The Chronicle of Novalese: Translation, Text and Literary Analysis
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THE CHRONICLE OF NOVALESE: TRANSLATION, TEXT AND LITERARY ANALYSIS Elizabeth Artemis Clark A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classics. Chapel Hill 2017 Approved by: Robert G. Babcock Marcus G. Bull Francis Newton James J. O’Hara James B. Rives © 2017 Elizabeth Artemis Clark ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Elizabeth Artemis Clark: The Chronicle of Novalese: Translation, Text and Literary Analysis (Under the direction of Robert G. Babcock) This dissertation is a study of the Chronicle of Novalese (Chronicon Novaliciense), an 11th- century history of the monastery in Novalesa, Italy. There have been two major modern editions of the Chronicle (Bethmann, Cipolla), and one translation of the work into Italian (Alessio). The dissertation presents the first full English translation of the Chronicle, the Latin text, and an analysis of the Chronicle’s relationship with the 9th- (10th-) century epic poem Waltharius. Previously, there have been only a few English translations of brief sections of the Chronicle, taken primarily from Book II. I offer the complete English translation of all five books and the appendix in order to facilitate a broader access to the work as a whole for both the general and the academic reader. I include the Latin text, following that of Bethmann, and collating it against the lone manuscript, a rotulus, or roll, housed in the State Archives of Turin. I examine the connection between Book II of the Chronicle and the Waltharius. Employing a close comparison of the relevant lines of the two works, I find that the anonymous chronicler changed the epic poem in deliberate and meaningful ways. With these changes, the chronicler has expanded for his monastery the story of the epic hero Walter, who, according to the chronicler’s new narrative, became a monk at Novalese. Given the analysis of these changes, I suggest that there is value in a further examination iii of the chronicler’s methods in his treatment of the other portions of the Chronicle, which include small episodes concerning women, various accounts of political pressures on the monastery, stories and legends of the area, and tales of Charlemagne. iv To Sara Mack and to Steve Peretti. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Bob Babcock, who has been unfailing in his support and guidance of this high school Latin teacher and part-time grad student since 2008. Charlie Register, who in his role of technical wizard has saved me and my dissertation from myself more times than he would like to remember. And John Taylor, who for thirty-five years has been a friend, supporter, travel companion, and patron extraordinaire. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: ENGLISH TRANSLATION .....................................................................14 Book I: ..................................................................................................................14 Book II: .................................................................................................................18 Book III: ................................................................................................................51 Book IV: ................................................................................................................74 Book V: ..................................................................................................................79 Appendix to the Chronicle: .................................................................................109 CHAPTER 2: LATIN TEXT ..........................................................................................127 Book I: ................................................................................................................127 Book II: ...............................................................................................................131 Book III: ..............................................................................................................167 Book IV: ..............................................................................................................191 Book V: ...............................................................................................................195 Appendix to the Chronicle: .................................................................................226 CHAPTER 3: THE SECTION OF THE CHRONICLE “QUOTED” FROM THE WALTHARIUS ...................................................................245 Introduction ..........................................................................................................245 Walter as Warrior .................................................................................................255 vii Walter, Attila and Ospirin ....................................................................................279 Walter and Hildegund ..........................................................................................305 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................328 CHAPTER 4: THE DEPENDENCE OF THE CHRONICLE ON THE WALTHARIUS OUTSIDE THE “QUOTED” SECTION ........................330 The “Paraphrased” Section ..................................................................................331 The “Monastic” Section .......................................................................................341 APPENDIX: COMPARISON OF TEXTS: THE CHRONICLE II.9.3-185 AND THE WALTHARIUS 93-578 ....................................................................361 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................409 viii INTRODUCTION The Chronicle of Novalese Elizabeth A. Clark The monastery of Novalese lies in the Susa Valley in northwest Italy. It was founded in 726, destroyed by the Saracens in 906, and rebuilt and restored to the monks by the abbot Gezo in 1000. Shortly thereafter, in the mid-11th century, one of Novalese’s monks compiled a history of his monastery. The lone manuscript of this history, known as the Chronicon Novaliciense and considered to be the autograph (at least in part), was housed at Novalese until 1693, and is now stored in the State Archives of Turin.1 It is in the form of a parchment roll, a rotulus, containing 28 leaves of irregular lengths sewn end to end. The rotulus is 11.7 meters long, and varies in width from 8.5 to 11 cm., with an average width of 10 cm. The roll today is not complete. Its five books survive in varying states of completeness, and each book contains chapter titles which do not always align with the extant chapters. The titles themselves are separate from the chapter text and are listed as indices at the beginning of each book. Some titles are numbered; some are not. Books I and IV of the Chronicle survive in a fragmentary state, due to the loss of some of the original leaves. Books II and III are complete. We possibly have Book V in its entirety, but the chapter titles of Book V do not align with its chapters, and the book ends fairly 1 Archivio di Stato di Torino (nuova collocazione: ‘Museo’, s.n.). 1 abruptly, suggesting to some scholars that the Chronicle was not completed (that is to say, Book V might be unfinished; it does not appear to be fragmentary—there do not appear to be leaves lost from Book V).2 The manuscript also contains at the end, as an appendix, a series of documents. These documents are marked with symbols in such a way that they could be inserted at specific places within the Chronicle, and there is good reason to think that the author wished them to be inserted at these places.3 The author is anonymous, but was a monk of the community, and says in the Chronicle that he was born of noble parents and moved with his family among Breme, Pavia, Turin, and Novalese.4 When the Chronicle was in a more complete state, it was seen by early modern scholars, who summarized some of the now lost passages. In the 16th century, Filbert Pignon saw the rotulus, but reported only on the first two leaves. It was shortly thereafter excerpted by Guglielmo Baldessano, who saw it when it was already missing some of its leaves, those which encompassed the first six chapters. It was edited three times between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, by Combetti in 1843,5 Bethmann in 1846,6 and Cipolla in 1901.7 There is a more recent edition with Italian translation by Gian Carlo Alessio in 1982.8 There are a few brief modern studies, only a handful in English.9 2 Bethmann, “Hinc apparere videtur, opus non fuisse absolutum…” p. 75. 3 Combetti placed these sections within the text in his edition. In their editions, Bethmann and Cipolla left them at the end of the Chronicle, as an appendix, as they appear in the manuscript. 4 Chronicle, Book V. 5 Combetti, C. Chronicon Novaliciense. Taurino [Ex regio typographeo]. 6 Bethmann, L. Chronicon Novaliciense. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores 7. 7 Cipolla, C. Monumenta novaliciense vetustiora: VIII. Chronicon. 8 Alessio, G. Cronaca di Novalesa. 2 Previous assessments of the Chronicle have been decidedly negative, asking of the text what could be considered the “wrong” questions: Is the Chronicle historically accurate; is it written in elegant Latin; is it actually chronological? As the answer