Cum dicit auctoritas: Quotational Practice in Two Bilingual Treatises on Love by Gérard of Liège Adham B. Azab Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2019 © 2019 Adham B. Azab All rights reserved Abstract Cum dicit auctoritas: Quotational Practice in Two Bilingual Treatises on Love by Gérard of Liège Adham B. Azab “Cum dicit auctoritas: Quotational Practice in Two Bilingual Treatises on Love by Gérard of Liège” is the first dedicated study of two oft discussed and poorly understood thirteenth-century love treatises known mainly for their unusual, syntactically integrated mixture of Latin and Old French. In addition to providing the first complete translation into any modern language of the treatises—Septem remedia contra amorem illicitum valde utilia (Seven Very Useful Remedies for Illicit Love) and De divino amore (On Divine Love, formerly Quinque incitamenta ad Deum amandum ardenter)—this dissertation aims to shed light upon Gérard’s practice of quotation, particularly as it pertains to the construction of authority. Each chapter takes a particular category of quotation as its subject, and shows not only how that category functions within Gérard’s treatises, but also how it may inform current scholarship in medieval studies. The first chapter contains the translation of both treatises. In the second chapter, “The Poetic Practice of Gérard of Liège in De divino amore,” I reexamine the Old French refrain corpus in light of what I call Gérard’s “refraining”—a poetic and quotational practice that bridges the sacred-profane divide in his treatise De divino amore. The third chapter, “Cum vulgo dicitur: Proverbs and the Language of Authority,” concerns the changing relationship of linguistic authority between French and Latin in the thirteenth century. The fourth chapter, “Quoting and Rewriting the Church Fathers: The Making of Thirteenth-Century Authority,” examines some of the most emotionally disturbing and striking quotations in Gérard’s treatises in order to explain how Gérard establishes his own authority; in addition, this chapter presents a new perspective on the concepts of auctoritas and authorship as they pertain to medieval religious texts. In the fifth and final chapter, “Septem remedia amoris: Classical Latin Poetry in the Treatises of Gérard of Liège,” I focus on Gérard’s much maligned first treatise—the Septem remedia contra amorem illicitum—to uncover its deep, Ovidian underpinnings, and I ask why Classical Latin poetry is almost entirely absent from the second treatise, De divino amore. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ p. 1 2. Translator’s Introduction ............................................................................................ p. 35 3. Chapter I. Translation and Commentary: Septem remedia contra amorem illicitum valde utilia and De divino amore (formerly known as Quinque incitamenta ad Deum amandum ardenter) ................................................................................................... p. 39 4. Chapter II. The Poetic Practice of Gérard of Liège in De divino amore ................... p. 176 5. Chapter III. Cum vulgo dicitur: Proverbs and the Language of Authority .............. p. 215 6. Chapter IV. Quoting and Rewriting the Church Fathers: The Making of Thirteenth- Century Authority ...................................................................................................... p. 250 7. Chapter V. Septem remedia amoris: Classical Poetry in the Treatises of Gérard of Liège ..................................................................................................................... p. 291 8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ p. 323 9. Bibliography ............................................................................................................. p. 330 i Acknowledgments These words represent the end of a six-and-a-half-year journey that has been by turns harrowing and felicitous. I imagined that I would find great relief in writing them, but instead, my mind is aswirl with the names of all of the people I want to thank, and I am tormented by my inability to find the language to thank them. How can I thank the people who made it possible for me to achieve a dream I wrote down in a time capsule in elementary school? And given the magnitude of the sacrifices they have made on my behalf, how could I dare even think about assuaging my anxiety by taking the easy way out—writing something like, “Words are not enough to express my gratitude to the following people,” and being done with it? Although words are truly not enough, I will try to find some nevertheless. I begin by thanking my family. My father and mother, Andy and Paula Azab, risked their long-term physical and financial health to give me the privilege of higher education, which they did not have. My achievement is theirs. In addition, I am grateful for my uncle and aunt, Mohamed and Resi Abdelrahman, who helped to fund my undergraduate education when my parents fell on especially hard times. Second, I give my hearty thanks to my Vergil, my former advisor at Tufts University, Professor Vincent J. Pollina, who encouraged me to declare a French major just a few weeks into my first semester, and who became my intellectual father. Over the years, I have tried in vain to live up to his example. One day, likely in my second year at Tufts, Professor Pollina said, “Perhaps we’ll make a medievalist of you yet!” to which I replied, “Jamais de la vie !” But here I am. Third, I thank the community of scholars who have nurtured my research—above all, the co-sponsors of my dissertation, Professor Carmela Vircillo Franklin in the Department of ii Classics, and Professor Eliza Zingesser in the Department of French and Romance Philology. I am grateful to Professor Franklin for teaching me how to appreciate (and love) medieval Latin literature, for helping me to come closer to my philological ideal, and for her immense generosity. I do not know how many times she welcomed me into her office or took calls on short notice so that I could discuss pressing concerns and linguistic obsessions with her. As for Professor Zingesser, from the beginning of her time at Columbia—while teaching multiple new courses and working on numerous research projects—she provided the prompt, detailed feedback and rigorous structure that I needed in order to be able to complete this dissertation. I am honored to be her first advisee and am entirely certain that I would not have completed this program in six and a half years, or perhaps ever, without her wisdom and guidance. I also extend my thanks to Professor Neslihan Şenocak, Professor Eleanor Johnson, Professor Susan Boynton, Dr. Consuelo Dutschke (RBML), Professor Marc Smith (École nationale des chartes), Professor Emeritus Christopher J. McDonough (University of Toronto), Professor Frank T. Coulson (Ohio State University), Dr. Michiel Verweij (Bibliothèque royale de Belgique), Pierre Gandil (Médiathèque du Grand Troyes), Professor Nicole Bériou (IHRT), and her student, the Abbé Christophe Lefebvre, all of whom provided me with critical insight into different dimensions of my project. In addition, I owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor Evelyn “Timmie” Birge Vitz at NYU for helping me to see precisely how I might write a dissertation on Gérard’s practice of quotation. The brainstorming sessions we had while I was at the prospectus-writing stage enabled me to devise an outline that I was actually able to hold to, and I continue to consider myself very fortunate for that. Fourth, I would like to thank the institutions that have funded my research—namely, the Department of French and Romance Philology, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and iii the Medieval Academy of America. Within my department, I thank Professor Pierre Force and Professor Souleymane Bachir Diagne for their kindness and leadership. Furthermore, I thank Benita Dace, Isabelle Chagnon, and Meritza Moss, who all guided and encouraged me from the very beginning of my time at Columbia. Dr. Pascale Hubert-Leibler, my friend and mentor, taught me everything I know about teaching, and much more besides—many of my best ideas took shape in conversation with her, and her experience helped me to learn from many of my failures in and out of the classroom. Beyond the borders of Morningside Heights, the Medieval Academy of America awarded me the prestigious 2017-2018 Étienne Gilson Dissertation Grant, which gave me the means to perform critical research in Paris; I am most grateful for the Medieval Academy’s support of my project, and to be associated with the immortal Étienne Gilson. Fifth, I have been blessed with some of the best classmates anyone could hope for. Kat Balkoski, Kalinka Alvarez Courtois, Rose Gardner, Sarah Myers, Inés Nam, and Dr. Ruen- Chuan Ma have been loyal friends in trying times and true thought partners, though we all study different material. I am proud to be able to call myself their friend and colleague. Finally, I return to my family in thanking Peng Xu for loving and caring for me even as I became an increasingly difficult and unlovable person. One day a few years ago, as I was struggling to write and wondering aloud, in frustrated tones, for whom I was really writing this