Founding Women in Medieval French Prose Romance Giulia Boitani, Pembroke College Department of French Modern and Medieval Languages University of Cambridge Submitted August 2019 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Preface § This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. § It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. § It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. Summary The thesis entitled ‘Founding Women in Medieval French Prose Romance’ analyses the important role given to foundresses in the fictional works of 13th and 14th century romanciers. The study of three genealogical texts – Jean d’Arras’ Roman de Mélusine, the prehistory of the Tristan en Prose, and the Roman de Perceforest illustrate first and foremost the limits of the widely accepted assertion regarding the ‘absence’ of women in genealogical narratives of the time. I argue, on the contrary, that for these medieval authors women constitute an untapped source of literary potential, since by the 13th century all possible narratives surrounding Europe’s founding fathers were virtually exhausted. These female characters thus champion the creation of new narratives that run parallel to previous literature, but they also function as precious intertextual grafts that enable the romance author to tie his work to his literary precedents, guaranteeing a status of legitimacy to his own creation. By exploring the narrative trajectories of foundresses such as Mélusine, Presine (Mélusine), Chelinde (Tristan), Cerses and Lydoire (Peceforest) I show how these texts propose a new literary relationship tying fictional women to medieval romances: indeed, in these works the roles of generator of genealogy and generator of genealogical text become increasingly confused; thus, founding women often represent narrative trajectories which can support as much as run counter to that of their author. This unique quality, which marks these female characters against the passive and silent voices of their courtly counterparts, is due to the linguistic quality of lineage in these romances. Through an anthropological perspective I show how these texts envision kinship relations not as natural, blood bonds, but rather as linguistic alliances. Fictional foundresses are given the remarkable privilege to voice or deny these alliances, and thus to call the genealogy – and the romance itself – into being. Characters such as Presine and Lydoire, for example, are endowed with an authorial voice which allows them to craft their lineage on their own terms and even direct the narrative outside of the romance itself, towards new and unexpected intertexts; yet even passive characters such as Chelinde, Mélusine and Cerses are given the means to voice their own histories. What this research makes clear is that at a time when, in Capetian France, women were being increasingly excluded from power and even their very role in producing legitimate heirs is being questioned, the fictional foundresses of prose romances not only place themselves at the head of powerful lineages: they also write alternative histories of the world, and finally weave a textual genealogy for their romances, one able to create a network that encompasses all of European history. Acknowledgements In writing this thesis I have amassed numerous debts of gratitude. First and foremost to the Arts and Humanities Research Council and to the Cambridge Trust, its patron, His Royal Highness the Price of Wales and the Vice Chancellor who generously awarded me the funds to complete my doctorate; as well as Pembroke College, Cambridge, with its very own medieval French foundress, Marie de Saint Pol. To Sylvia Huot I owe the countless lunches that formed this thesis, and the innumerable hours playing the game of medieval romances, inserting ourselves in their fiction, following their thought through genealogies and climbing the vertiginous consequences of their words. She has taught me that a reader of medieval texts cannot escape the responsibilities their authors thrust upon us. To Bill Burgwinkle, for the untold time spent patiently correcting my work, guiding me towards this finished mass of pages – which at times only he saw in the distant future. His advice not only formed this thesis, but his personal mentorship has left me with the means to go through the academic road and beyond – a golden pot of life hacks, directions, positive reinforcements, aphorisms and support. To my mother, who knows how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child, I owe more than words can say. To my father and my brothers. To the usual suspects: Marianna, Simone, Giulia, Anna and Tommaso. To my Cambridge friends Edo, Katy, Roman, Carmen P, Dafni, Brian, Carmen B, Julia, Kalliopi, Panos, Guglielmo, Alan, and fellow medievalist and compagna di dottorato Valentina; as well as Alessia, Erica, Serena, Edoardo, and Esther. To Chiara, Angela, and Martina. To Francesco, Irene, and Margherita. To Gioia Paradisi, Paolo Canettieri and Emilia di Rocco. And most of all to Stefano. Contents Introduction 1 1. Narrative, History, and Genealogy in Jean d’Arras’ Roman de 19 Mélusine Genealogical Ambiguities in the Roman de Mélusine 23 Mélusine’s Clashing Narrative 34 Mother-author: Presine’s Intertextual Lineage 46 2. Chelinde and the Founding of Tristan’s Lineage in the Tristan en 59 Prose Chelinde and the Paradox of Romance 64 Linguistic Alliances and Babelic Confusion 72 Chelinde and the Structures of Lineage 79 Mother-lover: Incest and the Drama of Genealogy 85 Chelinde, the Grail, and the Narrative Programme of the Tristan en 94 Prose 3. Before Arthur’s Britain: the Women of the Roman De Perceforest 103 Cerses, the She-wolf of Rome 106 After Caesar: Lydoire’s Restoration 116 Dubbing Genealogies 127 Closing the Narrative Interstice and Invading NeW Intertexts: India 133 and Rome Conclusion 151 Appendix 161 Bibliography 164 Introduction Founding women were not an essential part of the genealogical narratives developed by medieval historiography in Western Europe from the 7th to the 12th century, although women appeared often in genealogies as useful vessels of blood continuity.1 Much of the historical fiction produced in these centuries was primarily concerned with the ideal of translatio imperii et studii, as writers sought to find suitable Trojan ancestors for the new political players of Medieval Europe and thus compete with Rome’s legendary Aeneas.2 Of course, ‘the Trojans were a race of founding fathers’, and thus in these genealogical narratives little space was dedicated to women at the origin of lineages.3 Europe was soon filled with the sons of Troy: amongst the most notable examples, one can find Brutus – Ascanius’ grandson – in England, and Francio – son of Hector – in France.4 However, by 1 See Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, L’Ombre des ancêtres. Essai sur l’imaginaire médiéval de la parenté (Paris: Fayard, 2000), pp. 94-97 and 163-168, and Oliver de Laborderie, Histoire, mémoire et pouvoir. Les généalogies en rouleau des rois d’Angleterre (1250-1422) (Paris: Garnier, 2013), pp. 145-246. Laborderie states that in English genealogies ‘les femmes sont en général peu présentes dans le texte et moins encore dans l’image, même les reines d’Angleterre’ (p. 218), with the unique exception of Ælfled, daughter of King Alfred. The scholar nevertheless underlines ‘le rôle important des femmes de l’aristocratie, et en particulier de celles de l’entourage royal, en Angleterre comme en France, dans la préservation et la transmission de la mémoire lignagère, dynastique ou nationale’ (p. 220). 2 Susan Reynolds identifies three models for medieval myths of descent. The first derives from Tacitus, who recorded that the Germani thought to be descended from Mannus, the son of the earth: this gave birth to the ‘Frankish Table of Peoples’. The other two, vastly more popular models traced the origo gentium of a people to biblical persons or – even more popularly – to Trojan roots. These last two models were often combined. See Susan Reynolds, ‘Medieval Origines Gentium and the Community of the Realm’, History, 68 (1983), 375-390. 3 Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Of Giants: Sex, Monsters, and the Middle Ages, Medieval Cultures 17 (Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press, 1999), p. 47. 4 The Francio myth is first found in the 7th century chronicle attributed to Fredegar, but note that Francio is not the only vessel medieval literature had found to connect Troy to the Capetian kingdom: the Partenopeus de Blois points to Marcomer, son of Priam, who escapes to Gaule through Italy after the destruction of Troy. The character had been originally introduced into Frankish history by Gregory of Tours (he is one of three duces that leads the Franks into invading the Gallia Belgica), although Gregory’s Marcomer has no connections with Troy or the foundation