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Joachimite Apocalypticism, Cistercian Mysticism And

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Joachimite Apocalypticism, Cistercian Mysticism And JOACHIMITE APOCALYPTICISM, CISTERCIAN MYSTICISM AND THE SENSE OF DISINTEGRATION IN PERLESVAUS AND THE QUESTE DEL SAINT GRAAL by MICHAEL O'HAGAN A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of French) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA March, 1983 ©Michael O'Hagan, 1983 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of French The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 Date March ?,1 , 1983 DE-6 (3/81) ABSTRACT The two early thirteenth-century romances Perlesvaus and the Queste del saint Graal are strongly influenced by particular theological doctrines. The primary influence on Perlesvaus is apocalyptic: not only does it reflect characteristically apocalyptic concepts of justice, moral obligation and redemption, but it also depends on the all-encompassing struggle between good and evil to unify its plot. More specifically, Per• lesvaus shows special affinity for the particular apocalyptic views of Joa• chim of Fiore, whose theory of the three ages of history and whose exege- tical principle of concordia litterae-are important influences on it. The theology of the Queste, on the other hand, is mystical, empha• sizing the inner life of the soul; yet the mystical Queste is more con• cerned with knighthood than is Perlesvaus. The ultimate fruit of spirit• ual enlightenment, moral struggle and growth in grace - all important themes in themselves - is a renewed knighthood drawing its inner strength from holiness and capable of giving the godly knight the kind of meaningful chiv• alrous adventure that his more worldly fellows cannot achieve. Underlying these distinct theologies is a common preoccupation with change and dissolution expressed principally through the material imagery of water, representing transition and the threat of destruction, and of fire, evoking the unchangeable absoluteness of the beyond. Further similarities in the less prominent material images of earth and sky and in the choice of colour images confirm that the parallel use of imagery of destructive water and of a fire that is more light than flame is not simple coincidence. ii iii Two very different theological responses have been elicited by a shared longing for the pure and absolute in the midst of profoundly menacing change. CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter I Apocalypse in Arthur's Kingdom: Perlesvaus 26 Chapter II The Holy Grail in the Third Age: Perlesvaus and Joachim of Fiore 59 Chapter III Apocalyptic Spirit and Mystical Doctrine: the Queste del saint Graal 141 Chapter IV The Underlying Unity of Perlesvaus and the Queste del saint Graal .209 Chapter V Conclusion 274 Bibliography 282 Appendix The Life and Thought of Joachim of Fiore 293 iv INTRODUCTION THE STUDY OF PERLESVAUS AND THE QUESTE DEL SAINT GRAAL The study which follows addresses itself to two Christianized Grail romances, the Queste del saint Graal and Perlesvaus, in search of an answer to the -simple question: what do these works mean? Very few literary studies ever have to stand entirely on their own, and this one, in that respect, is no exception. The question that concerns us has been asked previously by various scholars, and has been answered in ways that are, at least in some cases, both interesting and useful, and form part of the background to the ideas presented here. The influence of previous scholarship- does not extend to the approach adopted in this thesis. It is assumed here that Perlesvaus and the Queste are similar enough in inspiration and spirit to have part of their meaning in common, and that, at the same time, they are different enough that a study of the relationship between their unique, individual themes and the background they share will be enlightening. This assumption is not made by other students of either Perlesvaus or the Queste: comparisons of the two are rare. Whether the originality of approach is a virtue or a vice can only be judged in the light of the whole study, but it deserves to be noted at the outset. In the realm of ideas, on the other hand, this paper owes a considerable debt to earlier work, sometimes for insights that are so 2 clearly valid that they have simply been acknowledged and adopted, sometimes for other theories less obviously true, which nonetheless suggested a line of development or an area of investigation. Not everything written on Perlesvaus or the Queste in the last century is reflected here, but so much of it has entered in one way or another, directly or indirectly, into the thesis that a summary of previous work is likely to prove helpful to the reader. The organization and classification of studies related to Perlesvaus and the Queste pose some problems. Since the two works are almost never compared, it is easy to make a primary division into studies of Perlesvaus and studies of the Queste. Beyond that though, difficulties arise. Many articles center more on a motif than on the work, and often they consider the motif in several other romances in addition to the one of interest to us. Moreover, the volume of criticism in question is not large enough for distinct schools of thought or traditions of interpretation to emerge, except in very few cases. Organization by approach, theme, or area of interest is thus a potential source of confusion rather than of clarity, and for that reason, a simple chronological scheme, for all its obvious drawbacks, is adopted here, with brief comments on trends and related approaches to follow. Attention was first called to the Queste del saint Graal in an article in Romania in 1907^ by Albert Pauphilet, who would subse• quently establish himself as one of the leading students of the Queste, as well as its editor. Four years later it was discussed for the first time by another scholar who would devote large portions of her career to 2 it, Myrrha Lot-Borodine. o 3 Lot-Borodine and Pauphilet both returned to the Queste after the war, the former contributing a long article to Romania in 1921: 3 "Les Deux Conquerants du Graal: Perceval et Galaad", and the latter first publishing a full-fledged study, Etudes sur la Queste del saint 4 Graal attribuee a Gautier Map, in 1921, and then editing the text of the Queste for the Classiques francais du moyen age in 1923.^ These two critics both emphasized the theological character of the Queste, though without agreeing on the particulars of doctrine. A third doctrinal variant of their approach was added in 1932, when Etienne Gilson published his essay "La Mystique de la grace dans la Queste del saint Graal". Yet another, clearly distinct theological interpre• tation was offered ten years later by W. E. Hamilton, who argued for the centrality of the Eucharist rather than of grace.^ In the decade after the Second World War Albert Pauphilet and Myrrha Lot-Borodine continued to write o'n- the Queste. Pauphilet dis- g cussed it in his book Le Legs du moyen-age, and Lot-Borodine devoted two articles to it, one on the apparitions of Christ in the Queste 9 and in the Estoire del saint Graal, the other concerning "Les Grands Secrets du saint Graal dans la Queste du pseudo-Map".^ The second article appeared in a collection, Lumiere du Graal, edited in 1951 by Rene Nelli,which also contained several other studies on the Queste, 12 including Yves Le Hir's analysis of the biblical element, and Rene Guenon's attempt to associate the Grail with initiatory rites and esoteric knowledge.^ Frederick Locke produced, in 1954, both a dissertation on the structure of the Queste and an article for Romanic Review, calling for a new approach in the study of the Queste, based on the principle of 4 multiple meanings in a single work and on an appreciation of the major 14 importance of questing as an activity. In that same year Jean Frappier adopted an equally new approach by departing from the general tendency to theological interpretation of the Queste and other overtly Christianized Grail romances to emphasize that these remain stories about knights.^ Theological interpretations and new approaches continued to be offered through the nineteen fifties and sixties. Irenee Vallery-Radot 16 treated the Queste as Cistercian romance, while Locke incorporated his earlier call for a new approach into a monograph, The Quest for the Holy Grail: a Literary Study of a 13th. Century French Romance."*"^ In the same year in which Locke's book appeared, 1960, Helen Henriessy chose to concentrate on the author's technique of combining romance 18 and allegory, but the theological—and specifically Cistercian— character of the Queste continued to be of interest: Jean Charles 19 Payen commented repeatedly on the Queste from that point of view in his several studies of the theme of repentance in mediaeval literature. Other work on the Queste in the nineteen sixties comprised primarily brief articles with very narrow and precise focus. Pierre Jonin 20 wrote on hermits, William Boletta on earthly and spiritual nourish- 21 22 ment, and Luc Cornet on three specific episodes. Work in the nineteen seventies was generally broader in scope, though not always devoted exclusively to the Queste.
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