Durham E-Theses Alchemy and Exemplary Narrative in Middle English Poetry RUNSTEDLER, CURTIS,THOMAS How to cite: RUNSTEDLER, CURTIS,THOMAS (2018) Alchemy and Exemplary Narrative in Middle English Poetry, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12593/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Alchemy and Exemplary Narrative in Middle English Poetry by Curtis Runstedler A thesis submitted in fulfilment for the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Durham 2017 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author or the university to which it was submitted. No quotation from it, or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author or university, and any information derived from it should be acknowledged. Runstedler 2 ABSTRACT Alchemy and Exemplary Narrative in Middle English Poetry This thesis examines the role of alchemy in Middle English poetry from fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England, particularly how these poems present themselves as exemplary narratives to raise moral points about human behaviour, fallibility, and alchemical experimentation. The introduction suggests the compatibility between the emergence of the vernacular exemplum and the development of alchemical practice and literature in late medieval England. I follow J. Allan Mitchell’s ‘ethics of exemplarity’ for reading the alchemical poems in this study, extending his reading of Middle English poetry to understand the exemplary and ethical values of alchemy in poetry, which in turn helps the reader to understand the good of alchemical examples in medieval literature. Reading these alchemical poems as exemplary reassesses the role of alchemy in medieval literature and provides new ways of thinking about the exemplum as a literary framework or device in Middle English poems containing alchemy. The first chapter of this dissertation examines the history of alchemy in the classical world, particularly its connection to metallurgical techniques and early theoretical developments, through to its transmission into the Arabic world before reaching late medieval Europe. The second chapter continues this history, focussing on the development of alchemy in medieval England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. I examine the importance and impact of several key alchemical figures or poets who write about alchemy including Roger Bacon, William Langland, Thomas Norton, and George Ripley, as well as discussing the legal and societal responses to alchemical practice in England. These chapters contextualise the role of alchemy in fourteenth and fifteenth-century Middle English poetry, and explore the growing interest in writing vernacular alchemical poetry. The third chapter concentrates on John Gower’s use of alchemy in the Confessio amantis, in which it is presented as a model for ideal yet unattainable labour. Following R.F. Yeager’s reading of Gower’s ‘new exemplum’ in the Confessio amantis¸ I suggest that Gower’s alchemical section follows this new, emerging style of vernacular exemplary writing and can also be read on its own as an exemplary narrative, which recognises alchemical failure as a post-lapsarian decline and a sign of human shortcomings. In the fourth chapter, I examine Chaucer’s Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale, linking it to Gower’s use of the ‘new exemplum’ in the previous chapter to show how alchemy can be used within an exemplary framework to make points about moral blindness and human fallibility. The Canon’s Yeoman’s unreliability and dubious nature as a narrator suggest Chaucer’s subversion of the exemplary format, yet he still uses alchemy and exemplary narrative for moral purposes. The fifth chapter of this dissertation examines an alchemical version of John Lydgate’s The Churl and the Bird found in Harley MS 2407. Following Joel Fredell’s reading of the poem and Mitchell’s exemplary reading of Lydgate’s poem, I discuss the anonymous author’s use of alchemy as subject matter within the poem, particularly its presentation as an exemplum and how these added alchemical stanzas affect its exemplary reading. The sixth and final chapter focusses upon two fifteenth-century Middle English alchemical dialogues: one between Morienus and Merlin, and the other between Albertus Magnus and the Queen of Elves. Through the dialogue form, the characters in these poems collaborate in their alchemical pursuits, forming the moral examples that are consistent throughout the works studied in this dissertation. These identify the ‘right path’ to moral well- being and healthy living as well as successful alchemical practice and experimentation. Runstedler 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 Chapter 1: A Brief History of Alchemy 26 Chapter 2: The English Vernacular Alchemical Poets in Fourteenth and Fifteenth-Century England 62 Chapter 3: Alchemy and Exemplary Narrative in John Gower’s Confessio Amantis 74 Chapter 4: Chaucer and the Alchemists: Exemplary Narrative in the Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale 98 Chapter 5: John Lydgate, Exemplary Narrative, and the Alchemical Churl and the Bird in Harley MS 2407 140 Chapter 6: Alchemical Adepts, Merlin, and the Elf Queen: Alchemy and Exempla in Fifteenth-Century Middle English Dialogues and Recipes 169 CONCLUSION 202 BIBLIOGRAPHY 208 Runstedler 4 For my parents and Poppa Per ardua ad astra Runstedler 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my parents for supporting me there and back again. Mom, thanks for being you and loving and supporting everything I do, even if it sometimes didn’t make sense. Dad, my first hero, I really appreciate all the tough love and thanks for always being there for me. You are the best aviator I know and one of my greatest inspirations each day. I would also like to thank Poppa, my other great hero, who is possibly the wisest, most interesting, gifted storyteller I ever knew. One of my favourite memories with him was hearing stories about Prometheus getting his liver ripped out by the eagle at the Thanksgiving dinner table, and I think he really ignited my active imagination that night. He was a great person and his stories transcend time. I wish he was still here to see the final copy. This one’s for you, Pa. To my brothers, Ryan and Avery, you guys are awesome! Many thanks to Professor Elizabeth Archibald, who is not only an amazing supervisor, grammarian, and medievalist, but also a wonderful person. Thank you for being so supportive and thorough with my work when I needed it most. I would also like to thank Professor Corinne Saunders for such joyous meetings and feedback. From werewolves to astronomy to alchemy, we have had some good times. Special thanks to Professor Neil Cartlidge and Professor Helen Cooper for their feedback with the examination process. I would also like to thank the good folks at St Chad’s College, the Department of English, and the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, as well as Ted Finnigan, Bejba Bartošová, Petra Bartošová, Koren Kuntz, Robert Pain, Hannah Piercy, Abi Steed, Maddy Ward, Aude Croguennec, Dr. Sree Roy Chowdhury, Dr. Sigbjørn Sønnesyn, Dr. Mike Huxtable, Professor Stephen Regan, Professor Michael Snape, Dr. Siobhain Calkin, Professor Richard Firth Green, Peter Stuurman, Nick Barton, Mervyn Ellis, Dr. Bill Apedaile, Giles Dexter, Dr. Chris Diming, Dr. Chris Eaket, Colin Davey, Dr. David Mastey, Dr. Giles Gasper and the Ordered Universe team, Dr. Alex Wilson, Sophie Laurence, Ella Gregory-Irving, Dr. Damon Lycourinos, Dan Walsh, Michael Baker, Tom Spray, the Hirte family, David Tibet, James Turner, Professor Bob Yeager, Dr. Deborah Moore, Professor Don Beecher, Amelia Eichengreen, Eoin Bentick, Megumi Donworth, Indra Werthmann, Sarah Lovell, Dr. Anke Timmermann, the Macklem family, Kelly Clarke, Professor Gillian Foulger, Professor Lawrence M. Principe, Professor Stanton J. Linden, Dr. Jennifer Rampling, Jenny Parker, Andrew Dobrzanski, and Dr. Laurens de Rooij. May your many days be filled with glorious transmutations and distillations INTRODUCTION Medieval Alchemy in Popular Culture Medieval alchemy and the alchemist have long conjured exciting images of smoky laboratories, magical secrets, and colourful transmutations.1 While medieval alchemy is now regarded as a pseudo-science, or to a lesser extent the foundation or prelude to chemistry, its concepts and themes have seen a resurgence in literature within the last century.2 In J.K. Rowling’s debut novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, for example, the antagonists Lord Voldemort and Professor Quirrell seek out the Philosopher’s Stone as a means of prolonging Voldemort’s life and restoring his power.3 They almost succeed, and yet, with the use of the Mirror of Erised, only Harry manages to effectively acquire the Stone, which is depicted as an actual physical object in the book.4 Voldemort’s attempts to seek the eternal in confronting and trying to 1 Following Anke Timmermann’s definition, I use the term ‘alchemy’ according to its late medieval understanding, that is transforming matter. See Timmermann, Verse and Transmutation: A Corpus of Middle English Alchemical Poetry (Leiden: Brill, 2013), p. 1 n.1. I further discuss the term ‘alchemy’ and its connotations in Chapter 1. 2 For works on alchemical literature and its connections to modern science, see notably F.