come to me?” [47] Curial e Güelfa. Barcino, Barcelona 1930-1933, vol. [49] Ibid, p. 79. TN: “‘Do not wonder about that,’ said iii, pp. 12. TN: “I believe that it would not be licit of Calliope, ‘because we will always follow those that me to invoke the muses as others do. To the con- we love and, even though we may be with you, we trary, I believe that it would be superfluous because will not abandon the others because through God’s they would not show themselves unless I invoked will we can be everywhere we want to be at once. them in my own favour, as they only help men of And sometimes we accompany men who do not re- great learning and pursue them even though not alize it and we help them to do and say what they do beckoned, while they ignore me and my peers. For and say, some more and others less, according to this reason, in this work, as in everything I write, I the disposition we find in them.’”
About the Author
With a degree in Hispanic Language and Literature from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1973), Lola Badia earned her doctorate in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1977 under the supervision of de Martí de Riquer. In 1983 she was appointed professor of Catalan literature. She has taught ancient Catalan literature at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Universitat de Girona and the Universitat de Barcelona. She has coordinated a research seminar in the Department of Catalan Language and Literature at the University of Barcelona since academic year 1987-1988. She is the head of the Consolidated Research Group on Mediaeval Catalan Literature and Culture, which has repeatedly been fund- ed by the Generalitat de Catalunya, and she has directed and continues to direct research projects for the Spanish Minis- try of Education, currently CODITECAM II. She has mainly published on the troubadour tradition, the literary culture of the 14th and 15th century Catalan writers, Raymond Llull’s vernacular works and the mediaeval scientific heritage in the vernacular. For an extended CV,