Doggett PB cover 10/10/08 9:43 AM Page 1 PENN STATE ROMANCE STUDIES Christine de Pizan, one of the earliest known women authors, wrote the Livre de paix (Book of Peace) between 1412 and 1414, a period of severe corruption and civil unrest in her native France. The book offered Pizan a platform from which to expound her views on contemporary politics and to put forth a strict moral code to which she believed all governments should aspire. The text’s intended recipient was the dauphin, Louis of Guyenne; Christine felt that Louis had the political and social influence to fill a void left by years of incom- petent leadership. Drawing in equal parts from the Bible and from classical LOVE CURES ethical theory, the Livre de paix was revolutionary in its timing, viewpoint, and content. This volume, edited by Karen Green, Constant Mews, and Janice Pinder, boasts the first full English translation of Pizan’s work along with the original French text. The editors also place the Livre de paix in historical context, Healing and Love Magic in provide a brief biography of Pizan, and offer insight into the translation process. Old French Romance Karen Green is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Monash University. Constant J. Mews is Associate Professor of History at the School of Historical Studies at Monash University. Janice Pinder is Research Associate at the School of Historical Studies at Monash University. laine e. doggett penn state romance studies series isbn 978-0-271-03397-6 the pennsylvania state university press 90000 university park, pennsylvania www.psupress.org 9 780271 033976 penn state press LOVE CURES FM.indd i 7/23/09 4:27:02 PM PENN STATE ROMANCE STUDIES EDITORS Robert Blue (Spanish) Kathryn M. Grossman (French) Thomas A. Hale (French/Comparative Literature) Djelal Kadir (Comparative Literature) Norris J. Lacy (French) John M. Lipski (Spanish) Sherry L. Roush (Italian) Allan Stoekl (French/Comparative Literature) ADVISORY BOARD Theodore J. Cachey Jr. (University of Notre Dame) Priscilla Ferguson (Columbia University) Hazel Gold (Emory University) Cathy L. Jrade (Vanderbilt University) William Kennedy (Cornell University) Gwen Kirkpatrick (Georgetown University) Rosemary Lloyd (Indiana University) Gerald Prince (University of Pennsylvania) Joseph T. Snow (Michigan State University) Ronald W. Tobin (University of California at Santa Barbara) Noël Valis (Yale University) FM.indd ii 7/23/09 4:27:02 PM LOVE CURES Healing and Love Magic in Old French Romance laine e. doggett the pennsylvania state university press university park, pennsylvania FM.indd iii 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM library of congress cataloging-in-publication data Doggett, Laine E. Love cures: healing and love magic in old French romance/ Laine E. Doggett. p. cm. — (Penn State romance studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “Examines literary portrayals of women who practice healing and love magic, and argues that these figures were modeled on informally trained practitioners common in the magico-medical paradigm of the high Middle Ages, and were well-respected and successful”—Provided by publisher. isbn 978-0-271-03530-7 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-271-03531-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Romances—History and criticism. 2. French literature—To 1500—History and criticism. 3. Women healers in literature. 4. Magic in literature. 5. Love in literature. 6. Healing in literature. I. Title. PQ221.D64 2009 840.9’37—dc22 2009003734 Copyright © 2009 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses. It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ansi z 39.48 –1992. This book can be viewed at http://publications.libraries.psu.edu/eresources/978-0-271-03530-7 FM.indd iv 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM For Mom FM.indd v 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM FM.indd vi 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM contents d Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Background Considerations 15 2 On Artifi ce and Realism: Thessala in Chrétien de Troyes’s Cligés 39 3 Tristan and Iseut: Beyond a Symbolic Reading of Empirical Practice 85 4 Tristan and Iseut: Empirical Practice Amidst Competing Claims 134 5 Love and Medicine in the Roman de Silence 178 6 Reworked Elements in Amadas et Ydoine 221 Conclusion 262 Bibliography 268 Index 287 FM.indd vii 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM FM.indd viii 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM acknowledgments d i incurred many debts both professional and personal during the completion of this project. Without interlibrary loan, this book would not exist. I would like to thank the library staffs of Erskine College, of Florida Atlantic University at campuses in Jupiter and Boca Raton, and of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. In particular, Brenda Rodgers at St. Mary’s provided seemingly endless patient and careful attention to my many requests. Many colleagues offered help and support along the way. E. Jane Burns mentored this project in its infancy. Jeffrey Hammond read the entire manuscript at a crucial stage of the project, shaping it in ways both large and small. The anonymous readers of Pennsylvania State University Press made many valuable suggestions; without them, it would be a much poorer product. Other colleagues commented on sections of the work: Marcella Munson at Florida Atlantic and the members of the St. Mary’s Faculty Writing Group of 2007: Joanna Bartow, Robin Bates, Leslie Bayers, Katie Gantz, Angela Johnson, Brian O’Sullivan, Kate Norlock, and Christine Wooley. Robin’s careful nurturing of writers and the group’s dedication to scholarship provide the space for hard questions and the encouragement to keep working out answers. I also received insights and encouragement from Jingqi Fu and Robin Bates. In addition, I thank Claire Slesinski who helped type the bibliography. Colleagues in other disciplines furnished background information: Mark Rupright in modern physics, Rachel Corr and Bill Roberts in anthropology, and Linda Hall Jones in medieval Latin. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to Patrick Alexander and the staff of Pennsylvania State University Press. Some portions of the book have previously appeared: parts of Chapter 2 were published in Exemplaria 16.1 as “On Artifi ce and Realism: Thessala in Chrétien de Troyes’s Cligés ” (Spring 2004; copyright Pegasus Press) and a small part of Chapter 4 in Romance Languages Annual 2000 , vol. 12, as “Tristan’s FM.indd ix 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM x d acknowledgments Narration and Iseut’s Roles in the Folie Tristan de Berne ” (2003; copyright Purdue Research Foundation). Both are reprinted here in revised form with permission. Finally, thanks to my folks, Betty and Ron, whose support has never wavered. And thanks to Doug for being there. FM.indd x 7/23/09 4:27:03 PM d introduction The Origin of Love Potion Number Nine? pop songs, television programs, and other forms of popular culture in our world today are replete with representations of romantic love as a form of intoxication, the beloved woman as capable of either bewitch- ing or healing, and the idea that a couple’s love will result in a lifelong bond and happiness. Although we might assume that these notions have been with us for all time, I seek to determine how, where, and when they arose and how they came to be a part of the social construct of love. This study examines a central channel by which these ideas entered our discourse on love: the literary portrayal of healing and love magic (which fall into the larger category of empirical practices) that were found throughout medieval society. The texts I analyze portray only women as empirics (that is, those without formal training) and depict them healing and practicing love magic in plots centered on love and marriage. For these reasons, empirics in narratives of romantic love raise questions about women’s acquisition of specialized knowledge and their application of it in feudal marriage politics, in which their voices and their desires were easily muted. Women’s application of empirical knowledge in these circumstances highlights the contested and continuously negotiated posi- tion of women in society and the ways in which the construction of romantic and/or passionate love of women shapes that place. Although this study covers only a little more than a century during the Middle Ages, understanding the forces shaping love at this time is vital for a thorough comprehension of modern, western constructions of love, power, and relations between men and women. Only by attending to the origins and the impact of such images will we be able to under- stand fully where we are today. Consequently, I invite to this discussion Introduction.indd 1 6/2/09 2:52:29 PM 2 d love cures not only specialists in medieval literature and women’s studies, but also a broad range of literary scholars and historians of all time periods whose expertise covers areas such as science, medicine, magic, and religion. I also seek to engage those from other disciplines in which love and marriage are studied, such as philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and biology. A topic as signifi cant and broad as love can only benefi t from multi- and cross-disciplinary inquiry. How do texts of the time represent healing and love? A brief example illustrates what is in play.