A Study of the British Library Manuscripts of the Roman de Troie by Benoit de Sainte-Maure: Redaction, Decoration, and Reception Sian Prosser Doctor of Philosophy University of Sheffield Department of French January 2010 IMAGING SERVICES NORTH Boston Spa/ Wetherby West Yorkshire/ LS23 7BQ www.bl.uk THIS THESIS CONTAINS A CD IMAGING SERVICES NORTH Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ www.bl.uk PAGE NUMBERING AS ORIGINAL Summary Recent studies of the Roman de Troie have highlighted the need for more research on the extant manuscripts, because of the unreliable nature of the critical edition and the importance of the text to scholars of twelfth -century literature. This study seeks to contribute to knowledge of one of the most popular versions of the Troy legend in medieval France by describing and analysing two little-known manuscripts of the text. London, British Library, Additional 30863 (L2) presents an abridged version of the poem that provides insights into the reception of the poem in the early thirteenth century. London, British Library, Harley 4482 (L 1) contains a series of decorated initials which exhibit a higher than suspected level of engagement with the text on the part of the manuscript's makers. Part I of the thesis concentrates on L2, beginning in chapter 1 with a codicological and palaeographical description, and a discussion of its likely provenance. Chapter 2 develops the codicological analysis, looking at specific evidence of scribal editing and comparing the manuscript with its closest relative to see which abridgments are unique to L2. It concludes with case studies that illustrate the scribe's abridgement techniques via the presentation of the principal female characters. Chapter 3 looks at how the abridgements affect principal warrior figures such as Hector, Achilles and Penthesilee, concluding that the redactor and his public may have had a less nuanced vision of heroism than Benoit. It contrasts L2 with an abridged version of the text in Paris, BibliotMque nationale, fonds fran~ais, 375, in order to bring out the specificity of its approach. Part II focuses on L 1. Chapter 4 provides a full codicological and palaeographical description, and explores the likely provenance of the codex. Chapter 5 consists of a detailed examination of the manuscript decoration, while chapter 6 examines the reception of the Troy myth as evidenced by the contents of the historiated initials, focusing on Hector, Achilles and Penthesilee. The Harley initials are examined within the context of the illuminations of the wider manuscript tradition. Appendix I: the historiated initials of London, British Library, Harley 4482, Montpellier, Bibliotheque interuniversitaire, section medecine, H.25I, and Paris, Bibliotheque nationale, fonds fran~ais 783. Acknowledgments This thesis has been completed with the generous support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which not only provided financial assistance, but also made available opportunities such as the Researcher in Residence scheme and the UKGrad programme, both of which benefited me greatly in the course of my research. lowe an immense debt of thanks to my supervisor, Professor Penny Eley, for steadfast scholarly encouragement and perceptive, tactful guidance during the course of the PhD. After every meeting I felt heartened by her prompt and incisive feedback, and I could not have asked for a better supervisor. I would like to thank Professor Peter Ainsworth as well for providing invaluable support during the final stages of writing up my thesis. I am also grateful for the assistance he provided for my application to the World Universities Network for funding to visit Anne D. Hedeman, Professor of Art History at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Professor Hedeman kindly acted as a host supervisor during my five-week stay at UIUC and generously gave of her time and great expertise to train me in analysing medieval iconography, and also made me very welcome during my visit. I am grateful to the World Universities Network and the Sheffield Excellence Exchange Scheme for funding this essential visit. It would have been impossible to carry out my research without the benevolent cooperation of several libraries, chief among them the British Library in London, which allowed me to consult the manuscripts at the heart of this study, as well as numerous other materials, and provided high quality microfilms and digital images of the manuscripts, as well as permission to reproduce the historiated initials of ms Harley 4482. I am extremely grateful to Dr Scot McKendrick, Head of Western Manuscripts at the British Library, for taking the time to discuss various features ofmss Additional 30863 and Harley 4482, and pointing me in the direction of intriguing areas of research. I would also like to thank the staff of the following libraries for allowing me to access their manuscripts and microfilms, for providing reprographic services, and, in the case of the first two institutions, for granting permission to reproduce some of these materials in this thesis: the Bibliotheque nationale de France, Paris; Mireille Vial, Curator of manuscripts at the Bibliotheque inter-universitaire of the University of Montpellier; Special Collections, University of Nottingham Library; the Institut de Recherche de I'Histoire des Textes, Paris. Many thanks are also due to the staff of the University of Sheffield Library, including their highly efficient document supply team; the library of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; the Newberry Library, Chicago; the library of the University of Cambridge; Senate House Library, University of London; and the library of the Warburg Institute, University of London. I would like to thank the staff of the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds for being such supportive colleagues when I worked there during the fmal months of writing up. It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the kindness of others who have been generous enough to answer my queries and support me in my research. M. Alison Stones, Professor of Art History at the University of Pittsburgh, had the generosity to discuss with me the provenance and artist of Harley 4482 with me. Dr Catherine Hanley of the University of Warwick gave me precious insights on the depiction of the armour and weapons in the manuscript illuminations. Keith Busby, Professor of Medieval French at the University of Wisconsin Madison was also kind enough to respond to a query about quire division in medieval French manuscripts. Dr Peter Davies made some very helpful comments about the meaning of the word par/omir following one of my conference papers. I would like to thank Dr Penny Simons, Dr Julia Dobson and Dr Louise Lyle for participating in my annual research boards and making them a crucial part of my development as a researcher. Professor James Laidlaw graciously donated me his copy of the SATF edition of the Roman de Troie, which I highly appreciate. I am also thankful to participants in the University of Sheffield Medieval Discussion group for listening attentively to early versions of my research papers, and providing constructive feedback on my ideas. My fellow postgraduate students, past and present, in the School of Modem Languages and former inhabitants of the Arts Tower all created a friendly, stimulating, supportive research environment. Among them, Lorna Bleach and Geraldine McIlwaine read and commented on draft versions of my thesis and I am very grateful to them for their help, as I am to Lyndsey Bochaton, for her careful reading of my work and her constant encouragement. I also thank Chris and Anna Walton for their invaluable assistance. I am most grateful to Dr Philip Shaw, of the University of Leicester, for developing a programme to use Splitstree software to analyse the manuscript tradition, for helping with many IT related issues, for reading drafts, for brewing thousands of invigorating cups of tea over the course of the last few years, and, above all, for his unending patience, love, and support. I am also grateful to my parents, Gwyn and Rhoda, for having faith in me during the pursuit of my studies. I have been fortunate enough to receive help from many wise and generous people during my studies, but all responsibility for the errors that are contained within this thesis remains entirely with the author. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Editions 4 Textual Studies 8 Iconographical Studies 13 Part I: London, British Library, Additional 30863 Chapter 1: Description of London, British Library, Additional 30863 20 Codicological and Palaeographical Description 20 Linguistic Features in L2 27 Decoration 31 Chapter 2: Evaluation of the Evidence for a Deliberate Abridgement Technique 40 Comparison of A 1 and L2 40 The Extent of Abridgement in L2 48 The Relationship Between Quire Divisions and Abridgements in L2 51 The Distribution of Abridgements Among the Quires 53 Variations in Line Numbering 55 Abridgement Techniques: Case Studies 57 Cassandra and Andromacha 61 Heleine and Briseida 64 Ecuba and Polixena 77 Conclusion 83 3: Reception of the Troy Myth as Evidenced by the Abridgements 85 Achilles and Hector 90 Paris and Troilus 99 Pirrus and Panthesilee 102 Comparison of B with L2 115 Abridgements of the Roman de Troie in B 118 Conclusion 124 Part II: London, British Library, Harley 4482 Chapter 4: Description of London, British Library, Harley 4482 128 Codicological and Palaeographical Description 128 Decoration 131 Linguistic Features in L 1 136 Provenance and Dating 138 Chapter 5: Image and Text in the Historiated Initials of BL, Harley 4482 141 Conclusion 161 Chapter 6: Comparison of the Historiated Initials ofBL, Harley 4482 with Other 163 Illuminated Manuscripts of the Roman de Troie Comparison ofLI with D and Ml 163 Iconography of Panthesilee in Harley 4482 and Related Manuscripts of the Roman de Troie 179 Conclusion 186 Conclusion 189 Appendix 1: Patterns of Abridgement in BL, Additional 30863 See enclosed CD ROM Appendix 2: Figures 195 Bibliography 223 1 Introduction The Old French poem known as the Roman de Troie is thought to have been composed in around 1165 by Benoit de Sainte-Maure.