Education of Nuns, Feast of Fools, Letters of Love: Medieval Religious Life in Twelfth Century Lyric Anthologies from Regensburg, Ripoll, and Chartres (Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations, 26) 904294594X, 9789042945944

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d a l l a s m e d i e va l t e x t s a n d t r a n s l at i o n s

26

Education of Nuns, Feast of Fools, Letters of Love: Medieval Religious Life in Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies from Regensburg, Ripoll, and Chartres Edition, Translation, and Introduction by David A. Traill and Justin Haynes

PEETERS

Education of Nuns, Feast of Fools, Letters of Love: Medieval Religious Life in Twelfth Century Lyric Anthologies from Regensburg, Ripoll and Chartres

DALLAS MEDIEVAL TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

EDITORS

Kelly Gibson (University of Dallas) Philipp W. Rosemann (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) EDITORIAL BOARD

Charles S. F. Burnett (Warburg Institute); Marcia L. Colish (Yale University); Kent Emery, Jr. (University of Notre Dame); Hugh Bernard Feiss, O.S.B. (Monastery of the Ascension); Donald J. Kagay (University of Dallas); Theresa Kenney (University of Dallas); James J. Lehrberger, O.Cist. (University of Dallas); James McEvoy (†); Bernard McGinn (University of Chicago); James J. Murphy (University of California, Davis); Jonathan J. Sanford (University of Dallas); Francis R. Swietek (University of Dallas); Baudouin van den Abeele (Université catholique de Louvain); Nancy van Deusen (Claremont Graduate University); Bonnie Wheeler (Southern Methodist University)

SPONSORED BY

DALLAS MEDIEVAL TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

26

Education of Nuns, Feast of Fools, Letters of Love: Medieval Religious Life in Twelfth Century Lyric Anthologies from Regensburg, Ripoll and Chartres

EDITION, TRANSLATION, AND INTRODUCTION BY

David A. Traill (University of California, Davis) and Justin Haynes (Georgetown University)

PEETERS LEUVEN - PARIS - BRISTOL, CT 2021

Cover illustration: “Ruben” (Catedral de Santa María de Burgos, 2015) from the series “Boy Bishops” by Iwajla Klinke. By kind permission of the artist.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. © 2021 – Peeters – Bondgenotenlaan 153 – B-3000 Leuven – Belgium. ISBN 978-90-429-4594-4 eISBN 978-90-429-4595-1 D/2021/0602/108 All rights reserved. No part of this publiction may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Peter Stotz (1942–2020), whose many suggestions for corrections and improvements made him virtually a third author.

Frontispiece: Folio 95r of the Regensburg collection (MS. Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 17142). By kind permission of the Bavarian State Library.

Table of Contents Foreword

ix

Abbreviations

xi

Introduction

1

The Regensburg Poems 4 The Ripoll Poems 10 The Vatican Collection 14 Bibliography16 Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies from Regensburg, Ripoll, and Chartres23 Carmina Ratisponensia—Regensburg Poems 24 Carmina Rivipullensia—Ripoll Poems 66 Carmina ex codice Vat. lat. 4389 desumpta—Poems from Chartres (in MS. Vat. lat. 4389) 114 Notes161 Indices181

Foreword The three remarkable collections of poetry published in this volume of our series reveal medieval life in all its messiness. We are here far from the summae and libri Sententiarum, which operate in the lofty heights of theological speculation, and a little closer to the manuals of confession and “mirrors” for priests, which historians of social life in the Middle Ages are able to mine as valuable sources of information. Of course, poetry—especially good poetry—is always more than a record of the life which it reflects, and reflects upon, in that it attempts to capture some of the fundamental struggles and features of human life, the quest for love and beauty not least among them. Two of the collections in this volume contain love poems. The first set has its seat in life in a pedagogical dynamic that has been written about since at least Plato’s Symposium: it is an exchange—real or fictional, who knows—between a student and her teacher, or between (female) students and their (male) teacher. The teacher is, as it happens, teaching poetic composition, so that we get verses like these: Correct the verses that I present to you, my teacher, for I regard your words as the light of the Word, but it grieves me deeply that you prefer Bertha to me.

Pique is added to this already fraught situation by the fact that the master is a cleric and his students, young nuns. However, these poems are not exclusively about love; the reader also learns much about the education that these young nuns received. The second set of poems is more conventional, comprising as it does long descriptions of a female beloved’s beauty in terms that bespeak precisely the ideals—one might say more critically, stereotypes—of the day. Just like the first set, these poems make liberal use of imagery from pagan antiquity and contain references to pagan deities. This might seem striking in a Christian context, but the assimilation of the literature of classical antiquity was of course a central part of medieval culture. More surprisingly, however, the ethical values of antiquity have found their way into these Christian compositions: So, to be in good health, you need to break the bonds of chastity. Believe me, no medicine will be of any avail for you, unless this passion of yours is first cooled by a woman.

Our third set of poems represents compositions that were created for recitation in the context of the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December 28, 1180, at the

x Foreword

c­ athedral of Chartres. This feast day involved the reversal of the roles conventionally assigned to children and adults, and thus included the election of a boy bishop. This inversion, at once ritual and ludic, might appear subversive—in fact, is subversive— of traditional hierarchies, but it also reflects the authentic spirit of the Gospels. After all, Jesus himself declares, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Much has been written about this feast, including its relation to other feasts of fools (festa stultorum). The poems printed in this volume include the kind of biting satire typical of the carnivalesque and grotesque aspects of the festa which have attracted so much attention, and fascination, in the literature on the Middle Ages. It is worth noting, in passing, that in some Christian communities—in England and Spain, for instance—the tradition of electing boy bishops is practiced to this day. The photograph on our cover, by renowned artist Iwajla Klinke, thus depicts a contemporary boy bishop from Burgos. In our secular culture, the elaborate vestments of the mostly elderly prelates wearing them often strike one as oddly out of place, like costumes. Perhaps one has to be a child nowadays to appreciate the mystery of sacred rituals. Professors Traill and Haynes have prepared fresh editions of all poems, along with new—and, in many cases, first—English translations as well as detailed commentary to elucidate ancient, biblical, and medieval references, historical background, and formal aspects of the compositions. May this fascinating collection of medieval verse find many interested readers. Philipp W. Rosemann February 13, 2021

Abbreviations A MS. London, British Library, Arundel 384 DMLBS Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources MLREL Dronke, Medieval Latin and the Rise of European Love-Lyric OLD Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed. PL Patrologia latina R MS. Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó, Ripoll 74 S MS. Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 17142 (from Schäftlarn Abbey) Stotz personal communication from the late Professor Peter Stotz (for conjectures in the apparatus) T&H Traill and Haynes (for conjectures in the apparatus) ThLL Thesaurus linguae latinae V MS. Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 4389

Introduction The three anthologies included in this book provide us with fascinating insight into different aspects of the social life of twelfth-century Europe: in particular, the education of nuns in Germany; the love-life, real or imagined, of an itinerant monk from Lorraine; and the post-Christmas celebrations (often called the Feast of Fools) in Chartres. The earliest of the anthologies, the Regensburg collection, dates to the early twelfth century and is best known to English-speaking readers from the extensive selection included in Peter Dronke’s ground-breaking work on medieval love lyrics.1 More recently, a selection of the poems (in English translation) has been included in Barbara Newman’s study on twelfth-century collections of love letters.2 The manuscript contains a curious miscellany described by Dronke as follows: “fragments of classical and patristic authors, fragments of commentaries sacred and profane, absurd etymologies, mythographic notes, proverbs, mnemonics, and a host of verses—political, satirical and panegyric, elegiac, didactic, misogynistic—follow each other helterskelter, often mere shreds, scarcely two lines belonging together.”3 All but one of the sixty-eight short poems selected from this manuscript by Anke Paravicini for her edition of the Latin text are written in quantitative meters, and many seem to be exchanges between a male teacher and his adult female students. A number of them seem to indicate a romantic attachment between the teacher and one or more of his students. The historical background is roughly the last year or two in the life of Henry IV, king of Germany and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who died on August 7, 1106, after his army had finally defeated that of his rebellious son, Henry V, at Visé in Lorraine, in late March, 1106.4 The second anthology, the Ripoll collection, is the best known of the three since there have been several complete editions of the Latin text, some with translations,  See Dronke, MLREL (1968), vol. 1, 221–29; the Latin text and English versions of selections of the poems are given in vol. 2, 422–47. 2  Newman, Making Love in the Twelfth Century (2016), 257–78 provides translations of thirty-seven of them. For a detailed account of the contents of the manuscript, see Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970). 3  Dronke, MLREL (1968), vol. 1, 221. 4  See Robinson, Henry IV of Germany (1999), 339–43. Poems 46 and 47 may reflect the crisis at Regensburg in late 1105, when the opposing armies of Henry IV and Henry V remained for three days at Regensburg on opposing banks of the River Regen without joining battle (see ibid., 331–2). 1

2 Introduction

but, to the best of our knowledge, no complete English translation. The collection comprises twenty love poems written around the early 1150s or earlier and found in a manuscript from Ripoll, Catalonia, together with two poems to the bishops of Metz and Pavia adjacent to them, composed probably in the 1160s. The two poems addressed to bishops appear to have been written, as Dronke points out, in the hope of winning the patronage of one of them and are of some importance for identifying the poet.5 With the exception of the misogynistic poem 18, which, unlike any of the other poems, is also found in other manuscripts, they all appear to be the work of a single poet, written in Lorraine and taken, perhaps by the poet himself, to Ripoll, probably in the 1160s, where they were copied on to pages left blank in a tenthcentury manuscript in the library there in the 1170s.6 The third anthology is found in a Vatican manuscript. It was published by the young Bernhard Bischoff in 1930 and consists of seven poems written for performance at the post-Christmas celebrations in Chartres, probably in 1180, plus an elegiac distich written by the self-proclaimed “no-name poet” of the preceding seven poems.7 This is followed by four more distinguished poems by two of the leading poets of the twelfth century: Walter of Châtillon, who composed poem 9, and Peter of Blois (canonist), who certainly composed poems 10 and 12 and probably poem 11 as well.8 Poems 1 to 7 appear to constitute the only surviving collection of poems written for performance at a year’s post-Christmas festivities in a French cathedral town. The three anthologies also reflect the changes in fashion in the writing of Latin poetry in the twelfth century. The Regensburg poems are all written in metrical hexameters or elegiac couplets and practically all lines are Leonine, that is, lines in which the caesura rhymes with the end of the line.9 The twenty Ripoll poems,  See Dronke, “The Interpretation of the Ripoll Love Songs,” (1979), 29–30.  For arguments in support of this thesis regarding the origin of the poem, see Traill, “The Origin” (2006). For a comprehensive bibliography of the anthology, see the magisterial edition of the poems (with Spanish translation) by Moralejo, Carmina Rivipullensia (1986), 129–43. 7  See Bischoff, “Vagantenlieder” (1930). 8  The older view, prevailing from the 1970s until recently, according to which Peter of Blois, the famous letter-writer, was the distinguished rhythmical poet of that name lauded by Walter of Châtillon in his prosimetron In Domino confido at 7.7 (Walter’s Shorter Poems [2013], 240–1) was based on the mistaken assumption that there was only one Peter of Blois of literary significance in the later twelfth century. For the refutation of that view, see Southern, “The Necessity for Two Peters of Blois” (1992); also Southern, Scholastic Humanism (2001), vol. 2, 178–207, and Traill, “Disentangling the Peters of Blois” (2018). 9  The concentration on Leonine lines may to some extent reflect the predilection of the teacher. Also reflecting personal taste (as well as a taste more in keeping with the eleventh century than the twelfth), the Regensburg poems generally feature single-syllable rhymes instead of the two-syllable rhymes often associated with Leonine verse. 5 6

Introduction3

­ owever, are evenly divided between rhythmical and metrical. Among the ten metrih cal poems, caudate hexameters, where the rhymes are only at line ends, now outstrip Leonine lines or regular (that is, non-rhyming) hexameters. Also, while single-syllable rhymes are occasionally found, they are now much rarer. Of the twelve poems in the Chartres collection, all are rhythmical except for poem 8, a single caudate elegiac couplet, in which the poet of the first seven poems apologizes for being “a no-name poet,” in contrast, apparently, to the distinguished authorship of the four poems that close the collection. Accordingly, the anthologies reflect a shift within the twelfth century away from metrical to rhythmical poetry, from Leonine to caudate rhymes, and away from single-syllable rhymes, common at the beginning of the century, but shunned at the end. In editing these poems, we worked from the images of the manuscript on the website of the Bavarian State Library in the case of the Regensburg poems and from prints of microfilmed copies of the relevant pages of the manuscripts in the case of the other two anthologies. We are naturally indebted to earlier editors for the aid provided by their editions but have often differed from them not only in our reading of the rather difficult hands but also frequently in our interpretations. We have noted all deviations from the readings of the manuscripts except for the spellings, which we have silently classicized to facilitate use by readers unfamiliar with Medieval Latin spellings. Our translation is written in prose, but we have kept as closely as possible to the lineation of the poems. In the case of the rhythmical poems in the Ripoll and Chartres collections we have indicated the rhythmical patterns using the annotation advocated by Dag Norberg.10 The two key factors involved are the number of syllables in each line and whether at the end of the line the stress is on the penult (paroxytone), designated p, or the antepenult (proparoxytone), designated pp. Thus a line consisting of seven syllables and with the stress on the antepenult would be designated 7pp. For example, the first two lines of the stanzas of Ripoll 3 Sidus clarum form the following pattern: 4p+4p, 7pp. Since this pattern is repeated for the remaining lines of the stanza, the pattern for the whole stanza is 2×(4p+4p, 7pp). For longer lines with a caesura, such as the goliardic stanzas we find in the Chartres poems 4, 6, and 7, where all four lines of each stanza have the same pattern, the pattern is recorded as 4×(7pp +6p). This, by the way, is the same rhythmical pattern as that of Good King Wenceslas; so, if the reader reads the lines thinking of them as additional stanzas of the Christmas carol s/he will quickly grasp the rhythm.

 See Norberg, An Introduction (2004).

10

4 Introduction

The Regensburg Poems The Munich codex that contains the Regensburg poems (Carmina Ratisponensia), Clm 17142 (henceforth S), comprises two manuscripts that were bound together in a single codex in the fifteenth century at Schäftlarn Abbey (just south of Munich). The first of these, constituting folios 1–69, consists of the Translatio Sancti Dionysii II;11 the second (folios 70–143), copied in the second half of the twelfth century, is a curious miscellany of notes about Latin grammar and vocabulary, mythological information, short excerpts from commentaries and introductory notes on classical authors, and numerous short poems primarily written in Leonine hexameters and Leonine elegiac couplets, all crammed together higgledy-piggledy with little or no indication given where one item ends and another begins. In 1873, some of the more interesting poems in this miscellany were extracted and published by Wilhelm Wattenbach, who recognized that certain poems seemed to reflect an epistolary correspondence, often romantic, between a man and several women, at least one party of whom seemed to live in Regensburg.12 In 1966 Peter Dronke renewed interest in these poems by publishing a selection of them with an English translation. He referred to them collectively as verses from Regensburg, although he expressed doubt about their connection to Regensburg.13 But it was not until 1970 that 68 poems from S were named the Carmina Ratisponensia or “Regensburg poems,” when Anke Paravicini published (under her maiden name, Ebel) a preparatory study and transcription of all the varied material in S except for the poems that she had labeled Carmina Ratisponensia.14 She followed this in 1979 with a critical edition of the Regensburg poems.15 The title has been accepted by the scholarly community and Paravicini’s numbering of the poems has become standard. In 2016, Barbara Newman published an English translation of many of the poems based on Paravicini’s edition.16 However, the present edition contains, to the best of our knowledge, the first translation into any language of the complete set of poems published by Paravicini. We also present a new critical text based on our reading of the manuscript, containing many new conjectures. We have retained Paravicini’s numbering of the poems to facilitate scholarly use of our text.  See Bischoff, “Literarisches und künstlerisches Leben” (1967), 107.  See Wattenbach, “Mitteilungen” (1873). 13  See Dronke, MLREL (1968), vol. 1, 221; a selection of the poems are printed and translated in vol. 2, 422–47. 14  See Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970). 15  See Paravicini, Carmina (1979). 16  See Newman, Making Love (2016). 11 12

Introduction5

It is important to point out that, although Paravicini did excellent and invaluable work in separating these poems from the rest of the miscellany, her task was often necessarily subjective in nature. Paravicini’s guiding principle regarding whether to include verses among the Regensburg poems was their uniqueness.17 Usually, if a poem did not appear in other manuscripts, it received a number and a place in her edition, but if it did appear elsewhere, it was excluded. The result is that a large quantity of the poetry in the miscellany has been excluded, even though much of it is medieval and similarly composed in Leonine hexameters and elegiac couplets. The poems singled out as the Regensburg poems are scattered between folios 92r and 119v, but most fall into three main groups within the manuscript: poems 5–18 on folios 94v–95v, poems 24–30 on folio 97r, and poems 35–50 on folios 104v–107r. The poems in each of these groupings follow each other consecutively except for the occasional line of classical verse or a verse proverb. Most of the poems are written entirely in Leonine hexameters. Poems 47, 48, and 52 are Leonine elegiac couplets. Number 30 is a prose sentence, although it could be that the author initially tried to write a hexameter, but eventually had to give up, because the rare but key word repueriscere cannot fit into a hexameter. Many of the Regensburg poems are epistolary in form and reflect interactions between one (or possibly more than one) man, at times clearly identified as a teacher, and a woman or women, sometimes identified as “vestal virgins,” or “sisters,” presumably nuns or canonesses, who appear to have been his students. A number of these poems could be classified as love letters, and several suggest a love relationship between a teacher and one or more of his students, but how many of the poems reflect this relationship depends largely on whether one reads the poems as a sustained correspondence between two individuals or one considers the poems to be exchanges between different people. Although Paravicini maintains that these love poems were written by “several women and men,” it is equally possible, as Dronke points out, that a single student was responsible for all of the poems on the women’s side of the exchanges, including those purportedly coming from a group of students.18 It is also possible, and perhaps even probable, that a single teacher was responsible for almost the entire male side. Love letters so rarely survive from the Middle Ages that this feature alone makes these poems worthy of careful study. Perhaps even more importantly, the poems open a window onto the education of adult women in the Middle Ages. We know very little about the education of girls or women in the Middle Ages, and here we are provided with a rather convincing portrait.  See Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 15; Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970), 20.  See Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 10; Dronke, Women Writers (1984), 91.

17 18

6 Introduction

Everyone from Wattenbach to Newman has assumed that there was an original notebook which contained the miscellany in S, or at least the section comprising folios 83v–119v, where the Regensburg poems are found, in essentially its current form and that it was from this notebook that this portion of S was copied (whether directly or with intermediaries). However, we have seen no convincing evidence that S was a direct copy of such a notebook, and we would not rule out the possibility that the scribe of S compiled the miscellany or made his or her own abridgements and additions. Given the mutability of medieval miscellanies, we should expect that at least the last was the case. Dronke and Newman assume that the hypothetical original notebook belonged to the male teacher mentioned in some of the poems, but in Paravicini’s view, it was possessed by a group of women who used it to record notes from their lessons as well as their poetic correspondence.19 She presents evidence for this by noting that only the poetry written in feminine first-person voice displays definite evidence of being incomplete. In two cases, poems in elegiac couplets are missing their final couplets, making the sense incomplete. Most interestingly, she shows how a certain line in one poem must have been a revision of another line which the copyist inadvertently copied with no indication that one should be expunged.20 None of these features are present in poems which can be attributed to a male interlocutor, a fact which Paravicini interprets as indicating that the women possessed the rough drafts of their poems but only the polished poems sent by the men. While suggestive, we do not feel that this evidence is strong enough on its own to establish definitively which party owned the original notebook, an object which may well have never existed in its imagined form. We need not even necessarily assume that the epistolary poems are addressed to real individuals, although this seems likely enough, and if they are not, then the possibility arises that they could have a single author—it must be observed that most of the poems share a remarkably similar and idiosyncratic style. This theory, however, has no advocates thus far, presumably because a number of the poems evoke vivid elements of daily life that do not have the flavor of stock—or invented—material. Nevertheless, it is perhaps relevant in this regard that S contains excerpts from accessus (introductions) to Ovid’s Heroides 1–3, wherein it is explained that Ovid was impersonating these women in epistolary form.21 These excerpts occur on folio 94r just before the epistolary poems of the Regensburg  See Dronke, MLREL (1968), vol. 1, 221–2; Newman, Making Love (2016), 12–13; Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 11–12; more fully in Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970), 28–32. 20  See Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 11–12. 21  See item 88 in Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970), 67–8. Ovid is specifically described as “recommended to all who are languishing in love.” 19

Introduction7

poems. Between Regensburg poems 66 and 67, on folio 116v, comes an epistolary poem in the persona of the exiled Henry IV complaining to his son, Henry V. This poem is untitled in S but today known as the Conquestio Heinrici IV Imperatoris ad Heinricum Filium. Except for its much longer length (142 hexameters), it is indistinguishable from the Regensburg poems, written as it is in similar Leonine hexameters. Indeed, its modern editor assumed that it was by one of the same poets.22 Given that probably no one would argue that Henry IV was the author of this poem, it is an undeniable example of a fictive epistolary poem standing in the midst of the Regensburg poems. On the subject of realism, it is important to note another element that is often overlooked when these poems are discussed. Although many of them are suggestive of the epistolary form, none (including the Conquestio) is a proper letter in the conventional sense with a clear salutation and ending wherein the sender and addressee are named.23 Presumably, if these letters really were sent, they would have been embedded in prose letters that do not survive, or at the very least they would have had salutatory titles such as those found in the Ripoll poems, Ovid’s Heroides, and Baudri of Bourgueil’s epistolary poems—the last mentioned being a close analogue and approximate contemporary of the Regensburg poems.24 Perhaps even more remarkably—if we believe these poems represent genuine correspondence—S contains no prose letters,25 yet sections of prose, primarily short excerpts from treatises about myth and language, abound. Perhaps it should not be surprising, then, that the Regensburg poems so often appear to be missing critical information, for one of the only attributes shared by nearly every item in S, both prose and poetry, is that they are all extracts, bite-sized pieces of trivia and poetic models. One must conclude that even if genuine correspondence lies behind some of the poems in the collection, it has been subjected to the sort of abridgement, manipulation, and admixing that characterizes so much of the contents of medieval miscellanies. This fact together 22  See Holder-Egger, Carmen (1889), xiii. Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970), 118–19, rejects this idea on the grounds that it would be the only one of the epistolary poems that appears in other manuscripts. But this is a somewhat tautological argument, given that later—under her married name, Paravicini—she chooses to define the Regensburg poems as only those poems that do not appear in other manuscripts. She also argues that the text is too corrupt in S to be a direct copy from the pen of the original author, but this again rests on her unprovable assumption that S was a direct copy of a hypothetical notebook. 23  Poem 35 comes closest by naming the sender (cryptically) as Emma and the addressee as an unnamed young man, but it does not have the closing that the form demands. 24  It seems likely that the Regensburg poems, whether genuine or fictional correspondence, once had such titles. Note that the Conquestio was copied with just such a title in other manuscripts, but in S this is omitted. 25  “Poem” 30 is in prose, but it is not in the form of a letter.

8 Introduction

with the overwhelmingly scholastic nature of the manuscript suggests that the epistolary poems in S, whatever their original purpose or context, were collected here for the purpose of education. Unlike similarly titled collections such as the Carmina Burana and the Carmina Cantabrigiensia, the Regensburg poems (Carmina Ratisponensia) take their name neither from their current residence (Munich) nor the monastic library where they resided in the Middle Ages (Schäftlarn Abbey) but from the city where they are thought to have been composed. There is good evidence that many of these poems were written in Bavaria and of the various Bavarian cities where these poems could have been authored Regensburg remains the best candidate—although the evidence is by no means ironclad.26 There are two references to a capella vetula in poems 16 and 17, which are paired together in the manuscript (if fictive, they may have been intended as a single poem). This reference has been generally interpreted as referring to the Old Chapel, the former abbey church of St. Emmeran in Regensburg, which by the early twelfth century had become a royal Residenzkapelle and was served by canons.27 There is also a reference to Bavaria (Norica) in poem 51 and a reference in poem 63 to living in an urbs, a term generally only applied to cities with a bishop’s seat, such as Regensburg.28 Also, we know that Henry IV was in Regensburg from December 1103 until February 1104, which fits with poem 20. If, as Paravicini maintains, the collection was assembled by nuns in Regensburg, they must have been in one, two, or all of the three Benedictine convents in Regensburg, known locally as Niedermünster, Mittelmünster, and Obermünster.29 The Regensburg poems contain few hints as to the date of their composition, but three poems are particularly useful in this regard. Poem 43 speaks of the recent death of a king and the troubles experienced by a country ruled by his successor who was still a puer, and poems 46 and 47 refer to a turbatio regni. Wattenbach, followed by Dronke and Dieter Schaller, assumed that the puer must have been Henry IV, who was crowned in 1056 before he was six.30 But Paravicini rightly points out that there was no great disruption of the country as a result of his ascending the throne; she argues convincingly that the reference must be to Henry V, who was born in 1086, became joint king of Germany in 1099 and, after the death of his father in 1106, sole king at the age of 20.31 From December 1103 through 1106 there was enormous  See Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970), 21.  See Fleckenstein, Hofkapelle (1966), 281; Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 14. 28  See Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 12. 29  See ibid., 14. 30  See Schaller, “Probleme” (1966), 25–36. 31  There is medieval evidence for applying the term puer to young men as old as 28; see Hofmeister, “Puer, iuvenis, senex” (1926), 316. For the argument that the original of Clm 17142 dates to 1106, see 26 27

Introduction9

upheaval caused by the rebellion of Henry V against his father, the emperor Henry IV.32 This interpretation agrees well with the latest datable item in the miscellany, the Conquestio, which manifestly speaks of this political upheaval and has a firm terminus post quem of 1106, the poem’s dramatic date.33 Paravicini argues less convincingly that all of the Regensburg poems and indeed the entire hypothetical original notebook must have been written in precisely 1106. Her argument for this date is predicated on several other assumptions that we find at best unproven and perhaps unprovable: namely, that S is a nearly exact copy of an original notebook written in Regensburg, that all of these poems were recorded by a single group of women who shared one notebook filled with each other’s private correspondence, that all the poems occur in the manuscript in chronological order of the date of their composition, and that all were written within a single calendar year. Until further research is conducted, it seems safer merely to speak of the collection as dating roughly to the early twelfth century. Much of the interest of the Regensburg poems for modern readers lies in the apparent genders and identities of the interlocutors; so it is no wonder that editors and translators have felt compelled to specify these for readers. In her edition, Paravicini indicates the poems she believes were written by women by bracketing them with single quotation marks while Newman goes further, assigning every poem she translates, even those which feature no first-person voice, to either a female “student” or a male “teacher.” This approach seems dangerously reductive of the complex, and by no means settled, questions surrounding the production of the poems; furthermore, it often relies on stereotypes about gender roles when the gender of one or more of the interlocutors is not specified. We cannot claim to have entirely avoided these faults in our own notes and translations, but we have tried to grapple with these issues by discussing the gender and identities of the interlocutors in our notes to the translation as unresolved questions. For the sake of concision we treat the grammatical gender of the first-person voice (where specified) as the gender of the author, but readers should be cautious with this information since these remain anonymous poems and the danger of conflating an author with an authorial persona looms large. Clearly, considerably more research is required before anything certain can be said about the Regensburg poems. It is our hope that this new translation will stimulate further interest in these poems. They richly deserve careful study. Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 13, and Ebel, Clm 17142 (1970), 118 n. 511. Paravicini confuses the argument when she implies (13 n. 30) that Henry did not assume power until he was 25 (when he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in April 1111) rather than at age 20, when he became the sole king of Germany in 1106. 32  See Robinson, Henry IV of Germany (1999), 331. 33  See Holder-Egger, Carmen de bello saxonico (1889), xiii.

10 Introduction

The Ripoll Poems The Ripoll love poems are found in Ripoll 74, a tenth-century manuscript primarily devoted to glosses and etymologies. The tenth-century scribe found three pages too rough or worn for him to write on effectively and so left them blank. In the last third of the twelfth century a scribe filled in these three pages with the Ripoll poems: folio 97v (poems 1–8 and part of 9), folio 98r (the rest of 9 and 10–18), and folio 102v (19–20 together with two short panegyrics of the bishops of Metz and Pavia). The poems were first edited by Lluís Nicolau d’Olwer in 1923.34 He believed that the Ripoll scribe was the anonymous poet himself.35 Subsequent editors, Therese Latzke and José-Luis Moralejo, citing numerous textual errors (some of which, they argued, could hardly have been authorial) firmly rejected this view, although Peter Dronke supported it.36 More recent research has sided with the view of Latzke and Moralejo.37 The assumption that the scribe and the poet of the Ripoll poems was one and the same person led naturally to the corollary that the date of the script, generally agreed to be the early 1170s,38 should help in identifying the bishops who are the subjects of the panegyrics. Differing identifications have been made. Given the now prevailing view that the scribe was a copyist, not the poet himself, earlier dating than that of the addition of the poems to the glossary seems not only possible but probable. The incoming bishop of Pavia apparently replaces an illegitimate predecessor.39 The language strongly suggests the schism of 1159–1179 during the papacy of Alexander III when a series of antipopes were appointed by Frederick Barbarossa. We know that in 1162 Peter of Tuscany, bishop of Pavia, who was loyal to Alexander III, had to flee from Pavia when imperial interests won ascendancy there and replaced him with Sirus.40 The panegyric of the Metz bishop is very similar to that of the bishop of Pavia but unfortunately lacks any specificity that would enable us to identify him definitively. However, stress is put on his noble birth. A likely candidate, then,  See Nicolau d’Olwer, “L’escola poètica” (1923); the Ripoll love poems are printed on pp. 41–57.  See ibid., 10–11. 36  See Latzke, “Carmina” (1975), 150; Moralejo, Carmina (1986), 61–2; Dronke, “Interpretation” (1979), 15, where he correctly points out that some of the scribal “errors” alleged by Latzke are her own errors. However, the nonsensical exoe given by the manuscript at 14.2.3 can hardly be attributed to the author. 37  See Bourgain, “Le chansonnier” (2006), 34, and Traill, “Origin” (2006), 906–07. 38  See Latzke, “Carmina” (1975), 166; Moralejo, Carmina (1986), 60–1; Bourgain, “Le chansonnier” (2006), 21. 39  See Appendix 1, lines 3–4 (pp. 108–09 below). 40  Peter’s loyalty to Alexander III is shown by the attendance of the bishop of Pavia at the Council of Tours in 1163, who could only be Peter; see Somerville, Pope Alexander III (1977), 29. For Sirus, see Gams, Series episcoporum (1873), 800. Peter again served as bishop of Pavia from 1171 to 80. 34 35

Introduction11

would be Dietrich (Thierry, Theoderic) of Bar, bishop of Metz from 1164 to 1171, a younger son of Reginald I, count of Bar. He succeeded his uncle Stefan of Bar (bishop of Metz, 1120–63) in 1164.41 Moralejo, convinced that the scribe was not the poet, was the first to point out that the evidence for the presumption that the poems originated in Ripoll was simply the fact that they were written on the previously blank pages of a manuscript that had been in Ripoll since the tenth century.42 This was far from cogent evidence, for similar observations could be made about many manuscripts containing the works of classical authors and in no case would it be regarded as evidence that these works were actually composed in the monasteries involved. The poems themselves contain no references to Ripoll, Catalonia, Spain, or even any Spanish town or person. The only place-name mentioned is Remiremont in Lorraine, and the only person of distinction is described in a poem entitled Ad Comitissam Franciae (poem 11), which ends with the poet’s regret that France is not his homeland (lines 27–8).43 Also, while Dronke is probably right to see the panegyrics of the two bishops (written by the same scribe who wrote out the preceding poems) as the poet’s attempts to win their patronage, it would certainly be surprising that a Ripoll poet should be looking for patronage from the bishops of Metz and Pavia rather than from the prelates of Barcelona and Vic (or any other bishoprics in Spain). Personal names also provide clues as to the setting. We find “Judith” (Iudit) carefully spelled out as the name of the amica in poem 2 but, as Alison Elliott points out, this is “not a name common in Catalan onomastics.”44 The same can also be said of the named amica of poem 12, who is called Guilibertis in line 3 and Guilibergis in line 46.45 Judith, Guilibert, and Guilibergis, however, were reasonably common names in Germany and in those parts of today’s eastern France, such as Lorraine, that were then in the German empire. Judith, Uuilliburgis (various spellings), and Uulberta are all to be found in the Liber memorialis of Remiremont.46 The earlier dating for the composition of the poems finds confirmation when we consider the dates of the poems that influenced the author. Pascale Bourgain found that he seems not to have been influenced by poems written after 1150, concluding  On the names and dates of the bishops of Metz, see Gams, Series episcoporum (1873), 293.  See Moralejo, Carmina (1986), 19. 43  Since there was no such title as “countess of France,” the title above poem 11 is best translated as “To a French Countess.” Francia in the twelfth century was essentially the Île-de-France; it certainly did not include Lorraine, Burgundy, or the south-east of modern France, all of which, though French(or Provençal)-speaking, were in the German empire at this time. 44  Elliott, “A Note on Names” (1980), 115. 45  The error is a good indication that the Ripoll scribe was a copyist, not the author. 46  See Dronke, “Interpretation,” 26, and Liber memorialis (1970), 1:279–80.

41

42

12 Introduction

that the poems were therefore probably written shortly after that time rather than ca. 1175.47 When we try to place our poet in the tradition of earlier lyric poetry, we are struck by the influence on him of eleventh-century poems from northern Italy: Febus abierat, Surgens Manerius, and the Versus Epoderienses.48 It is clear from poem 11 that he also drew inspiration from Parce, precor, virgo by Godfrey of Reims. Most of what survives of Godfrey’s poems is found in two manuscripts in Reims and Berlin, which have virtually identical collections of poems that have close connections with Reims and Metz. The two manuscripts were copied from the same archetype, now lost, that passed between the two cities.49 Although a talented poet, Godfrey seems not to have been widely read and was perhaps unknown outside of Champagne, Anjou, and Lorraine.50 The Berlin manuscript appears to have been written in the Benedictine abbey of St. Arnulf in Metz, while the Reims manuscript was written in Reims. When we combine (1) the finding that the scribe of the Ripoll poems was not the poet but a copyist with (2) the complete lack of reference in the poems to Spanish towns, individuals, or poetic tradition, and (3) compare this with the reference to Remiremont in Lorraine and (4) the presence of amicae with names at home in Lorraine but not in Spain, and (5) the panegyrics of the bishops of Metz and Pavia, it seems much more plausible to infer that our poet was based in Lorraine, as was first suggested by Elliott, rather than Ripoll, perhaps in Metz at the Abbey of St. Arnulf, and had connections with Pavia. The route from Metz to Pavia could take him via Remiremont, the Great St. Bernard pass, and Ivrea, where today the sole surviving manuscript of the Versus Eporedienses by Wido of Ivrea is still to be found (perhaps an autograph, as Marek Kretschmer suggests).51 There is, however, one literary echo that seems harder to explain if we place our poet in Metz. Moralejo and Bourgain point out that the two opening lines and entire rhythmical pattern of poem 14, Noster coetus psallat laetus, are modeled on, and indeed a contrafactum and probable parody of, the Benedicamus pieces Noster cetus iste letus or Noster cetus psallat letus, both found in MS. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 1139 from St. Martial de Limoges in the west of France.52 However, the origin of the whole repertory of early polyphony found in the St. Martial manuscripts in Paris has come to be seriously questioned.53 Musicologists are now asking if the  See Bourgain, “Chansonnier” (2006), 31–2.  See ibid., 28; see also the notes to the poems. 49  For a detailed account of the two manuscripts, see Gottfried von Reims (2002), 132–9. 50  See Traill, “Origin” (2006), 910–11. 51  See Kretschmer, “Elegiac Love Poem” (2013), 35. 52  See Moralejo, Carmina (1986), 267–8, and Bourgain, “Chansonnier” (2006), 29. 53  Regarding the early thirteenth-century manuscripts from St. Martial that contain polyphony (including MS. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat, 3719), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and 47 48

Introduction13

creation of such pieces should not be attributed to monasteries more at the center of things like Cluny, whose medieval library is lost, destroyed in 1562, but which annexed St. Martial as a daughter house in 1061–1163.54 If these Benedicamus pieces originally emanated from Cluny rather than St. Martial, then it would be in no way surprising that monks in Metz were familiar with them. If our poet was a monk in Metz with connections to Pavia, how did his poems end up in a Ripoll manuscript? For a hundred years (1070–1169) Ripoll was a dependency of the abbey of St. Victor of Marseille, which lay within the kingdom of Burgundy and so formed part of the German empire at this time.55 About this period G. M. Columbas writes: “This dependency, which lasted until 1169, marks a new high point in the history of Ripoll. The exchange of monks between the two monasteries brought about the infusion into the Catalonian abbey of new and fertile currents both religious and cultural.”56 Monks then were coming to Ripoll from Marseille and no doubt other parts of Europe and clearly bringing manuscripts with them. We can of course only speculate as to how our poems reached Ripoll. However, it is not hard to imagine our poet, who seems to have enjoyed moving around, volunteering (or being chosen) to participate in these exchanges with Ripoll. If he arrived around 1165 with a manuscript or notebook containing his poems, we can perhaps posit a Ripoll monk enjoying the poems, having read nothing like them before, and asking if he could make a copy of them before our poet left to return to Lorraine (in 1169?). The Ripoll monk copied them onto the three blank pages of the glossarium described above. All the poems are headed by a title, with the exception of poem 18, which is a misogynistic piece and, since varying versions of it are found in other manuscripts, clearly not by the poet of the other nineteen poems, none of which is found elsewhere. This fact alone indicates that the titles were authorial rather than added by the copyist, as has been suggested. The copyist, however, strove to hide the erotic nature of the poems by writing their titles (or sometimes only suggestive parts of them) in “mirrored script.”57 Musicians (2004), 22:111, informs us that “there is no firm evidence that the surviving repertory originated there.” 54  See, for example, Gillingham, Music in the Cluniac Ecclesia (2006), 9–11 and passim. 55  For this and other information about Ripoll we are indebted to the excellent article on Ripoll by G. M. Columbas (1973). 56  “Esta tutela, que duró hasta 1169, marca uno nuevo apogeo en la historia de Ripoll. El intercambio de monjes entre ambos cenobios hizo pentrar en la abadía catalan nuevas y fecundas corrientes religiosas y culturales” (ibid., 1630). 57  See Nicolau d’Olwer, “L’escola poètica” (1923), 11; for instance, the title AD AMICAM is written MACIMA DA. Surprisingly, Dronke, “Interpretation” (1979), 22, disagrees with Nicolau d’Olwer on this point. However, the mirrored writing is found in twelve of the nineteen titles (poem 18 has no

14 Introduction

The Vatican Collection The group of twelve Latin poems in a late twelfth-century Vatican manuscript, Vat. lat. 4389 (fols. 173r–176v), was first edited by the twenty-four-year-old Bernhard Bischoff in 1930.58 Although Bischoff was later to become the leading Latin paleographer in Europe, noted for being very generous in helping others with his expertise, his text reveals a surprising number of misreadings of the manuscript, although some of the mistakes may be typographical errors. Nonetheless, the article as a whole is an impressive piece of work for a graduate student three years before receiving his doctorate. The collection has not been edited since, to the best of our knowledge.59 While Bischoff thought that all the poems were probably composed by the same poet, in a detailed review of the edition Hans Spanke pointed out that poems 9–12 are dichterisch auf einer beachtlich hohen Stufe (“poetically, on a remarkably high plane”), differing in this respect from the preceding eight.60 Subsequent scholars have generally agreed with Spanke. The first seven poems were delivered during the post-Christmas celebrations (often called “Feast of Fools”) at Chartres, probably in 1180, and it is principally in this sense that the anthology is said in this book’s title to be “from Chartres.”61 In an elegiac couplet (poem 8), their author humbly refers to himself as a “no-name” poet. Of the remaining poems, 9 is a humorous satire attacking the self-indulgent behavior of a bishop much in the style of (and almost certainly by) Walter of Châtillon. It appears to have been an attack on a contemporary bishop, whom Bischoff identified as Manasses, bishop of Orléans (1146–1185). The “no-name” poet of poems 1–8 used it as a rhythmical model for poem 1. Poem 10 is found among the Arundel love poems that are generally attributed to Peter of Blois, and poems 11 and 12 have also been attributed to him.62 Accordingly, the anthology is of considerable interest for two reasons: (1) It appears to present a complete group of poems title), and of these ten incorporate the word amica (usually in the form amicae or amicam). In only one title is a form of amica found written normally and that occurs in in poem 19, where the copyist was clearly distracted, for he made a grammatical mistake in writing Lamentatio pro separationis amice. 58  See Bischoff, “Vagantenlieder” (1930). 59  Poems 9 and 10, however, are also found in a British Library manuscript, Arundel 384, and these have been published in editions of the Arundel poems, such as that of McDonough, Arundel Lyrics (2010). 60  See Bischoff, “Vagantenlieder” (1930), 77; Spanke, Review of “Vagantenlieder” (1931), 374. 61  Spanke, Review (1931), 375, argues for a date for the festivities “hardly later than 1170,” but the poet’s borrowing of Walter of Châtillon’s witticism (at 4.7.3–4: cardinales = di carnales) dates poem 4, and presumably all of poems 1–7, after 1179; see Walter’s Shorter Poems (2013), civ. 62  On the two Peters of Blois, see p. 2 above.

Introduction15

that were delivered during the post-Christmas festivities of a single year in a cathedral town in France and may be unique in this respect. (2) The last four poems are by two of the most highly regarded poets of the latter half of the twelfth century, Walter of Châtillon and Peter of Blois (canonist). At least two of them (9 and 11) can be seen to have influenced two of the first seven poems (1 and 5). Between Christmas and January 1, young people were allowed considerable license. In essence, the festivities were a survival of the Roman saturnalia in a Christian context. A boy bishop was appointed to replace the regular bishop for the duration, and it was understood that he would be sympathetic to fairly outlandish behavior (within limits) as the youths mocked their superiors.63 Often well-known poets were invited to deliver satires mocking the failings of the higher echelons of the clergy, especially the bishops. Many of the satires of Walter of Châtillon, particularly those in goliardic stanzas, seem to have been delivered on these occasions. In the first poem the poet introduces himself as a satirist, reminding the audience of the license accorded satirists for their critical remarks during the postChristmas celebrations, and points out that it will be the boy-bishop, Gauchlin, who will pass judgment on any complaints of misbehavior. He also introduces Reginald of Bar, a younger son of one of the leading aristocratic families in France, and nephew both of the queen and of the archbishop of Reims. Although this is not mentioned, it is likely that Reginald, perhaps by way of his prominent relatives, was a major donor to cover the costs of the celebrations. The last stanza warns that the poet is about to move on to a different rhythm, signaling that poem 2 follows immediately. The second poem is macaronic, with the French being dominant in the first stanza but soon eliminated completely. The subject matter of the poem is how the courts protect and enrich the wealthy by ignoring or exploiting the poor. The poet makes an exception of his lord’s court. He sees the corrupt practices in the courts as part of a general decline in moral standards throughout society. Poem 3 (consisting of only three stanzas) was presumably delivered the following day, for it reminds the audience of the permission generally granted to satirists on these occasions to speak critically of others without fear of reprisal. Poem 4 is a general attack on “the leaders of society” but the poet’s attention is primarily focused on simony in the church with particular regard to advancement within ecclesiastical ranks.

63  Yann Dahhaoui has devoted several studies to the practice of electing a boy bishop on the Feast of the Holy Innocents; see for example Dahhaoui, “Enfant-évêque” (2005) and “Entre ludus et ludibrium” (2007/08). For a study of the poems delivered on these occasions, see Schmidt, “Quotation” (1990).

16 Introduction

In poem 5 the poet’s focus is on the young Reginald of Bar, who, the poet recommends, should eventually be promoted, as indeed he was, becoming bishop of Chartres in 1183 after the death of Peter of Celle (bishop of Chartres 1181–1183). Reginald is urged to model himself on his uncle, the archbishop of Reims, and not to resort to excessive torture as provost in order to exact payment from farmers harvesting land owned by the chapter. The poet advises him how to handle criticism, whether from the general public or his catamite, and closes with best wishes for Gauchelin in his role as the boy-bishop. Poem 6 is addressed to the choir boys who will sing the praises of Christ on the Feast of the Innocents and is apparently the prelude to poem 7, which the boys sing, celebrating the innocents killed by Herod. In poem 8 the poet identifies himself merely as a “no-name poet,” presumably in contradistinction to the following satire (9) by Walter of Châtillon and two remarkable love poems (10 and 12), certainly by Peter of Blois (canonist), as well as a poem (11) intended to be sung at the Feast of the Innocents, probably also by him. Bibliography Primary Archpoet, Die Gedichte des Archipoeta, ed. Heinrich Watenphul and Heinrich Krefeld (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, Universitätsverlag, 1958). Augustine, De Trinitate, ed. W. J. Mountain, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 50 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1968). Babrius and Phaedrus, Fables, ed. Ben E. Perrry (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1965). Bischoff, Bernhard (ed.), “Vagantenlieder aus der Vaticana,” Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 50 (1930): 76–97. Carmina Burana, ed. and trans. David Traill, 2 vols., Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Librarym 48/49 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2018). Chrysostom, Panégyriques de saint Paul, ed. and trans. Auguste Piédagnel, Sources chrétiennes 300 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1982). Dronke, Peter, Medieval Latin and the Rise of European Love-Lyric, 2 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968). Dümmler, Ernst, Anselm der Peripatetiker (Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1872). Ebel, Anke, Clm 17142. Eine Schäftlarner Miscellaneen-Handschrift des 12. Jahrhunderts, Münchener Beiträge zur Mediävistik und Renaissance-Forschung 6 (Munich: Arbeo-Gesellschaft, 1970).

Introduction17

Elliott, Alison, “A Note on Names: The Love Poems from Ripoll,” Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 15 (1980): 112–20. Elliott, J. K., The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993). Flacius Illyricus, Varia doctorum piorumque virorum … poemata (Frankfurt am Main: no named publisher, 1754). Fleckenstein, Josef., Die Hofkapelle der deutschen Könige, Schriften der Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 16.2 (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1966). Gottfried von Reims, Kritische Gesamtausgabe, ed. Elmar Broecker (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2002). Haseldine, Julian, The Letters of Peter of Celle, Oxford Medieval Texts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). Holder-Egger, Oswald (ed.), Carmen de bello saxonico, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi (Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1889). Jaffé, Philipp (ed.), Regesta pontificum Romanorum, 2 vols. (Leipzig: Veit et Comp., 1885–1888). Jérôme, Saint, Lettres, ed. and trans. Jérôme Labourt, 8 vols., (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1949–1963). John of Salisbury, Policraticus, trans. Cary Nederman. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Könsgen, Ewald, “Bemerkungen und Ergänzungen zur Edition der Carmina erotica der Ripollsammlung,” Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 12 (1977): 82–91. Kretschmer, Marek, “The Elegiac Love Poems Versus Eporedienses and De Tribus Puellis and the Ovidian Backdrop,” Journal of Medieval Latin 23 (2013): 35–47. —, Latin Love Elegy and the Dawn of the Ovidian Age: A Study of the Versus Eporedienses and the Latin Classics, Publications of the Journal of Medieval Latin 14 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2020). Latzke, Therese, “Die Carmina erotica der Ripollsammlung,” Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 10 (1975): 138–201. Lepinois, Eugène de, and Lucien Merlet, Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Chartres (Chartres: Société archéologique d’Eure-et-Loir, 1802). Lewis, Charlton T., and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879). Liber memorialis von Remiremont, ed. Eduard Hladwitschka, Karl Schmid, and Gerd Tellenbach, 2 vols., Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libri memoriales 1 (Dublin: Four Courts Press; Zurich: Weidemann, 1970). McDonough, Christopher J. (ed. and trans.), The Arundel Lyrics, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 2 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2010). Méril, Edelestand du, Poésies inédites du moyen âge (Bologna: Forni, 1969).

18 Introduction

—, Poésies populaires latines du moyen âge (Paris: F. Didot, 1847). Moralejo, José-Luis (ed. and trans.), Carmina Rivipullensia—Cancionero di Ripoll (Barcelona: Bosch, 1986). Nicolau d’Olwer, Lluís, “L’escola poètica de Ripoll en els segles X–XIII,” Annuari de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans 6 (1915–1920 [published in 1923]), 3–84 (Ripoll poems at 41–57). Paravicini, Anke (ed.), Carmina Ratisponensia, Editiones Heidelbergenses 20 (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1979). Peter Lombard, Sententiae in IV libris distinctae, 2 vols., Spicilegium Bonaventurianum 4/5 (Grottaferrata: Editiones Collegii S. Bonaventurae ad Claras Aquas, 1971–1981). Peter Lombard, The Sentences, 4 vols., trans. Giulio Silano, Mediaeval Sources in Translation 42, 43, 45, and 48 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2007–2010). Phaedrus: see Babrius. Raventós, Jordi (trans.), Cançoner de Ripoll, intro. Pere J. Quetglas (Martorell: Adesiara Editorial, 2010). Versus eporedienses: see Ernst Dümmler, Anselm der Peripatetiker, and Marek Kretschmer, Latin Love Elegy. Walter of Châtillon, Shorter Poems, ed. and trans. David Traill, Oxford Medieval Texts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). Wattenbach, Wilhelm, “Mittheilungen aus zwei Handschriften der königlichen Hofund Staatsbibliothek,” Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse 3 (1873): 710–47. Werner, Jakob, Beiträge zur Kunde der lateinischen Literatur des Mittelalters (Aarau: H. R. Sauerländer, 1905). Wolff, Étienne, Le chansonnier amoureux: Carmina Rivipullensia (Monaco: Rocher, 2001). Wright, Thomas, The Latin Poems Commonly Attributed to Walter Mapes (London: Camden Society, 1841). Secondary Bischoff, Bernhard, “Literarisches und künstlerisches Leben in St. Emmeran (Regensburg) während des frühen und hohen Mittelalters,” in idem, Mittelalterliche Studien. Ausgewählte Aufsätze zur Schriftkunde und Literaturgeschichte, vol. 2 (Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1967), 77–115. Blaise, Albert, Dictionnaire latin-français des auteurs chrétiens (Strasbourg: Le Latin Chrétien, 1954). —, Manuel du latin chrétien (Strasbourg: Le Latin Chrétien, 1955).

Introduction19

—, A Handbook of Christian Latin: Style, Morphology, and Syntax, trans. Grant C. Roti (Turnhout: Brepols; Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1994). Bourgain, Pascale. “Le chansonnier de Ripoll dans l’espace poétique européan,” in Actas do IV Congresso Internacional de Latim Medieval Hispânico, Lisboa, 12–15 outubro de 2005, ed. Aires A. Nascimento (Lisbon: Centro de Estudos Classicos, 2006), 21–36. Columbas, G. M., “Ripoll,” in Diccionario de historia eclesiástica de España, ed. Quintín Aldea Vaquero, Tomás Marín Martínez, and José Vives Gatell, 5 vols. (Madrid: CSIS Instituto Enrique Flórez, 1972–1987), 3:1630–1. Comparetti, Domenico, Vergil in the Middle Ages (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1966). Dahhaoui, Yann, “Enfant-évêque et fête des fous: un loisir ritualisé pour jeunes clercs?,” in Freizeit und Vergnügen vom 14. bis 20. Jahrhundert. Temps libre et loisirs du 14e au 20e siècles, ed. Hans-Jörg Gilomen, Beatrice Schumacher, and Laurent Tissot, Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte 20 (Zurich: Chronos-Verlag, 2005), 33–46. —, “Entre ludus et ludibrium. Attitudes de l’Église médiévale à l’égard de l’évêque des Innocents (xiiie–xve siècle),” Ludica: Annali di storia e civiltà del gioco13–14 (2007–2008): 183–98. Dionisotti, A. C., “Walter of Châtillon and the Greeks,” in Latin Poetry and the Classical Tradition, ed. Peter Godman and Oswyn Murray (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990), 73–96. Dronke, Peter, Medieval Latin and the Rise of the European Love-Lyric, 2 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968. —, “The Interpretation of the Ripoll Love-Songs,” Romance Philology 33 (1979): 14–42. Elliott, Alison G., “A Note on Names: The Love Poems from Ripoll,” Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 15 (1980): 112–20. Evergates, Theodore, Henry the Liberal, Count of Champagne, 1127–81 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016). Gams, Pius Bonifacius, Series episcoporum ecclesiae catholicae, quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo (Regensburg: Manz, 1873). Gildersleeve, Basil, and Gonzalez Lodge, Latin Grammar (London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1965). Gillingham, Bryan, Music in the Cluniac Ecclesia: A Pilot Project (Ottawa: Institute of Mediaeval Music, 2006). Hofmeister, Adolf, “Puer, iuvenis, senex. Zum Verstândnis der mittelalterlichen Altersbezeichnungen,” in Papsttum und Kaisertum. Forschungen zur politischen Geschichte und Geisteskultur des Mittelalters Paul Kehr zum 65. Geburtstag dargebracht, ed. Albert Brackmann and Paul Kehr (Munich: Verlag der Münchener Drucke, 1926; reprinted, Aalen: Scientia-Verlag, 1973), 289–316.

20 Introduction

Jaeger, C. Stephen, Ennobling Love: In Search of a Lost Sensibility (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999). Jeanjean, Benoît, “L’utilisation antihérétique de Ps. 72 par Jérôme,” in Papers Presented at the Thirteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies, ed. M. F. Wiles and E. J Arnold (Louvain: Peeters, 2001), 74–87. Könsgen, Ewald, Epistolae duorum amantium. Briefe Abaelards und Heloises?, Mittellateinische Studien und Texte 8 (Leiden: Brill, 1974). Kuefler, Matthew S., “Male Friendship and the Suspicion of Sodomy in TwelfthCentury France,” in Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages, ed. Sharon A. Farmer and Carol Braun Pasternak (Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2003), 145–81. Kühner, Raphael, and Carl Stegmann, Ausführliche Grammatik der lateinischen Sprache, 2 vols. (Hanover: Hahn, 1912–1914). Mitchell, Margaret M., The Heavenly Trumpet: John Chrysostom and the Art of Pauline Interpretation (Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002). Münster-Swendsen, Mia, “December Liberties: Playing with the Roman Poets in the High-Medieval Schools,” Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures 3 (2017): 90–108. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, 29 vols. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). Newman, Barbara, Making Love in the Twelfth Century: Letters of Two Lovers in Context (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016). Norberg, Dag, An Introduction to the Study of Medieval Latin Verse, trans. Grant C. Roti and Jacqueline de la Chapelle Skubly (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, 2004). Offermanns, Winfried, Die Wirkung Ovids auf die literarische Sprache der lateinischen Liebesdichtung des 11. und 12. Jahrhunderts (Wuppertal: Kastellaun, 1970). Poull, Georges, La maison souveraine et ducale de Bar (Nancy: Presses universitaires de Nancy, 1994). Raby, F. J. E., A History of Secular Latin Poetry in the Middle Ages, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934). Reynolds, L. D., Michael D. Reeve, and Peter Kenneth Marshall (eds.), Texts and Transmission: A Survey of the Latin Classics (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983). Robinson, I. S., Henry IV of Germany, 1056–1106 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). Schaller, Dieter, “Bemerkungen zu einigen Texten der mittellateinischen Liebeslyrik in P. Dronkes neuer Edition,” Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 5 (1968): 7–17. —, “Probleme der Überlieferung und Verfasserschaft lateinischer Liebesbriefe des hohen Mittelalters,” Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 3 (1966): 25–36.

Introduction21

Schmidt, Paul G., “The Quotation in Goliardic Poetry: The Feast of Fools and the Goliardic Strophe cum auctoritate,” in Latin Poetry and the Classical Tradition, ed. Peter Godman and Oswyn Murray (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990), 39–55. Somerville, Robert, Pope Alexander III and the Council of Tours (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977). Southern, Richard W., “The Necessity for Two Peters of Blois,” in Intellectual Life in the Middle Ages: Essays Presented to Margaret Gibson, ed. L. Smith and B. Ward (London: Hambledon Press, 1992), 103–17. —, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe, vol. 2 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001). Spanke, Hans, “Review of B. Bischoff, ‘Vagantenlieder aus der Vaticana,’” Studi Medievali N.S. 4 (1931): 373–82. Stotz, Peter, Handbuch der lateinischen Sprache des Mittelalters, 5 vols., Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft II.5.1–5 (Munich: C. H. Beck, 1998–2004). Thesaurus linguae latinae, ed. International Commission for the Thesaurus linguae Latinae (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1900–), 11 vols. so far. Tilliette, Jean-Yves, “Troiae ab oris. Aspects de la révolution poétique de la seconde moitié du XIe  siècle,” Latomus 58 (1999): 405–31. Traill, David A., “Disentangling the Two Peters of Blois,” Studi Medievali 59 (2018): 597–618. —, “The Origin of the Ripoll Love Poems,” in Actas do IV Congresso Internacional de Latim Medieval Hispânico, Lisboa, 12–15 outubro de 2005, ed. Aires A. Nascimento (Lisbon: Centro de Estudos Classicos, 2006), 905–12. —, “Reginald of Bar and the Dating and Authorship of Bischoff’s Vagantenlieder,” Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 52 (2017): 216–30. Walsh, P. G., “Golias and Goliardic Poetry,” Medium Aevum 52 (1983): 1–9. Watenphul, Heinrich, and Heinrich Krefeld: see Archpoet under Primary Literature.

Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies from Regensburg, Ripoll, and Chartres

Carmina Ratisponensia 1 Contemnens uvas  huius regionis acerbas vulpes ad campos  ibat saturanda Falernos. Ut venit, placidum  dederat iam vinea mustum. Ut rediit, nostras  calcator presserat uvas. Tandem perdoluit,  quia sors utrobique fefellit. Sic ego, dum raras  cupio1 male sanus amicas, his etiam carui,  poteram quibus aptius uti.

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2 Parte leo prima,2  medio capra, vipera cauda, bestia terribilem  facie3 designat amorem. Cuius in illicitum  ruit impetus ut leo factum perficiendo scelus  veluti capra fit maculosus. Hinc sequitur serpens,  cor sordida culpa remordens. Urit enim taetro  mentem sua culpa veneno post erumpentem  famam mala sero gementem. Tutius est solum  fore quam mala ferre dolorum.

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3 Quicquid flos flori,  rutilans sub tempore verni, hoc demandat ei  pariter ludos Hymenaei, qui te prae cunctis  amat; excole nomen amantis! Nunc effrenatis  venis redit ardor amoris. Proh dolor, ach, quid agunt?  Me dulcia somnia ludunt! O dum dormito,  tua se praesentat imago, oscula defigit,  complectens ipsa recedit!  cupio] Paravicini; capio S  Parte leo prima] T&H; Prima chimera parte leo S; Prima parte leo Paravicini 3  facie] Paravicini; faciem S 1 2

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Regensburg Poems 11 Despising the grapes of this region as sour,2 a fox went off to Falernian3 fields to stuff himself. When he got there, the vineyard had already produced pleasant grape-juice. By the time he returned home, the treader had already crushed our grapes. He ended up being very upset because fate had cheated him in both places. Similarly, by insanely desiring exceptional girlfriends, I have missed out even on those I could have enjoyed just fine.

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24 The beast5 that is a lion at the front, a female goat in the middle, and has a viper for its tail represents a dreadful love. Its impulsiveness rushes towards the illicit deed like a lion; by committing the crime it becomes blemished6 like a goat; then follows the serpent, the sordid guilt gnawing at the heart.  With its foul venom guilt burns the mind, which too late bemoans the wrongdoing after word of it breaks out. Solitude is more prudent than enduring the evils of remorse.

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37 Whatever one flower asks of another as it gleams brightly in springtime is the same thing as the man who loves you beyond all others requests: Hymen’s games. Honor the name of lover! Love’s passion is now returning to my unbridled veins!8 Ah, alas, what are they doing? Sweet dreams are toying with me! When I sleep, ah, how your image comes before me, kisses me, embraces me, and then retreats!

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Tu mihi, tu cura  tenuique4 fugacior aura instabilis stabiles  nimium5 deludis amores. Sed cur fervet amor,  ferus,6 intolerabilis ardor? Fervor—ahc restringuam?—stimulat summam medicinam. Quid medicina valet?  quid nobis herbida confert? Nil confert nobis;  non est medicabilis herbis, sed quam formosa,  tu salubris medicina. Tecum dulcis amor,  amor est dulcissimus ardor, sed lactas steriles  per dulce tempus amores, si 7 plus cedis,  vel ad oscula danda patebis.

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4 Dum spatiaris agro,  quo reptat tristis imago, ne spectato feram,  sed formidato Chimaeram! Nam capra te maculat,  mordet leo,8 vipera toxat. 5 Simia dicaris  vel Sphinx, quibus assimularis vultu deformis,  nullo moderamine comis.9 6 Mittit vestalis  chorus ad vos xenia pacis, concedens vestrae  dominandi iura catervae, sic tamen ut pretium  virtus sibi reddat honestum. 7 Corrige versiculos tibi quos praesento, magister, nam tua verba mihi reputo pro lumine Verbi  tenuique] Paravicini; timuique S  stabiles nimium] Dronke; nimium stabiles S Paravicini 6  ferus] Paravicini; id ferus S 7  si non] Paravicini; si S 8  capra te maculat, mordet leo] T&H; leo te mordet capra maculat S; leo te mordet, maculat capra Paravicini 9  deformis … comis] suggested by Dronke; deformi … comi S Paravicini, Dronke 4 5



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

You, you are the one I care for, more elusive than a delicate breeze, but your fickleness constantly frustrates my firmly rooted love. But why is my love a fervent, wild, unendurable passion? My ardor—ah! should I restrain it?—urges the ultimate medicine. What can herbal medicine do? What relief can it bring me? It brings me no relief; love9 cannot be healed by herbs, but how beautiful a health-bringing medicine you are! With you, love is sweet, love is the sweetest passion  but in that sweet hour you nourish a sterile love if you do not yield more or will not be open to giving kisses. 410 When you walk in a field where its gloomy figure roams, don’t look at the wild Chimera but fear it! For the goat fouls you, the lion bites you, and the snake poisons you.11 512 You should be called an ape or a Sphinx, for you resemble them with your ugly face and disheveled hair. 613 Your chorus of vestal virgins sends you14 a gift of peace, granting you the right to be master of your followers provided only that virtue should prove its own honorable reward. 715 Correct the verses that I present to you, my teacher, for I regard your words as the light of the Word,

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

sed nimium doleo, quia praeponas mihi Bertham. 8 Gaude quod primam  te sors mihi fecit amicam. Me turbat graviter  qui crebro defluit imber, nam vereor nostris  hunc10 vindictam dare culpis. 9 Mens mea laetatur  corpusque dolore levatur idcirco quia me  doctor, dignaris amare. 10 Quas docuit Virtus  ad honestum vergere pignus, his mittunt verae  mihi11 cordis et oris amicae. 11 Te ,12 cunctis  quem13 plus amplector amicis. Sollicitat rerum  graviter me causa tuarum. 12 Salva sis, immensa  pro scriptis laude repensa— quamvis, amor care,  scriptum velut innuit a te, non tamen, oro, meis  de rebus solliciteris; sat quia cautus ego  de re per cuncta cavebo. 13 Optat, ut ista tibi,  tua sic mihi littera scribi.

 hunc] Paravicini; hanc S  mihi] T&H; mei S 12  te miror] T&H; te S 13  quem] Schaller; qui S; que Paravicini 10 11



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

but it grieves me deeply that you prefer Bertha to me. 816 Rejoice that fate made you my first girlfriend.17 The rain18 that is pouring down disturbs me a great deal, for I fear that it is exacting vengeance for our sins. 919 My heart rejoices and my body is relieved of its pain because, my teacher, you deign to love me. 1020 The true friends of my heart and speech send this21 to those whom Virtue has taught to be inclined to keep an honorable pledge.22 1123 I admire you and cherish you more than all my friends. The cause of your troubles concerns me a great deal. 1224 May you be well, and rewarded with tremendous praise for your letter— although, regarding what you have written, my dear love, do not, I beg you, concern yourself with my difficulties because I will be quite careful and constantly on my guard about them. 1325 Your letter longs to be written to me, as does this one of mine to you.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

14 Eice, Christe, tua  tenebras de corde lucerna his qui sancta tui  quaerunt14 vestigia verbi. 15 Es dilecta mihi,  quia munera cara dedisti: vas bene tornatum,  nitidumque bibentibus aptum, allia praeterea  mea quae poscit medicina. Si tamen addideris  plus, grates semper habebis. 16 En ego, quem nosti,  sed amantem prodere noli! Deprecor ad vetulam  te mane venire capellam. Pulsato leviter,15  quoniam manet inde minister. Quod celat pectus  modo, tunc retegit tibi lectus. 17 Praepositus vetulae  mandat tibi fausta capellae, H,16 quam primam  sibi sors bona fecit amicam. Prima tamen non es,  quia duxerat antea bis tres. Septima venisti  supremaque vix placuisti. 18 Domnae lascivae  viventi luxuriose tot tradi iuvenes  remanet quot17 in orbe volucres. Stulti ceu, fertur,  proverbia saepe loquuntur, ex ipsis sumunt,  illis incognita quae sunt; hoc cum detegitur,  pro certo decipiuntur, sic tibi fit miserae,  dum non es, quod cupis esse.  quaerunt] Wattenbach, Dronke, Paravicini; quaerit S  leviter] Paravicini; leniter S 16  Hemma] Paravicini; H S 17  quot] Wattenbach, Paravicini; quod S 14 15

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

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1426 With your light, Christ, cast out the darkness from the hearts of those who seek the sacred path of your word. 1527 I love you for the precious gifts you have given me: a well-turned vase, gleaming and suitable for drinking out of, and also the garlic, which is required for my medicine. But if you add something more,28 you will always have my thanks. 1629 Hey, it’s me, you know who, but don’t betray your lover! I implore you to come to the old chapel in the morning. Knock softly, since the sacristan lives there. What my heart now conceals from you, the bed will then reveal. 1730 The provost of the old chapel sends you good news, Emma, whom good fortune made his leading girlfriend, but you are not the first, because he had affairs with six before you. You were the seventh and last to come, and he doesn’t like you very much. 1831 It remains true that as many young men hand themselves over to a lewd mistress of bawdy lifestyle as there are birds in the world. Just as fools are said often to quote proverbs, and extract from them things that they know nothing about and when this is revealed to them, they are certainly disappointed,325 so it is with you, poor girl, as long as you are not what you want to be.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Scribis materiem,  sed non finis rationem. Sensu quae nescis,  tenuis, verbis lacerabis. Deformi facie  lustras circa loca quaeque. Non parcit18 vetulo  luxus tuus atque pusillo;   expertos deseris,19 maiores quosque requiris. Nuptam innuptae20  te derisere puellae, conveniens nomen  ponunt tibi daemonialem. Amplexus ullos  non effugies nisi castos. Pervigil urbanas  bene scis pulsare fenestras et semel immissa  non sponte tua redis ultra, donec sudantem  fessum quoque reddis amantem. Miror te talem,  dementem sic facientem. Me quem debueras  venerari, voce lacessas, eructans virus,  quo ferves plenior intus. Sed quia tu vilis,  contra nos scripta capessis. Indignumque reor,  si totis viribus utor adversus domnam  quam nescio desidiosam. Vade tamen propere,  cervicem subde magistrae, verberibus saevis  alioquin conficieris.

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19 Praepono reliquis  te solam quae bene servis. 20 Cynthia quem21 tenerum  pia nobis praestitit, aprum, rex et convivae,  suavemque bonumque probate. 21 Sicut crystallo  hyacinthus fulget in albo, fulges mente mea  mihi tempore quoque serena.  parcit] T&H; parcet S  expertos deseris] S before correction (unmetrical); deseris expertos S after correction Paravicini (no rhyme) 20  nuptam innuptae] T&H; innupte nuptam S Paravicini 21  quem] Paravicini; que S 18

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

You write on a topic but do not finish the argument. What your feelings don’t tell you, you will mangle with words, being young. In an unseemly fashion, you wander around everywhere. Your lust spares neither old man nor young boy. Once you have had them, you abandon them and look for more important clients. Unmarried girls have mocked you as a married woman; they give you the fitting name “demoniacal.”33 The only embraces you will shun are chaste. Awake at night, you know well how to knock at the city’s windows and, once admitted, you don’t come out again willingly until you make your sweating lover exhausted too. I am surprised that you are so crazy as to act in this way. You ought to have shown me respect; instead you abuse me verbally, spewing out the venom that fills you, as you seethe within. Because of your disreputable character, you take to writing libels about me. I consider it beneath me to use all my powers against some34 indolent fallen woman. But off you go and hurry up; submit your neck to your prioress,35 or else you will be punished with a harsh beating. 19 I prefer you,36 and you alone, to the rest, for you serve me well. 2037 My king and fellow-banqueters, try the tender boar, which Cynthia has kindly set before us; it is succulent and good. 21 Just as the hyacinth38 gleams brightly in colorless crystal, so you gleam serenely every moment in my heart.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

22 Hunc mihi Mercurius  florem dedit ingeniosus, quo possim vitiis  precibusque resistere foedis. Ius igitur nullus  retinet de me quoque stultus. Quos incesta iuvant,  consortia nostra relinquant— qui nostris longe  sociis discordat ab ore, in quorum numero  si converseris, abesto! Vix admittuntur  qui rebus mille probantur, sed tamen hos modice  complectimur atque modeste. Denique quis Virtus  nostrum vult credere pignus, illos extrema  curat bene fingere lima,   ut sermone bono  clam crescant atque perito, moribus egregiis  sint undique rite politis. Ergo quam venias  prius ad nos, instrue pennas, (si quas imposuit  Ratio tibi quando creavit) ne qua parte dolo  sis oblitus inveterato. Quem similis morum  sibi iunxit fama bonorum, illi vestalis  chorus optat dona salutis.

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23 Christe, potestatem  mihi da, precor, hac22 potiorem, cum maior fuero.  Nunc fulgeo nomine solo. 24 Explorare mei  te credo munia voti, quod perpendiculum  rogitas a me tabularum. Prospice re parva,  mea sit devotio quanta, quae non tarda tuis  favet officiosa petitis. Ergo tuo lateri  dum iungas, quae tibi feci, interiore nota  cordis me sedulo porta.

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 hac] suggested by Paravicini: hanc S Paravicini

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2239 Clever Mercury gave me this flower40 which enables me to resist vices and shameful requests. Accordingly, no fool has control over me either. Any men who delight in indecent acts should leave our company— and anyone who strongly disagrees with our companions should take his leave, as should you, if you associate with such men. We scarcely admit even those who have proven themselves a thousandfold but we do embrace them—with moderation and modesty. In the end, Virtue is careful to shape well with a final filing those to whom she chooses to entrust our honor so that imperceptibly they grow in good and witty conversation and prove to be of excellent character, duly polished in all respects. So before you come to us, preen your feathers (if Reason bestowed any on you, when she created you) to ensure that you are in no way besmirched by ingrained guile. Our vestal chorus wishes the gift of greeting only for a man who has acquired a reputation for good character similar to our own.

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2341 Give me, Christ, greater power than this,42 I pray, when I am older. As things are now, I shine in name only. 2443 I believe that you are testing the obligations of my vow in asking me for a chain44 for your writing tablets. Consider how great my devotion is in a small matter, for it is quick and diligent in favoring your requests. So when you attach to your side what I have made for you, carry me constantly in the inner notebook of your heart.

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25 Quas livor recoquit,  quas gloria nostra perurit, dicunt muraenulas  nos ex stagno fabricatas. Verba potest facile  patiens animus tolerare, at si pugnabunt,  nos Palladis arma iuvabunt fracturas plumbum  quod habet sub harundine fixum; ergo vipereas  satagat23 compescere linguas. 26 Sum merito tutus  perfectos quosque secutus et sic semper ero,  quia fit mihi littera medo. Cur paterer, tali  quod laederer a moniali? Immo viros pellam:  multo mage vinco puellam. 27 Anulus in donis  missus fit pignus amoris. Ergo de more  foedus studeamus inire. 28 Foedus quod24 narras,  nutrix mea nescit Honestas nec prorsus talem  voluit me discere morem. 29 Non valeo crebrum  de te sufferre regressum, ad te cum nostrae  concurrunt quaeque puellae. 30 Quamvis sis procerae staturae, tamen mihi videris in sensu repuerascere.

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 satagat] Paravicini; satagas S  quod] Wattenbach, Paravicini; quo S

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2545 Those women who boil with envy and are inflamed by our success say that we are eels born in a swamp. A patient spirit can easily endure words, but if they resort to fighting, the arms of Pallas will help us to break the lead applied to their arrow-tips.465 Therefore that should be enough to silence their viperish tongues. 2647 I am safe, and rightly so, for all those I followed were perfect, and I will always be safe because literature is my mead.48 Why should I endure being hurt by such a nun?49 Instead, I will drive off the men and much more easily conquer the girl.50 2751 A ring included among the gifts I sent becomes a pledge of love; so let us eagerly enter into a pact, as is the custom. 2852 Honor, the nurse who reared me, does not know the pact you speak of and has absolutely forbidden me to learn such a custom. 2953 I cannot endure repeatedly withdrawing from you when all our girls flock towards you. 3054 Though you are tall of stature, nevertheless you seem to me to be reverting to boyhood in your emotions.

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31 Quos docuit Virtus  ad honestum tendere foedus, hos non amoveam,  sed dignis digna rependam. Non autem didici  privato foedere iungi. 32 Nuper velatae,  Domino vos sanctificate, ne frustra sponsum  signaverit anulus illum. Velatas noviter  vocat ad nova iura Magister, scilicet ut sapiant  et opus levitatis omittant. 33 Est amor electus  sub amico pectore tectus; qui tacite currit  amor omnia foedera vincit. 34 Reddo vicem digne  pensans tua scripta benigne. Pectore devotam  te scripsisti mihi totam. Sic ego devotus,  quamvis sim carne remotus. Spiritus ipse quidem  tecum sit semper et idem; spiritus est unus  fidei servans sibi munus. Si mea mens talis  frustretur vota sodalis, hanc renuam25 nequam.  Quis nequam dixerit aequam? Hoc fidei pignus  semper servabo benignus —ne qua succedat—  si et omnis forma recedat. Dicimus ante vale  quam desint carminis alae. Cetera iam dicam  blande moniturus amicam. His versus isti  respondent quos26 posuisti; verba quidem saltum  demonstrant pectoris altum. Cum descendisti—  sed dic, ubi me posuisti?— totus eram tecum;  sperabam te quoque mecum.

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 renuam] Paravicini; renitam S  quos] Dronke; pro S Paravicini. We could find no support in the dictionaries for pro = prout, as Paravicini suggests, to justify reading pro here; so we followed Dronke in emending to quos.

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3155 I would not dismiss those whom Virtue has taught to resort to an honorable pact; rather, I would repay respect with respect. I have not been taught to unite in a secret pact. 3256 You who have recently taken the veil, sanctify yourselves for the Lord lest your ring57 indicate him as your bridegroom to no purpose. The Master58 summons the newly veiled to new rules: namely, to be wise and to forgo frivolity. 3359 It is a choice love that lies concealed in a lover’s heart; the love that runs silently conquers all pacts. 3460 I reply in a fitting manner as I reflect amiably on what you wrote. You have written that in your heart you are entirely devoted to me. I am equally devoted to you, though absent in the flesh. May my spirit be with you and forever the same; our spirit is one, guarding its duty of fidelity.     Should my thoughts incline to thwart the wishes of such a companion, I would renounce them as despicable. Who would call a despicable thought fair? This pledge of fidelity I will always kindly observe even should all your beauty fade—may that never transpire! We take our leave before the wings of song fail.61     In the rest of what I will now say, I intend to offer gentle counsel to a friend. These verses are in reply to those that you composed;62 the words indicate a great upward leap of the heart. When you came down—but tell me, in what position did you put me? I was entirely absorbed with you; I hoped you were likewise with me.

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Iste sed accessus  me commovet atque recessus. Ascendens ad me  quo nescio cesseris a me. Sto, stas, sic stamus,  mutuo sic nos adamamus, unum si velle  sit nobis, sit quoque nolle. 35 G pro H posita  quae fertur nomine Gemma, illi quem cura  suevit nutrire benigna— non mater qualem  nato cupit esse salutem, sed quam spiritui  debet se vita regenti. “O decus, optandae  mihi pars o maxima famae, dic, rogo, dic, iuvenis  probe, dic, fili mihi dulcis, quid tibi, quid feci,  quid me, dic, deseruisti? Non opus est florem  te poscere Mercurialem, nam retines27 herbam  tibi me curante dicatam, quae spiret dulcem  pigmenti28 suavis odorem.”

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36 Munere donatis  te sat29 iuvisse30 tabellis credimus esse parum,  nisi demus nos quoque donum temporibus festis  et moribus utile nostris. Immo tibi, frater,  dat amor tibi munera noster, haud31 de materie  producta sed ex ratione.   Ista32 relativis  quae33 dictant munia flammis, ut videas inopes  non prorsus egere sorores. Mercurii natae  sunt tres et Philologiae, quas pater ingenii  iussit nobis famulari, ne titubet34 studium  sub inepta negotia flexum.

 retines] Wattenbach, Paravicini; retinens S  pigmenti] Paravicini; pigmenta S 29  te sat] T&H; cesar S Paravicini 30  iuvisse] T&H; vixisse S Paravicini 31  haud] Dronke; haut Paravicini; aut S 32  ista] T&H; iusta S Paravicini 33  The antecedent of quae is, as often, understood; here eae. 34  titubet] Wattenbach, Paravicini; titubes S 27 28

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But this coming and going upsets me. After you came up to me, I don’t know where you went when you left me. I am here, you are there; that’s how we stand and how we love one another. If we are to agree on what we want, we should also agree on what we don’t want. 3563 She who is called Gemma when G is substituted for H64 addresses the young man whom she was accustomed to nurture with loving care, not with the kind of greeting that a mother wishes for her son, but with the greeting that a life owes to the spirit that rules it. “You who are my pride and my chief claim to an enviable reputation,655 tell me, I beg you, tell me, worthy young man,66 tell me, my dear son: What did I do to you? Tell me, why have you abandoned me? There is no need for you to ask for Mercury’s flower,67 for you still have the herb applied to you under my care, 10 to emit the gentle fragrance of its sweet balm.”68   3669 We believe that it is not enough to have sufficiently pleased you with the writing-tablets you have been given unless we also give you a gift that accords with the festive occasion and our character. But, brother, it is really our love for you that bestows gifts that have not been created out of tangible material but from careful thought. It was your weak sisters who composed these gifts with shared passion so that you might see that they are not entirely without resources. There are three daughters of Mercury and Philology,70 whom the father of ingenuity71 ordered to be at our service to ensure that our studies not falter, curbed by foolish concerns.     

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Euprophonen docti  primam dixere Pelasgi,35 Comi voce bonos  quae blande receptat amicos, Eugyalen aliam  susceptis officiosam. Virtutum robur,  comes his Basithea, vocatur,36 ex habitu casto  quod agit decorans et honesto. Has tibi contiguum,  si vis, praestamus in usum, condicione tamen  facias ut te specialem, distans hospitibus,  quibus est vaga mens uti corpus. Te decet ut placide  fidas venereris ubique. Unda calens patriae  monet, ut sis fervidus igne, igne salutari,  quo virtus debet amari.37

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37 Carmine dives eram  cum paucis rebus egebam, carmina posthabui postquam ditescere coepi. Iam non est tutum  contendere carmine tecum. Prolem Mercurii  tibi testaris famulari. Illa mihi subolis  sunt munia Mercurialis. Quin ipsam doctam  scio te docuisse Minervam, quae dedit ignitum  vultum tibi corque peritum teque saginavit  vel sic ignescere38 iussit, ne lateat39 quantas  gestent tua pectora flammas, flammas et turpes,  quibus et me torrida torres. Longe praecellis,  longe me carmine vincis, victum me fateor  tandemque manus dare cogor. Threicius vates  iustas reperit sibi40 clades, praesumens vestrum  scribendo lacessere sexum. Risit ventosas  Tritoniae41 Marsya buccas, hinc cute detracta  defluxit ut amnis in arva, femineisque mares  cesserunt litibus omnes.

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 Pelasgi] Wattenbach, Paravicini; palesgi S  vocatur] T&H; locatur S Paravicini 37  amari] Wattenbach, Paravicini; amori S 38  ignescere] Paravicini; ignoscere S 39  lateat] Wattenbach, Paravicini; late S 40  reperit sibi] S (after correction) Paravicini; sibi reperit S (before correction) 41  Tritoniae] T&H; tritone S Paravicini. Tritoniae scans as three longs if the i of -iae is regarded (irregularly) as consonantal. Tritona is not elsewhere attested for Tritonia. 35 36



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

The learned Greeks named the first Euprophone, who courteously welcomes good friends with cordial words, the second, Eugyale, who is very attentive to her charges. Their companion, Pasithea, is called a pillar of the virtues, because she is of chaste and honorable character and acts with decorum.   We offer them to you for your immediate use if you wish, on condition, however, that you make yourself their intimate companion, staying apart from fellow-guests whose minds are as wayward as their bodies. You should venerate them amiably as your faithful companions everywhere. The hot springs of your homeland72 counsel you to burn with fire— with the salutary fire with which virtue ought to be loved.

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3773 I was rich in song when I was poor, with only a little, but neglected song after I began to become rich. Now it is not safe for me to contend with you in song. You declare that Mercury’s offspring serve you. That is the service that Mercury’s offspring provide me. Moreover, I know that the learned Minerva taught you herself, for she gave you a fiery look and a talented heart, nourished you, and even bade you become so much on fire as to reveal how fierce are the flames that your heart produces— even the shameful flames with which your ardor scorches me too. You far surpass me, best me by far, in song; I confess myself beaten and am finally forced to surrender. The Thracian bard74 incurred the disaster he deserved when he presumed to provoke your sex with his writings. Marsyas75 laughed at Minerva’s puffed-up cheeks, was then skinned alive and flowed as a river into the fields, and all men have come second in contests with women.

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Sit satis exemplis  me commonitum memoratis, hanc ut devitem,  quia non sum par tibi, litem. 38 Tum42 me clamoso  cornix movet improba collo, ut solet, e vestris  quae clamat mane fenestris.43 39 Quod me collaudas  tamquam Tritonia Pallas fecerit44 ignitam metrique sub arte peritam. me, non ingratum  mihi, quamvis gratia verbum hoc tua praestiterit  potius quam res solidarit,45 nam laus, quam fatur46  dilectio, non reprobatur.     5 Sed dare velle manus  te47 miror, cum neque victus48 a me dicaris  neque poenam promerearis. Threicius vates  et Marsya quod vehementes extiterant animo,  diras meruere profecto. Nos nihil astute,  nihil illicitum meditatae,49 10 ne sine muneribus  discedere te sineremus, unanimes subolem  dedimus tibi Mercurialem, quam si fastidis  melioraque dona requiris, Iunonis comitem  dabimus quacumque placentem. Attamen est forma  pulcherrima Deiopeia; 15 hanc cape promissam  tibi, princeps Aeole, quondam. Spernimus antiquas  non—praestent50 omnia!—nymphas. Nunc ne plura tibi  scribam, commotio51 regni famaque terribilis  prohibet tristissima nobis,  Tum] Paravicini; tu S  fenestris] Wattenbach, Paravicini; fesiestris S 44  fecerit] Wattenbach, Paravicini; fecerat S 45  solidarit] Dronke, Paravicini; solidaret S 46  nam laus quam fatur] Dronke; laus ete laus etenim quam fert S; laus etenim quam fert Paravicini 47  te] Wattenbach, Paravicini; esse S 48  victus] Wattenbach, Paravicini; vinctus S 49  The last syllables of astute and meditatae would rhyme in Medieval Latin (and be written identically). 50  praestent] Paravicini; prestet S 51  commotio] Wattenbach, Paravicini; commoda S 42 43



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May I be sufficiently warned by the examples mentioned to avoid such a contest because I am no match for you. 38 Then the importunate crow disturbs me with his clamorous throat, as he usually does, when he caws in the morning from your window. 3976 Your praise of me to the effect that Tritonian Pallas77 set me on fire and made me skilled in meter was not unwelcome—although it was your kindness that gave rise to these words rather than any reality grounding them— for the praise that love offers is not rejected.   But I am surprised you want to surrender, given that neither do I pronounce you beaten nor do you deserve punishment. Because the Thracian bard and Marsyas78 became violent in spirit, they certainly deserved their grim punishments. Without trying anything in a crafty manner or having improper thoughts, to ensure that we do not allow you to leave without gifts, we have unanimously given you the offspring of Mercury, but if this displeases you and you ask for better gifts, we will give you a companion of Juno who is welcomed everywhere. But Deiopeia79 is the most beautiful; take her for she was once promised to you, Prince Aeolus. We do not despise the ancient nymphs80—may they provide all things! The turmoil in the kingdom81 and the terrible rumors, which we find most distressing, prevent me from writing more to you at the moment,

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virgis mobilibus  avium vice quae52 residemus. Ecce53 memor nostri  vivas ubicumque morari te iubeat dominus;  nos denique corde videmus. Iam valeas animo,  valeas quoque corpore tuto sic ut neve minus54  deposcat sors tua nec plus.

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40 Monstrat Clio “bonam”  sub honesto nomine “famam,” “optima” Calliope  “vox” est signata Latine, haud bene limatum  quas poscis comere votum. Numquid proposito  conceptae55 sunt scelerato Graecos illustres  Musae quondam facientes? Hoc   foedus cum matre Cupido,56 qui tibi spe vacua  promisit foedera nostra, ut scribas penna  te decipiens fugitiva. Sed tamen ille puer  tibi dictat inepta, magister. Quomodo nos primas  tibi demonstravit amicas?  Erras nimirum  nec habet te Legia natum si nos mollitis  pariles vis esse puellis. Illos diligimus,  quos sculpsit provida Virtus quosque Modestia se  monuit spectare modeste. Ergo correcti  cape sanus munia voti et vome pestiferam Veneris puerique cicutam, ridentis flentes  mutilatum foedus amantes. Denique si tibi se  fautorem Iuppiter ipse adderet et cithara  peteret nos Phoebus acuta omnibus adiunctis  in vota nefaria divis, spes tua concideret  et laeto fine careret. Te non castorum  decepit miles Amorum,

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 quae] Wattenbach, Paravicini; qui S  Ecce] T&H; Esse S Paravicini; Esto Dronke. For ecce introducing a new item, sometimes the climax of the series, see OLD, s.v. ecce, 3. 54  neve minus] Dronke; nil in eis S Paravicini 55  conceptae] Paravicini; concepto S 56  Hoc foedus cum matre Cupido] T&H&Stotz; Est fedus cum matre cupido S; Est fedus < …> cum matre Cupido Paravicini

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sitting as we are like birds perched on quivering branches. Be mindful of us, wherever the abbot bids you stay; and then we see one another in our hearts. May you be healthy in spirit and healthy and safe in your body too so that your lot in life demands neither too little nor too much of you.

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4082 Clio’s honorable name stands for “good reputation” and Calliope means “excellent voice” in Latin; these are the deities you call upon to lend eloquence to an ill-framed wish. Surely the Muses, who once made the Greeks illustrious, were not conceived to serve a criminal purpose? It was foul Cupid, together with his mother,83 who arranged this scheme when he made you the empty promise of a pact between us, tricking you into writing, as his wings bore him fleetingly away.84 But that boy made you write foolish things, sir.85 How did he point me out to you as your leading girlfriend? You are certainly in error and no son of Liège86 if you want me to be like loose girls. I love those men shaped by far-sighted Virtue and counseled by Propriety to regard themselves with proper restraint. So be sensible and assume as a duty the correction of a desire and spew out the deadly hemlock of Venus and her son, who laughs at lovers that weep over the rupturing of their pact. Even if Jupiter himself were to lend you his support and Apollo were to petition me on his high-pitched lyre, and all the gods were to unite in promoting these nefarious vows, your hopes would collapse and fail to find happy fulfillment. Ovid, the knight of the unchaste Amores,87 deceived you

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Ovidius, qui te  persuasit carmen57 amare, quo subvertuntur  miseri, non erudiuntur. Sic58 condonamus  tibi culpas, dum iudicamus antidoto sanae  rationis te valuisse. Posce tamen puerum  mordax sedare flagellum. An te castigat  quem spes mendosa fatigat? Gratia domnarum  quicquid praestabit honestum, hoc illi reddit  qui59 cuncta modesta requirit.

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41 Non incauta tibi,  Lethen sed callida fugi. Ne dicas, animum  quod agat conceptio nostrum. Non tantum nocuit  nec tali iure valebit, quin se reposcant,  mihi docte limina dicant omnia verba tui,  quae discedens retulisti; 5 et recolo nostrae  fuerint quae verba decanae. Hoc discesssuro  fuit apta salutis imago. Hoc etiam per te  nosti, si stas ratione.60 Qualis tantarum  sapientia sit dominarum, nullus doctorum  scit pandere philosophorum.6110 Sunt etenim clarae  nimium stabilesque figurae et fundamentum  vim non metuens fluviorum. His nostri stabiles  fieri creduntur honores. At prorsus dubito,  quid sit super oscula nostra. Haec tua si credis,  noli superaddere nobis, 15 ni fiat causa    rationi non aliena. Sed si quid falsum  dixisti, sponte remitto, nam quod amant stolidi,  cito credunt posse repleri. Nil mihi displicuit,  quia mens mea non dubitavit quin penitus nostris  velles contendere verbis. 20 Sed sapiens fueras,  haec quod loca sancta petebas  te persuasit carmen] Mynors, Könsgen, Dronke; te suasit carnem S Paravicini; tibi suasit carnem S after correction 58  Sic] Paravicini; Si S 59  qui] Wattenbach, Paravicini; que S 60  ratione] Wattenbach, Paravicini; rationem S 61  philosophorum] Wattenbach, Paravicini; philosophiam S 57



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

by persuading you88 to love a poem by which poor wretches are destroyed, not enlightened. Accordingly,89 we will forgive you your sins once we judge that you have recovered your health with the antidote of sound reasoning. However, ask the boy to set aside his biting whip. Or does he chastise you in wearing you out with false hope? Ladies’ grace will give anything that is clearly honorable to the man whose requests all show restraint.

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4190 I avoided Lethe91 by being shrewd, not reckless, regarding you. Do not say that imagination drives my thinking. It has not hurt me all that much nor, by the same token, will it have the power to prevent the threshold from asking itself and cleverly telling me all the words you said as you were leaving;925 I recall too what the words of the senior nun were. It was the appropriate form of address to one about to depart. You know this yourself, if you are reasonable. None of the learned philosophers can display the kind of wisdom of such fine ladies. 10 They are very distinguished and level-headed figures —a foundation which does not fear the power of water streaming past.93 To these women our honor is entrusted so that it remains unwavering. I seriously doubt if there is anything more important than my kisses. If you think the same of yours, don’t give me any more 15 unless it happens for a rational reason. But if anything you have said was untrue, I willingly forgive you, for fools believe that what their hearts are set on can quickly be accomplished. I was not at all upset, because my heart did not doubt that you really wanted to argue against what I was saying. 20 But you were wise to head for these holy places

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ut tibi responsum  fieret divinitus aptum, ut tibi Calliope  sermonem subderet apte, reddere quo nostris  posses bona verba choreis. Quid domino dixti62  causas audire volenti? Ob socrus rugas  pallescere te referebas. Hoc si dixisti,  laudandam rem simulasti. Ut repetas iterum  Romam, reor utile nostrum, et sanctis referas  grates pro munere dandas, qui tibi responsum  dictabant tam pretiosum. Dic, quae misisti,  qua silva composuisti? Ut reor, haec63 Musae  tibi dilectae tribuere, has64 et tu studio  sapiens venerabere crebro, grammate namque sacro  te nobilitavit Apollo. Iam precor ut caveas scriptis terrere puellas, quas nosti per me.  Nil responsi in quibus astutae   facundia linguae. Vivas et valeas;  quae sunt contraria, vincas!

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42 “Salve” mitto tibi,  quod non queat attenuari tempore vel spatio  terrarum centuplicato. Dextra Dei cunctos  spectans virtute probatos assit ubique frequens tibimet felicia mittens. 43 Tempus adest lacrimis,  instat quia causa doloris. O nimium miserae,  quae sunt ventura timete et vobis clarae65  virtutis tela parate, ut quae possitis  superare nocentia vobis. Sed cur haec scribam  si vultis noscere, dicam: qui regnum66 tenuit,  naturae debita solvit  dixti] T&H; dixi S Paravicini; dixsti suggested by Paravicini  haec] suggested by Paravicini; hanc S Paravicini 64  has] suggested by Paravicini; hanc S Paravicini 65  vobis clarae] Paravicini; clare vobis S 66  qui regnum] Wattenbach, Paravicini; qui reg | qui regnum S 62 63

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to receive a fitting answer from heaven, so that Calliope could appropriately provide you with the words,9424 and you could thereby make a good response to our group. 23 What did you tell the abbot when he wanted to hear the reasons? 25 You said that your mother-in-law’s wrinkles were making you turn pale. If this is what you said, you invented a laudable reason. I think it would be to our advantage for you to visit Rome again and for their gift offer due thanks to the saints who dictated such a precious response to you. 30 Tell me, in what wood did you compose the poems you sent? Your beloved Muses gave them to you, I think, and you will be wise to revere the Muses with frequent study, for Apollo has ennobled you with sacred poetic skill. Now I ask you to take care with what you write not to alarm the girls  35 you have come to know through me.95 No reply … among whom the eloquence of a sly tongue …96 May you live long and fare well and overcome any setbacks!97 4298 I send you my greetings, which could not be diminished even if the time and space between us were a hundred times greater. May the right hand of God that watches over those of proven virtue be constantly with you everywhere, bringing you happiness. 4399 It is a time for tears, since a reason for grief presses upon us. Ah, poor wretches, fear for what is to come and get ready the weapons of your far-famed courage, so that you can defeat what might harm you. But if you want to know why I write this, I will tell you: he who ruled our kingdom has paid his debt to nature100

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et puer insipiens  vult pro patre nunc fore pollens. Ergo timor magnus  me cogit fundere fletus, nam dispergemur  nisi Christus nos tueatur. Quod scriptum legimus  iamiam venisse videmus:6710 “Vae populo, regi  qui subditus est puerili.” Omnia vertuntur  et deteriora sequuntur. 44 Quid tibi praecipue  scribam nequeo reputare,   qui laudes multas  esse mihi memoras. Num tamen ista ioco  dicas an corde sereno   me latet et dubius  pendet adhuc animus, nam praetermissis  quae sunt insignia cunctis,   laudasti formam  sit quasi digna meam. Si quid laudis habet  res quam febris horrida sorbet   68

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45 Si puer est talis,  quo iungi me tibi gestis, ut quocumque ferat,  stolidum69 voto sibi cernat et maneat constans  idem fervens nova captans— sit procul a nobis!  Nam siquis perstat ineptis, luctus adest grandis  dum vult persistere coeptis. Nec quandoque viam  percurrere consulo coeptam. Haec tibi ne nimias  reddant, peto, scripta querelas, nam mihi res suadet  quicquid mea littera prodet.70 Sed nec honor medio  quemquam71 desistere coepto esset et aucta magis  contractio suspicionis. Ne quid ames nimium;  cautus putat utile primum.72

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 videmus] vedemus corrected to videmus S  The concluding pentameter line is missing. 69  stolidum] Paravicini; solidum S 70  prodet] Dronke; profert S Paravicini 71  medio quemquam] Dronke; quemquam medio S Paravicini 72  This line was added in the left margin and badly damaged by later trimming of the page. We have accepted Paravicini’s conjectures. What survives of the text in S reads: … e quid ames ni … ium incautus … utat utile … mum. 67 68



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

and now a foolish boy101 wants to rule in his father’s stead. So a great fear compels me to shed tears, for we shall be divided unless Christ protects us. What we read in scripture, we now see has come to pass: “Woe to the people subject to a boy-king.”102 Everything is being turned upside down and worse is to come.

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44103 I cannot figure out what in particular I should write to you for you tell me there are many grounds for praising me. It is unclear to me if you say this as a joke or it is sincerely meant and my mind is still suspended in doubt, for, passing over all my worthy qualities, you praised my beauty as if it was deserving. If an attribute swallowed up by a horrible fever merits any praise …104

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45105 If the nature of the boy,106 with whose help you are eager for me to be linked up107 with you, is such that wherever he goes,108 he sees a fool as a votive offering to him and he remains ever the same, eagerly striving after new prey, let him stay away from us! If anyone persists in his folly, he experiences great sorrow as long as he chooses to persevere in his venture,   5 nor do I ever advise continuing along the path started upon. Don’t, I beg you, take what I write here as excessive complaining, for the situation convinces me of everything my letter will set forth. But it would not be honorable for anyone to stop in the middle of an undertaking and would rather enhance the attraction of suspicion. 10 Don’t love anything to excess; the cautious man thinks first of what is practical.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Sic placet et nostrum  differri tempore coeptum, tutius ut nostris  vincamus noxia culpis. 46 Est tibi vana fides,  non est dilectio perpes; qui “fortis” nomen  tibi iunxit, perdidit omen. Quid prodest nomen,  si non retinebis honorem? Nomine fulgebunt  tali qui fortia quaerunt. 73 potius  sis amodo iure vocatus.     Nunc breviter dicam  cur sic74 enigmata solvam. Cum tibi versiculos  misi ratione politos, non mihi responsum  curasti reddere dignum, sed mihi rescribi75  vetuit “turbatio regni.”76 Istud nempe tuae  vitium successio culpae. Tu solus pesti  potuisses huic medicari, nec lorica tuum  pectus protexit ineptum; ensis namque tuus  multa ferrugine tectus etsi percussit  hostem, sine vulnere mansit. At miror clipeum  tua quae77 ferret manus aptum. Dextra, reor, timido  nam convenit hoc bene sclavo. Sed forsan dicis;  “Deerat mihi nuntius omnis.” Quae tibi porrexit  mea scripta, tua mihi ferret, mittere si velles,  vel si componere scires.

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47 Nolo meis culpis  assignes, quod cita scriptis   non responsa dabam,  quae dare debueram. Non servo nonum  quod amicis scribo per annum.   Paeniteat78 “sclavi”  consimilesque tui, huius desidiae,  nosti, quia causa fuere;   illorum subitus  me latuit reditus.  Tu sclavus] T&H; habere S Paravicini (preceded by a lacuna of about the length of one word)  sic] T&H; hec S Paravicini 75  rescribi] Paravicini; rescripsi S 76  In S (and in Paravicini) the order of lines 9 and 10 is reversed. 77  quae] Wattenbach, Paravicini; qua S 78  Paeniteat] T&H; peniteatque S Paravicini (who brackets que) 73 74

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55

My view is that we put off for a while what we have begun so that we may more safely avoid harm for our sins.109 46110 Your word is worthless, your love not lasting; the man who added “the brave” to your name destroyed its significance. What use is a name if you are not going to live up to it? Those who seek out brave deeds will shine with such a name. You should rather be called “the slave”111 from now on, as you deserve! I will now tell you briefly why I resolve the conundrum in this way. When I sent you my carefully polished verses, you did not care to send me a fitting reply; instead “the turmoil in the kingdom”112 prevented you from writing back. This mess113 is a direct result of your delinquency. You were the only person who could have cured this sickness of mine; no cuirass protected your useless breast, for your sword was covered with a considerable amount of rust and even if it struck an enemy, it still failed to inflict a wound. But I wonder which of your hands would have been clasping the shield; the right hand,114 I imagine, for this is what best suits a frightened slave. Perhaps you say, “I did not have any messenger.” The woman who brought you my letter would have brought me your reply had you chosen to send one, or if you knew how to put one together.

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47115 I wish you would not blame me for not giving the quick response to your verses that I ought to have given. I do not keep back till the ninth year116 what I write to friends. I hope you and your associates repent the “slave” jibe, because they were, as you know, the cause of this delay; their sudden return was not revealed to me.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

48 Nomine quod resonat,  tibi res feliciter addat,   hoc mittens optat,  quae bona cuique parat. Cum scriptis oculos  subigat tua dextera nostros,   ne pigram credas  me tibi mittere ,79 sed quia certa meis  non das responsa lituris,   quid scribam dubius  non mihi fert animus. Id tantum doleo  quod iactas ore protervo   ex nobis multa  noscere te stolida.80 Non curae nobis  est si quid inutile garris;   si laudas etiam,  spernimus ut nebulam. Ergo virgineis  fugiat procul ille choreis,   agnis81 infestus  qui solet82 esse lupus.

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49 Ut valeas animo,  quamvis irata, rogabo. Ipsa re didici  mihi divos insidiari, nam sub amicitia  tu me deludis inepta, me verbis, alias  opera83 complexus amicas. Quid queror? Adversis  mihi fiat quod precor illis: fert quoscumque84 coma  serpentes85 dira Medusa, nymphis insiliant,  quae nunc tua foedera temptant.

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50 Me quia fecisti  laetari sede decenti, invidiae iaculo  de multis laedor amaro. Sed ne me noceant et ad imum vulnera condant, iam tua praevideat  pietas illasque repellat.86 79  credas me tibi mittere ] T&H; me tibi missa credas S Paravicini (obelized); credas me tibi missa Wattenbach. The letter “h” can prevent elision in Medieval Latin. 80  stolida] Wattenbach, Paravicini; stolide S 81  agnis] Wattenbach, Paravicini; agnus S 82  solet] Wattenbach, Paravicini; dolet S 83  opera] Wattenbach, Paravicini; operam S 84  quoscumque] Dronke; quacumque S Paravicini 85  serpentes] Wattenbach, Paravicini; serpentis S 86  repellat] Dronke, Paravicini; repellas S



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57

48117 One who works for the good of all sends you this with the wish that the matter may happily add something that redounds to your reputation. Although your right hand forces my eyes to what you have written, do not think me lazy in sending you these lines;118 rather, my mind is hesitant and does not tell me what to write because you give no definite answer to my smudged lines. I only grieve that you boast shamelessly that you are learning many stupid things from us. We don’t care if you engage in idle gossip; even if you praise us, we dismiss it as empty talk. So let the wolf who is accustomed to threaten lambs keep far away from our coterie of young women!

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49119 Though I am angry, I will wish you well;120 I have learned for a fact that the gods are plotting against me for you are deceiving me under the guise of a foolish friendship, embracing me with words but other girlfriends in deed. Why do I complain? May what I pray for happen to those rivals of mine:  May all the snakes that grim Medusa wears in her hair attack the nymphs who are now trying out your pacts! 50121 Because you have made me happy with a fitting seat I am hurt by bitter darts of envy coming from many women. To stop them from harming me and wounding me deeply, may your pity anticipate their attack and drive them back.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

51 Vos proficiscentes  prohibetis nos fore tristes, praesertim verni  quia87 tempore88 huc redituri. Crederet hoc durum  pia mens, si non daret unum solamen nobis  domni comitatus Hugonis. Hic o o quantos  secum deduxit amicos vestibus insignes  et verbis se reputantes omnes victuros  quos Norica nutrit ephebos. Non nobis horum  placet experientia morum. Si steterint clari,  vos flebitis inde reiecti; si fuerint victi,  cantabitis inde recepti.

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52 Nobis Pierides  ferrent si vota fideles,   optarent tibi quae  vellet Apollo bene, sic ut te laute  sonus oblectaret ubique   et nil quod cantet  Iuppiter esse putet. Nos89 tamen has hilares  quamquam dis inferiores   odas exprimimus,  quas notat alta salus. Ergo tibi festum  sit salve centuplicatum!   Expectatus ades,  gaudia certa ferens! Denique non stolide  te diximus90 hinc abeunte,   quod pax atque salus  sit tibi iam reditus. Nunc igitur nobis,  quia gaudes, flos probitatis   91

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53 Nos quibus ornatum  Dominus92 dedit et dabit aptum laudis hyperbolicae  non oblectamur honore. Nec tamen indignor,  quia pulchra venustaque dicor,  quia] Wattenbach, Paravicini; quae S  tempore] Paravicini; temporis S 89  Nos] Wattenbach, Paravicini; Hos S 90  te diximus hinc abeunte] T&H; te dicimus hinc abeunde S; tibi diximus hinc abeunti Wattenbach; te dicimus hinc abeunte Paravicini 91  The concluding pentameter line is missing, but there is no space to indicate a lacuna in S. 92  Dominus] S; omitted by Paravicini 87 88



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59

51122 As you were setting out you forbade us to be sad, especially since you would be returning here in the spring. A devout heart would consider this departure harsh, were it not that Lord Hugo’s123 retinue gives us some solace. Ah! How numerous are the friends he has brought with him, thinking themselves exceptional in both dress and talk and reckoning that they will defeat all the young men Bavaria rears!124 Our experience of their behavior has not been positive. If they are victorious, you will weep because you have been rejected; if they are defeated, you will sing because you have been welcomed back.

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52125 If the faithful Muses were to bring my wishes to pass, they would choose for you such gifts as Apollo might well wish for, so that their sound would delight you extravagantly everywhere and Jupiter would think his singing of no account. But we, though lower than the gods, sing these happy songs that this our splendid greeting records. So, a hundred festive greetings to you! May you who are long awaited be here, bringing undiluted joy! In short, it was not foolishly that we said, as you departed: “May your return now be one of peace and safety.” So now for us, because you rejoice, flower of rectitude … 53126 The Lord has given, and will give, me appropriate adornment, but I take no delight in being honored with hyperbolic praise. Yet I am not indignant at being called beautiful and charming

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

si modo simpliciter  venit haec laus, non petulanter. Sic detestor eum,  qui cor gerit insidiosum; quasque iacit,93 madidae  nigro sunt felle sagittae.

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54 Quae mihi prima novum  dederat bene prodiga nummum, semper amanda meae  statuetur filia dextrae. 55 Edita sub primis  rursus quasi surda requiris, dicens quae tanti  mihi sit fiducia coepti. Sospite stans cura,  non curem scribere plura, quod tamen haec finxit  mens, indignatio strinxit. Quae tibi marcescunt,  mihi mens, audacia crescunt. Quod fore me brutum  garris, non est tibi tutum, sed quia mendacem  bene convenit esse loquacem, aegraque nec fortis  mihi sit commotio cordis! Invida cum nollet  tua mens, mea provida pollet Palladi devota,  mihi sufficiunt sua dona. Aemula cornicis  quicquid fers garrula dicis. Nomen habens scurrae  de me94 convicta recurre! Non superest fundum  tibi nectar mellis ad imum. 56a Me tibi dantis amor  quasi dulcis ros fluat in cor cingarisque nova  per centum gaudia zona! 56b Gaudeo me modulis  sabuca95 nitescere comptis,96 docta peritorum  posuit quos dextra virorum, si mihi Pierides  hoc plus tribuere sorores, quod recinit laute  mea limmata turba Dianae.  iacit] Wattenbach, Paravicini; iacet S  de me] Paravicini; dente S 95  modulis sabuca] Stotz; iiidis sambuca S; ludis sambuca Paravicini 96  In S verbis is expunged and comptis written above the line. 93 94

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

provided this praise is made without guile or lascivious intent. I detest the man who has a treacherous heart;   every arrow he shoots is soaked in black gall.

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54127 She who was the first to give me, very generously, a new coin will be made my right-hand daughter, to be loved forever. 55128 Like a deaf woman you ask to hear again what was said at the beginning, asking what confidence I have in so great an undertaking. If steadfast in a love that was assured, I would not care to write more, yet what this mind of mine has imagined, indignation has secured. While your resolve and boldness are weakening, mine are becoming stronger. It is not safe for you to gossip that I am unreasonable, but because it is well established that a gossip is a liar may the rousing of my passions be feeble and not strong!129 Though your mind is jealous and grudging, mine is prudent, powerful, and devoted to Pallas; her gifts are enough for me. Like a crow you garrulously tell whatever news you have. Scurry away bearing the name of “scoundrel” that I have given you! There is no honeyed nectar left for you at the very bottom. 56a130 May the love of the one who gives me to you flow into your heart like sweet dew, and may you wear this new girdle on a hundred joyous occasions. 56b I find joy when I shine with attractive tunes on the harp, which the skilled hands of learned men have composed, if the Muses have granted me this additional favor— namely, that Diana’s coterie sings my semitones splendidly.

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62

Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

57 Mercurii famulae  scribendo, loquendo perite stant mecum, ne quid  praesumptio garrula possit. Providus ergo cave  tibi, ne gravius cruciere quam corvus,97 niveam  cum dempsit lingua figuram. 58 Cantio Fortunae  mihi te commendat, amice, si proprie dicis,  quae sit sententia verbis. 59 Nomen de pilo  sumpsi, ne vincar ab ullo. 60 Hesperidum ramis  haec mala recepta superbis doxa puellarum  dat regi Palladiarum. Hercule nobilior,  quia non tulit omnia victor. 61 Hoccine pro scriptis  pretium mihi, perfida, reddis, ut fugias a me  nec, inepta, velis meminisse, quot vel quanta pii  dederim tibi munia voti? Si tibi plana fides  esset, secreta venires ac mihi deferres  secreti quicquid haberes.

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62 Nunc autem non re  sed in astu vis agitare ut tibi me dedam,  licet agnoscens alienam. Denique lauta bonae  non aufers signa puellae. Ut tibi plus scribam,  vetat98 indignatio, quae iam me monet ut quaeram  meliores teque relinquam. 97 98

 corvus] Dronke, Paravicini; curvus S  vetat] Wattenbach, Paravicini; vetit S

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63

57131 Mercury’s handmaids, by writing and speaking skillfully, stand with me to curb the power of garrulous presumption. Take care to ensure that you are not punished more severely than the raven when its tongue deprived it of its snow-white appearance.132 58133 Fortune’s spell commends you to me, my friend, if you say what your opinion is with the proper words. 59134 I took my name from “spear” to ensure that no one would defeat me. 60135 These apples taken from the proud branches of the Hesperides the glory of Minerva’s girls gives to their king. She is nobler than Hercules,136 for he did not win everything he carried off. 61137 Is this the reward you give me, perfidious girl, for what I have written, that you flee from me and refuse to remember, foolish girl, the number and value of the gifts of pious avowal I have given you? If your good faith were unquestionable, you would come in secret and bring me any secret you had.

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62138 Now you wish to urge—not openly, but with guile— that I give myself to you, though you know that I belong to another. In short, you are not going to carry off the noble standards of an honest girl. My indignation forbids me to write to you any more, for it now counsels me to look for better company and abandon you.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

63 Iam felix valeas  laetusque per omnia vivas, Pierides Musae  te largo saepius usae! Ad nos deducto  iubilamus amore probato. Mercurius faciem  nobis monstraret erilem, si regis comites  non essent urbe frequentes. Hac causa vetitae  trans aera desuper ire corde tibi canimus  melos quodcumque negamus. Ergo, pater, “chaere,”  “salom lach” cui decet esse. 64 Inter nos facti  memor esto mutuo pacti.99 65 Non constat verbis  dilectio sed benefactis. Quod mihi te verbis  et amicam sentio factis, si sospes vivam,  benefactum par tibi reddam. 66 Mox ego ridebo,  cum vos plorare100 videbo. 67 Compensent fidei  signum Virtutis alumni, splendor quos animi  sociavit Bellerophonti.101 68 Mentio perfecti  curas oblimat amici.

 pacti] Paravicini; facti S  plorare] Paravicini; plurare S 101  Bellerophonti] Paravicini; berolophonti S 99

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

65

63139 May you be happy now and joyful throughout your whole life, frequently and generously employed by the Pierian Muses! We rejoice in the proven love you showed us. Mercury would be showing us his masterly face, if the king’s entourage were not crowding the city. For this reason, since we are prohibited from flying through the air, we sing in our hearts all the songs we cannot give you. So, father, “chaire,” and “shalom lach”140 are appropriate wishes for you. 64141 Be mindful of the reciprocal pact we made between us. 65142 Love does not consist in words but in kind deeds. Because I feel that you are my girlfriend in words and deeds, if I live safely, I will repay you with a matching good deed. 66143 I will soon be laughing, when I see you crying. 67144 May those reared by Courage, the splendor of whose spirit has likened them to Bellerophon, match the sign of their faith. 68145 The mention of a perfect friend dispels worry.

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Carmina Rivipullensia 1 QUOMODO PRIMUM A0MAVI1 Aprilis tempore, quo nemus frondibus et pratum roseis ornatur floribus, iuventus tenera fervet amoribus. Fervet amoribus iuventus tenera, pie cum concinit omnis avicula et cantat dulciter silvestris merula.

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Amor tunc militat cum matre Venere, arcus eburneos2 non cessat flectere, ut matris valeat regnum extendere. Venatu rediens eodem tempore sol cum descenderet3 vergente cardine, errantes catulos coepi requirere. Quos circumspiciens nusquam reperio, unde non modicum sed satis doleo; Non cessans igitur perditos quaerito.

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Illos dum quaerito, filius Veneris, in arce residens ad instar numinis, inquit; “Quo properas, dilecte iuvenis? Dianae pharetrae fractae sunt denuo. Arcus Cupidinis sumetur amodo; laborem itaque dimittas moneo.

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1  AMAVI ] AMAVIT R. Probably the poet used first person here as he usually does, but the scribe flinched at the idea of perhaps incriminating himself but got over his fears by poem 2. 2  eburneos] Latzke; heburneus R 3  descenderet] T&H; descender?t R; descenderat editors

Ripoll Poems 1 HOW I FIRST FELL IN LOVE1 In April, when woods and fields are adorned with rose-colored flowers, tender youth burns with love. Tender youth burns with love2 when every little bird duly sings with the rest,   and the blackbird that haunts the woods sings sweetly.

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Then Love campaigns with his mother Venus, and does not cease to bend his ivory bow to extend his mother’s kingdom. Having returned from the hunt at the same time   as the sun was starting its descent, sinking from its zenith,3 I began to seek out my missing hounds. I looked around and could not find them anywhere and this was causing me no little grief; so I continued to look for my lost hounds.

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As I looked for them, the son of Venus, seated in heaven4 like a deity, said: “Where are you hurrying to, youth that I cherish? Diana’s quiver is broken again. From now on Cupid’s bow will be taken up; so I advise you to abandon your task.

 

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Dimittas moneo laborem itaque; non est conveniens hoc tali tempore venari; potius debemus ludere. Ignoras forsitan ludos Cupidinis sed valde dedecet, si talis iuvenis non ludit saepius in aula Veneris.

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Si semel luseris in eius curia non eam deseres ulla penuria, illi sed servies mente continua.”

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Ad cuius monitus totus contremui, velut exterritus ad terram cecidi; sic novis ignibus statim incalui. 2 UBI PRIMUM VIDI MACIMA Maio mense dum per pratum pulchris floribus ornatum irem forte spatiatum, vidi quiddam mihi gratum. Vidi quippe Cytheream Venerem, amoris deam, atque virginum choream quae tunc sequebatur eam. Inter quas erat Cupido, arcus cuius reformido, saepe qui dicebat “Io,” vocem quam amantum scio. Ipsa flores colligebat, quibus calathos replebat; chorus virginum canebat mille modis, quod decebat.

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69

Accordingly, you should abandon your task5— that’s my advice. It is not appropriate to hunt at this time; we ought rather to be playing. Perhaps you are unacquainted with Cupid’s games, but it is a great shame if a young man like you does not often play in the court of Venus. If you once play in her court, poverty will never make you abandon her; rather, you will serve her single-mindedly.”

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I trembled all over at his advice, I sank to the ground like one struck with terror; In this way a new passion at once inflamed me. 2 WHEN I FIRST SAW MY GIRLFRIEND6 In the month of May when I chanced to go for a walk over a meadow adorned with beautiful flowers, I saw a welcome sight. I saw Cytherean Venus,75 the goddess of love, and a chorus of young women who were then following her. Among them was Cupid, whose bow I fear;8   he often said “Io,” which I know is a cry lovers use.9 She was gathering flowers and filling her basket with them; the chorus of young women was singing a thousand songs—an agreeable scene!

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70

Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Postquam vidi tales actus, penitus perterrefactus; ipsa dulcedine cantus ab Amore fui captus.

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Ibi virginem honestam, generosam et modestam, adamavi, quam suspectam nulli puto nec molestam. Oculi sunt relucentes, nivei sunt eius dentes, nec papillae sunt tumentes, sed sunt quasi nix candentes. Frons ipsius candens, gula, manus, pedes atque crura candescentes sicut luna carent vetustatis ruga. Hanc amavi, hanc amabo; dulciter hanc conservabo. Huic soli me donabo, pro qua saepius dictabo. Eius nomen si quis quaerit, dicam, quia pulchrum erit: I in ordine praecedit, U post sibi iunctum venit.

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D post tertium ponetur, quartus locus I donetur, T in fine reservetur; totum nomen sic habetur. Huius longa si sit vita, mea erit, credas ita; finietur sed si cita, moriar hac pro amica.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

When I saw these activities, I was completely thunderstruck; with the very sweetness of the singing Love made a captive of me.  

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It was there that I fell in love with an honorable young woman, high-born and demure, whom, I think, no one would consider suspect or troublesome. Her eyes gleam brightly1025 her teeth are snowy white her breasts are not too big but shine as white as snow. Her brow and throat gleam, her hands, feet, and legs   have the candescence of the moon and lack the wrinkles of age. I have loved her and will love her and will look after her gently. I will give myself to her alone and often write poems for her. If anyone asks her name, I will tell it because it will be beautiful:11 I comes first in order, U comes next in sequence.

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D will be placed third, let the fourth place be given to I and T be kept in the last place; this makes up the entire name. If her life is a long one she will be mine, believe me; but if her end comes quickly, I will die for this girlfriend of mine.

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3 EACIMA SEDUAL Sidus clarum  puellarum flos et decus omnium; rosa veris  quae videris clarior quam lilium, tui forma  me de norma regulari proicit; tuus visus  atque risus Veneri me subicit. Pro te deae  Cythereae libens porto vincula et alati  sui nati corde fero spicula. Ut in lignis  ardet ignis siccis cum subducitur, sic mens mea  pro te, dea, fervet et comburitur. Dic quis durus,  quis tam purus, carens omni crimine, esse potest,  quem non dotes tuae possint flectere?

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Vivat Cato,  Dei dato, qui sic fuit rigidus; in amore  tuo flore captus erit fervidus. Fore suum  crinem tuum  Venus ipsa cuperet, si videret,  et doleret suum quod exsuperet.

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3 PRAISE OF HIS GIRLFRIEND12 Bright star, flower and glory of all girls, a spring rose, you appear more radiant than the lily, your beauty throws me off balance; the sight of you and your smile make me subject to Venus.13

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For you I gladly wear the chains of the Cytherean goddess1410 and endure her winged son’s arrows in my heart. Just as fire blazes when set below dry wood, so my heart seethes and burns for you, my goddess. Tell me who can be so unfeeling, so pure and free from all sin that15 he could not be swayed by your gifts?

 

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Were Cato, who was so strict,16 alive by an act of God, he would fall in love, made fervent by your bloom! Venus herself, if she saw you,1725 would want your hair to be hers and would grieve that it surpassed her own.

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Frons et gula  sine ruga et visus angelicus   te caelestem,  non terrestrem, denotant hominibus. Tibi dentes  sunt candentes, pulchre sedent labia, quae si quando  ore tango, mellea dant suavia. Et tuarum  papillarum forma satis parvula non tumescit,  sed albescit nive magis candida.

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Quid quod manus,  venter planus et statura gracilis te sic formant  et coornant quod nimis es habilis? Nitent crura;  sed quid plura? Deas pulchritudine, et caelestes  et terrestres, superas et genere. Et idcirco,  pia virgo, nulli sit mirabile, si mens mea  pro te, dea, laesa sit a Venere. Quare precor,  mundi decor te satis summopere, ut amoris  non doloris,   causa sis hoc pectore.

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Your brow and throat show no wrinkles, and your angelic appearance makes you look heavenly, not earthbound, to mortals. Your teeth shine brightly, your lips are beautifully set and when I touch them with my mouth, they exude sweet honey. The size of your breasts is quite small. They are not tumescent; rather, they are pale, whiter than snow.

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Why mention that your hands, smooth stomach, and slender build are so shapely and well-suited to you that you are very graceful? Your legs gleam white; in short, you surpass the goddesses, both heavenly and earthbound, in beauty and class. And so, kind maiden, it should surprise no one if my heart has been wounded by Venus over you, my goddess. So, beauty of the world, I beg you quite earnestly that you be the cause of love, not pain, in this heart of mine.

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4 QUOMODO PRIUS CONVENIMUS Sol nimium fervens medium dum scandit Olympi,   fessus pernimium membra toro posui. Ostia clauduntur, non clauditur una fenestra,   quae placido vento pervia sola foret. Curas postpono, quoniam dormire volebam;   sed Veneris flamma torqueor ipse nimis. Dumque nimis crucior satis alto vulnere laesus,   ianua cum digito tacta parum sonuit. Ilico surrexi cupiens decernere quis sit   ostia tam leviter qui digito tetigit. Cumque manu clausas valvas aperire volebam,   fregit poste seram protinus ipsa Venus. Venerat illius conductu pulchra puella,   oscula mille modis quae mihi cara daret. Flora sibi nomen quia florida sunt sua facta,   gutture mella gerens, mellea verba dedit. Cuius crus tenerum tenui, quod non negat ipsa.   Insuper et coxas sponte sua tetigi. Nec vetuit niveas post me tractare papillas,   quas tractare mihi dulce nimis fuerat. Venimus ad lectum, conectimur insimul ambo;   cetera, quae licuit, sumere non piguit. Hanc igitur cupio felicem vivere semper,   hoc tamen addendo: vivat ut ipsa mihi!

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5 MACIMA DA Luna velut stellas,  sic vincis, amica, puellas; mente tibi pura  quare cupio bona plura. Corde tibi puro,  virgo, per numina iuro: ardet ut in lignis  succensus maximus ignis, sic mea mens ardet;  moriar, si quod volo, tardet. Me tuus ardet amor.  Transcendet ad aethera clamor, ni sanes mentem  pro te vulnus patientem.

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4 HOW WE MET FOR THE FIRST TIME18 As the sun, burning intensely, climbed to the middle of the sky,   I rested my body, completely exhausted, on my bed. The door was closed but a window was not closed   so that it was the only passage for a gentle breeze. I set my cares aside since I wanted to sleep   but was cruelly tortured by Venus’s flame. As I suffered excruciating pain from a deep-seated wound,   the door was lightly tapped with a finger and gave a slight sound. Right away I got up, eager to discover who it was   who touched the door so lightly with a finger.  When I sought to open the closed door with my hand,   Venus herself instantly broke the lock from the doorpost. Under her guidance there had come a beautiful girl   to give me sweet kisses in a thousand ways. Her name was Flora because her deeds were florid;   there was honey in her throat, her words honey-sweet. I held her tender leg; she did not say no to this.   I also touched her thighs with her full consent. Then she did not stop me from stroking her snow-white breasts;   stroking them was very pleasant for me.  We came to bed and simultaneously embraced one another.   I was not slow to take the other favors I was allowed.19 Because of this, I want her always to live a happy life   but with this added proviso: that she lives for me!

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5 TO MY GIRLFRIEND20 As the moon surpasses the stars, so you, my love, surpass other girls; this is why, with pure thoughts, I wish you many good things. With a pure heart, my dear, I swear to you by the gods that just as a huge fire blazes up when wood is set alight, so blazes my heart; I shall die if what I want is slow to come, I am on fire with love for you. My cries will rise to heaven if you do not heal my heart, which suffers a wound for you.

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Semper corde manes;  decet ut mea pectora sanes; Des mihi, virgo, mori,  si non concedis amori. Pelle, precor, mortem!  Vitae serva mihi sortem!  Si valet hoc fieri, mea sis specialis amica. Et decet et cupio, quod sis sub corde pudica.

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6 MACIMA DA Dulcis amica mei, valeas per saecula multa;   sis semper felix, dulcis amica mei. Dulcis amica mei, superat tua forma puellas,   luna velut stellas, dulcis amica mei. Dulcis amica mei, nimiis fervoribus angor.   Igne tui tangor, dulcis amica mei. Dulcis amica mei, pro te nimis angor amore   me tuus ardet amor, dulcis amica mei. Dulcis amica mei, moriar, mihi crede, dolore,   ni mihi des vitam, dulcis amica mei. Dulcis amica mei, vitam mihi si dare velles,   quod volo tu velles, dulcis amica mei, Dulcis amica mei, si quaeris quid volo, vellem   tactum, non factum, dulcis amica mei. Dulcis amica mei, satis est tractare papillam,   oscula iungendo, dulcis amica mei.

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7 DE SOMNIO Si vera somnia forent quae somnio, magno perenniter replerer gaudio. Aprilis tempore, dum solus dormio in prato viridi iam satis florido, virgo pulcherrima, vultu sidereo et proles sanguine progressa regio, ante me visa est, quae suo pallio auram mihi facit cum magno studio.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

You are fixed constantly in my heart; it is your duty to heal my breast. You may cause my death, woman, if you don’t yield to love. Banish death, I beg you! Give me a chance to live! If this can happen, then be my devoted girlfriend. It is both right and what I desire, that you be chaste at heart.

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6 TO MY GIRLFRIEND21 My dear girlfriend, good health to you for ages and ages; May you always be happy, my dear girlfriend! My dear girlfriend, your beauty surpasses that of other girls as the moon surpasses the stars, my dear girlfriend. My dear girlfriend, I anguish over my enormous passion for you; I am scorched with fire for you, my dear girlfriend. My dear girlfriend, I am in utter anguish over my love for you; my love for you burns me, my dear girlfriend. My dear girlfriend, I will die of pain, believe me, if you don’t give me life, my dear girlfriend.     My dear girlfriend, should you choose to give me life —for that is what I want you to choose, my dear girlfriend— my dear girlfriend, if you ask what I want, I would like to touch, not to do the deed, my dear girlfriend. My dear girlfriend, it would be enough to caress your breast,     while exchanging kisses, my dear girlfriend.

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7 A DREAM22 If the dreams I dream were true, I would forever be filled with great joy. In April, when I was sleeping alone in a green meadow already covered in flowers, a very beautiful young woman with a face like a star and whose descent was from royal blood appeared before me. By moving her cloak vigorously, she created a breeze for me.

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Auram dum ventilat, interdum dulcia ore mellifluo iungebat basia; et latus lateri iunxisset pariter, sed primum timuit ne ferrem graviter. Tandem sic loquitur: “Monitu Veneris ad te devenio, dilecte iuvenis, face Cupidinis succensa pectore; mente te diligo cum toto corpore. Ni me4 dilexeris sicut te diligo, credas quod moriar dolore nimio. Quare te deprecor, o decus iuvenum, ut non me neglegas, sed des solacium. Nec iuste poteris nunc me neglegere, quippe sum regio progressa sanguine. Aurum et pallia, vestes purpureas, renones griseos et pelles varias, plures tibi dabo, si gratus fueris et, ut te diligo, sic me dilexeris. Si pulchram faciem quaeris et splendidam, hic sum; me teneas, quia te diligam. Cum nullus pulchrior te sit in saeculo, ut pulchram habeas amicam cupio.” His verbis virginis commotus ilico, ipsam amplexibus duris circumligo. Genas deosculans papillas palpito. Post illud dulcius secretum compleo. Inferre igitur possum quod nimium felix ipse forem et plus quam nimium, illam si virginem tenerem vigilans, quam prato tenui, dum fui vigilans.5

 Ni me] Raby; Nimie R Nicolau  vigilans] R Nicolau, Moralejo; somnians Raby, Latzke

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As she fanned me, she sometimes gave me sweet kisses with her mellifluous mouth   10 and would have lain side by side with me, but was at first afraid that I might be offended. Finally, she spoke as follows: “At Venus’s prompting I have come to you, beloved young man, with my heart set on fire by Cupid’s torch;   15 I love you with all my body and soul. If you don’t love me as I love you, believe me, I will die of overwhelming grief. So I beg you, most handsome of young men, not to neglect me but to offer solace.   20 You cannot now rightly neglect me since I am descended from royal blood. I will give you gold and cloaks, clothes of purple, garments of gray leather, and various hides, and more, if you are agreeable 25 and love me as I love you. If you seek a face that is beautiful and resplendent, I am here; hold me, because I will love you. As there is none more handsome than you in the world, I want you to have a beautiful girlfriend.” 30 At once moved by the young woman’s words, I put my arms around her in a tight embrace. I stroked her breasts while kissing her cheeks. After that, I filled her even sweeter private area. So I can conclude I would be very happy2335 and much more than that, if I held that young woman when awake, whom I held in the meadow until I was awake.

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8 ALIUD SOMNIUM Illud si verum fieret quod somnia monstrant, felix pernimium fierem, cui talia constant. Nocte sub obscura, dum solus forte cubabam, ante mei vultum vidi quandam mihi gratam. Cuius forma mihi primum satis est dubitata, an foret haec virgo fuerat quae luce vocata. Postquam cognovi quod erat speciosior illa, illa neglecta, fuit illico tacta papilla. Venit in amplexus; pectus iacuit prope pectus. Oscula mille modis dum dat mihi pulchra puella, gaudia persensi, quae vix mihi nunc daret ulla. Oscula iungebat, sed me spes vana ferebat; namque sui tenerum volo dum circumdare collum, nescio quo fugit, nec verbum protulit unum. Unde nimis doleo, puto sed magis inde dolebo, ni, quod per somnum tenui, vigilans retinebo.

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9 MACIMA DA SUCIMA Conqueror et doleo de te, mea dulcis amica; quod prohibet facies, nimis exigis esse pudica. Fac placeas Veneri, Veneris vel desine formam. Me doctore potes Veneris cito discere normam. ACIMA Hoc placet et cupio, meus ut sis semper amicus. Displicet et doleo, nisi sis quandoque pudicus. Luxuriam fugias, precor, amplectaris amorem. Convenit et pulchro iuveni servare pudorem. SUCIMA Non te testatur libri dictator amoris, non valet ullus amans semper memor esse pudoris?

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8 ANOTHER DREAM24 If what dreams indicate were true, I would be very happy if this is the case for me. One dark night when I happened to be lying alone in my bed, I saw before my eyes a woman much to my liking. Her appearance at first made me rather uncertain  whether she was the woman I had invited during the day. After I realized she was more beautiful than that woman, I forgot the other and promptly touched her breast. She came into my arms; breast lay next to breast. As the beautiful girl gave me kisses in a thousand ways, I felt such joy as scarcely any woman could give me now. She gave me kisses, but I was borne on an empty hope; for as I sought to embrace her tender neck, she fled away somewhere without uttering a word. I am very upset at this, but I think I will be more upset afterwards if I don’t hold in my arms when awake what I held when asleep.

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9 TO HIS GIRLFRIEND25 BOYFRIEND I have a complaint and I am upset about you, my sweet girlfriend; you claim to be quite chaste but your looks forbid that. See that you please Venus or stop looking like Venus. With me as teacher you can soon learn the ways of Venus. GIRLFRIEND What I like and want is for you always to be my boyfriend.265 I dislike it and it upsets me if at times you are not chaste. Shun licentiousness, please, and embrace love. It befits even a handsome young man to preserve his chastity. BOYFRIEND Doesn’t the poet27 of the book of love assure you that28 no lover can always be mindful of chastity?

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Sed fortassis amans non es, licet esse fateris. Lingua sonat, tamen interius producere quaeris. ACIMA Dulcis amice mei, cordis non intima laedas. Diligo plus nimio te, quamvis non mihi credas. Non sic fictus amor meus est, si dicere velles; sive6 loqui possint, poterant quid dicere pelles? SUCIMA Non nego me sub veste tua tractasse papillam, namque modo simili tractasset quilibet illam. Crura tui, non sponte tua, sic candida nossem, te nisi per nimias vires devincere possem.

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ACIMA Simplicis ingenii nimis es, non insipientis. Virgineae nescis quae sit meditatio mentis. Cum prohibet tactum, vult ne meretrix videatur. Condolet interius, nisi quod negat, illud agatur. SUCIMA Tunc solet hoc fieri cum principium fit amoris, improvisus amor cum primis fervet in horis. Alterius mores alter cum denique noscit, si placeant, facit haec alter quod postea poscit. ACIMA Culpa tui, non culpa mei, perturbat amores, namque tui varios nequeo cognoscere mores. Evolat hac illac multa tua parte iuventus, unde meus merito monstratur amor tibi lentus.

 sive] T&H; scire R editors

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But perhaps you are not in love, though you say you are. Your tongue says one thing but at heart you seek to put things off. GIRLFRIEND Don’t hurt my heartstrings, my dear friend. I love you more than a great deal, though you don’t believe me. My love is not feigned, if that is what you meant; if my skin could speak, what could29 it have said? BOYFRIEND I don’t deny that I stroked your breast under your dress, for anyone would have stroked it just as I did. I would have come to know your legs, so white, against your will, had I not had to overcome you with excessive force.

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GIRLFRIEND You are very naive, not foolish. You don’t know how a young woman’s mind works. She forbids touching to avoid seeming like a prostitute. She is saddened at heart if what she refuses does not occur.30 BOYFRIEND But this is what usually happens at the very start of a romance when an unexpected love becomes heated in its first hours. When the one finally gets to know the nature of the other, if they like one another, she does what he eventually asks. GIRLFRIEND It is your fault, not mine, that our love is troubled, for I cannot understand the shifts in your behavior.   Your youth causes you to fly off this way and that, in every direction; this is why my love duly shows itself to you as reluctant.

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10 QUARE CUPIDINI7 MILITAVERIM Grave vulnus Amoris nimis habens doloris magni causa furoris, multum infert terroris. Cuius timens furorem sum secutus Amorem; sic spernendo terrorem eius vito dolorem. Quem dum sequor, apricam sum adeptus amicam, prius satis cupitam, mentem gerens pudicam. Frons ipsius et gula et papilla sat dura quia sunt sine ruga,     candent plus nive pura. Dentes sunt candescentes, oculi relucentes, manus, pedes et crura candent veluti luna.

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Hac me Venus donavit, qua me nimis ditavit. Non me sic ditavisset, aurum si donavisset. Pretiosior auro   alioque thesauro. Magis placet quam aurum omnem vincens thesaurum.

 cupidini] editors; cupidin R

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10 WHY I SERVED AS A SOLDIER OF CUPID31 A serious wound from Love accompanied by considerable pain32 is a cause of great frenzy and provokes much alarm. Fearing his wrath, I followed Love; by so dismissing dread of him I avoid the pain he causes.33 Following him, I won a sprightly girlfriend; I had desired her earlier when I kept my thoughts chaste. Since her brow, throat34 and very firm breast have no wrinkles, they gleam brighter than virgin snow. Her teeth sparkle, her eyes shine, her hands, feet, and legs gleam like the moon.

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Venus presented her to me, and with her enriched me exceedingly. She would not have enriched me so much, had she presented me with gold. She is more precious than gold and any other treasure. She pleases me more than gold and surpasses any treasure.

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Hanc puellam amabo, solam hanc conservabo. Deprecor Cytheream mihi quod servet eam.

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11 EAICNARF MASSITIMOC DA Quot tenet astra polus, aqua pisces, pondera tellus,   tot tibi vel plura verba salutis habe. Forma decora nimis, qua non pretiosior usquam,   in specie vestis cur tibi quaeris opem? Non auro, gemmis poterit tua forma probari;   aurum cum gemmis forma tui superat. Si fuerint niveo pretiosa monilia collo,   ex candore gulae, crede, monile nitet. Dic mihi: flameolum valet exornare capillos,   quos Phoebi crinis vincere non poterit?    Anulus in tereti digito si ponitur umquam,   aurum cum lapide sat magis inde placet. Frons tua clara nimis; si sol patietur eclipsin,   restaurare diem fronte tua poteris. Sunt tibi candentes dentes oculique micantes,   necnon crura satis candidiora nive. Forma papillarum satis est laudanda tuarum;   albicat ipsa magis parva papilla nive. Non nimis es longa, pedis est artissima forma;   forma pedis brevis est, omnibus atque placet.    Non tibi sunt similes per se Venus atque Diana,   sed, si iungantur, sunt tibi consimiles. Arte tua superas Venerem, candore Dianam.   Arte Diana valet; candor inest Veneri. Ergo tui forma superat quodcumque videtur,   cum nihil est usquam quod tibi sit simile. Francia, quam felix! Florem retines mulierum,   quo vellem felix quod mea terra fores!8  fores] Raby; foret R Latzke, Moralejo

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I will love this girl and will keep only her. I beg the Cytherean to keep her mine.

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11 TO A FRENCH COUNTESS35 I send as many wishes, or more, for your health   as there are stars in the sky, fish in the sea, and stones in the earth. Being a great beauty—nowhere is there one more prized—   why seek help from the style of your dress? Your beauty cannot be demonstrated by gold or gems;   your beauty surpasses both gold and gems. If there is a precious necklace around your snowy neck,   it gets its gleam, believe me, from the white of your throat. Tell me, can a headscarf enhance hair36   that Phoebus’s locks cannot surpass?   Whenever a ring is placed on your smooth finger,   the gold and its stone are more pleasing as a result. Your brow is very bright; if the sun suffers an eclipse,   you can restore daylight with your brow. Your teeth gleam white, your eyes sparkle,   and your legs are considerably whiter than snow. The beauty of your breasts is much to be praised;   Your small breasts gleam whiter than snow. You are not too tall, and your feet are very narrowly shaped;   Your feet are small, and pleasing to everyone. Individually, Venus and Diana are no match for you,   but taken together, they are your equal. In skill you surpass Venus, in whiteness, Diana.   Diana excels in skill; whiteness belongs to Venus. Your beauty surpasses everything that can be seen,   since there is nothing anywhere to match you. France, how lucky you are! You possess the flower of women,   that is I would happily wish you were my country!

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12 LAUDES ALTERIUS EACIMA Si laudare possem florem iuventutis et honorem, laudes darem Guilibergi,9 quae est flos totius regni. Sed laudare possum vere, nam haec virgo—sine—fere forma vincit deas poli, sicut vincit deas soli. Huic ergo laudes dabo et de ea plus cantabo quam de nympha, quia dea me sic monet Cytherea. Huius stirpem quare dicam? Quia patet, praetermittam, praetermittam, quia patet, 10 notabo quod vos latet. Super omne quod splendescit crinis huius renitescit, et odore vincit crocum, vincit myrrham et amomum.

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Frons ipsius candet ita, quod candore margarita superatur; vincit solem, ut plus dicam, per nitorem. Nam quandoque nil splendoris nobis donat candor solis;  Guilibergi] Moralejo (cf. line 46); Guiliberti R Nicolau, Latzke  et] editors; omitted by R

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12 PRAISE OF ANOTHER GIRLFRIEND37 If I could praise the flower and glory of youth, I would bestow my praise on Guilibergis, who is the flower of the entire kingdom. But I can truthfully praise her, for this young woman—allow me to say this— almost surpasses the goddesses of heaven in beauty, just as she surpasses the goddesses of the earth. I will offer praise to her and will sing about her more than about my nymph,38 because the Cytherean goddess so counsels me. Why should I speak of her lineage? Because it is well known, I will pass over it. I will pass over it because it is well known and will remark on what you do not know. Her hair gleams more than anything that shines brightly and in its fragrance surpasses saffron, and surpasses myrrh and balsam too.

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Her brow is so white that it outstrips the pearl in whiteness; to say more, it surpasses the sun in splendor. For at times the sun’s brightness gives us none of its splendor,

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sed frons huius, Dei dono, semper fulget pari modo. Ardens orbis oculorum clarum lumen angelorum repraesentat, qui est testis quod haec virgo sit caelestis.

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Nasus, dentes, labra, venter sunt formata tam decenter, ad amorem quod terrenos movent et caelestes deos.

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Nimis decens eius gula candet magis nive pura. Quid quod niveae papillae durae sunt atque pusillae.

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Manus, pedes, atque crura non discordant a statura cui nullum vestimentum esse potest ornamentum. Namque vestem pulchriorem Guilibergis ob decorem dicet esse quisquis sapit, sed nec stultus hoc negabit.

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Vivat ergo, vivat felix per tot tempora quot phoenix. Vivat opto tamen ita mea vivat ut amica.

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13 MACIMA DA Dulcis amica mei, qua non formosior ulla,   verbula quae mando suscipe mente bona.



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whereas Guilibergis’s brow, by God’s gift always shines unwaveringly. The burning orbs of her eyes resemble the clear light of angels, which testifies that this young woman has come from heaven. Her nose, teeth, lips, and stomach are so perfectly formed as to make earthbound men and heavenly divinities fall in love.

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Her throat is very attractive and shines brighter than virgin snow. Need I add that her snow-white breasts are firm and small?

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Her hands, feet and legs are well proportioned to her height; no clothes can enhance her body’s perfection. Anyone with taste will say the dress is more lovely because of Guilibergis’s beauty but not even a fool will deny this.

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So may she live and live happily for as long as the phoenix lives.3950 But I want her to live on these terms: that she live as my girlfriend. 13 TO MY GIRLFRIEND40 My dear girlfriend,41 than whom there is none more lovely,   take these few words I send you in a kindly spirit.

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Perpetuo tuus esse volo dilectus amicus;11   opto modo simili quod sis amica mei. Iuro Deum: mihi sola places semperque placebis.   Hoc et idem facias, solus ego placeam. Non est conveniens nec amabilis est amor ille,   decidit atque cito qui manet ambiguus. Dum manet ambiguus, modicum valet inter amantes.   Ambiguus fugiat, certus et adsit amor! Dulcis amica, vale, flos et decus imperiale!   Temporibus cunctis, dulcis amica, vale!

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14 EACIMA DE ADVENTU Noster coetus  psallat laetus   in adventu virginis dulces melos  ut ad caelos   resonet vox carminis. Ista nympha  non in lympha,   sed nutrita nectare12 puellarum  et nympharum   genus premit genere. Et ut flores  per odores   omnes vincit lilium, sic huic rosae  speciosae   forma cedit omnium. Huius crinis,  non affinis   terrenorum crinibus, nobis deam  Cytheream   repraesentat omnibus.

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 amicus] editors; amcus R  nectare] T&H; exoę R; aere Latzke, Moralejo; ethere Raventós & Quetglas

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I want to be your beloved boyfriend forever.   I want you to be my girlfriend in the same way. I swear to God: you are, and always will be, the only girl I like.   May you too swear the same: that I am the only one you like. The love that remains ambivalent is not suitable   or worthy of love and it quickly falls away. As long as it is ambivalent, it has little vigor between the lovers.   Away with ambivalent love and let unwavering love come to me! Farewell, sweet girlfriend, flower and glory of the Empire!   Be well, sweet friend, forever!

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14 THE GIRLFRIEND’S ARRIVAL42 Let our joyful chorus sing sweet melodies at the arrival of the virgin43 so that the words of the song may carry sweet melodies up to heaven. This nymph, nourished not with water but with nectar,44 surpasses the entire class of girls and nymphs in class.45 And just as the lily outdoes all other flowers with its fragrance, so the beauty of all women yields to this lovely rose. Her hair has no affinity with the hair of earthly mortals; it sets before us all an image of the Cytherean goddess.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Quis suorum  oculorum   singularem speciem non miratur,  si cui datur   videat ut faciem?

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Candet gula,  sicut pura   nix, cum primum cecidit. Candent dentes  renitentes   quod iuventus exigit. Cuius manus  mente sanus   et staturam gracilem quis videret,  nec doleret   non esse palpabilem?

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Sed quid plura?  Non est dura;   mores pulchritudini non discordant  sed concordant   velut nix albedini.

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Istam quare,  si donare   mihi vellet oscula, nostro metro  valde laeto   ferrem ad caelestia.

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Quae si sapit,  non negabit   tria saltem basia, cum sic sibi  sicut mihi   vel plus erunt dulcia.

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MACIMA DA Gemma puellarum, valeas; hoc mandat amicus. Ut mare vincit aquas immenso gurgite cunctas Lucifer utque suo constringit sidere stellas, sic tua forma nitens alias superare puellas cernitur et quare volo te, mea dulcis, amare. 

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Who does not wonder at the unique beauty of her eyes if it is granted him to see her face?

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Her throat is as white as virgin snow when it first has fallen. Her dazzling teeth gleam white as youth demands. Who of sound mind could see her hands and slender figure and not grieve that she cannot be touched?

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But why go on? She is not uncultivated; her character is not out of harmony   with her beauty, but accords with it, as snow accords with whiteness.

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So if she were willing to bestow kisses on me, I would, with joyful verses,   carry her name up to the heavens. If she knows this, she will not refuse three kisses at least, since they will be as pleasant for her as they will be for me, or even more so.

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15 TO HIS GIRLFRIEND46 Best wishes, gem among girls! This message is from your boyfriend. As the sea surpasses all waters with its vast expanse and as the morning-star47 constrains the stars with its light, so your gleaming beauty is seen to surpass other girls and that is why, my sweet, I want to love you.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

16 EROMA ED Felix amor  unde clamor turpis numquam nascitur. Manet gratus  et fundatus; vix aut numquam labitur. Prima vice  cum amicae pulchram novi faciem, statim fui  captus sui per formosam speciem. Statim dea  Cytherea me collisit vulnere; post ab ea  non mens mea voluit recedere. Hanc amavi  laesus gravi sagitta Cupidinis. Hanc amabo  conservabo iussa tanti numinis. Sicut luna  cum sit una, suo claro lumine vincit stellas,  sic puellas ista pulchritudine.

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Et idcirco  non est virgo praeter istam alia, forma cuius  vellem huius oblivisci gaudia. Forti nodo,  pari modo viget amor fervidus. Nulla sorte  nisi morte fiet umquam frigidus

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16 ABOUT LOVE48 Happy is the love which never gives rise to a squalid shouting-match. It remains agreeable and well grounded; it never, or scarcely ever, stumbles. The first time I became acquainted with my girlfriend’s lovely face, I was at once captivated by her beautiful looks. Immediately the Cytherean goddess inflicted a wound upon me; after that my heart refused to retreat from her. Wounded by Cupid’s grim arrow, I loved her. I will love her; I will obey the command   of so great a deity. Just as the moon, though a single entity, outstrips the stars with its clear light, so she outstrips other girls with her beauty.

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So there is no other young woman besides her, for the sake of whose beauty I would wish to forget the joy I have had with her. With a strong knot binding us equally, our love grows fervent. No fate but death will ever cool it.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Viget ita  quod, si vita sui transit citius, mallem mori  quam amori serviam ulterius.

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17 DE AESTATE Redit aestas cunctis grata. Viret herba iam per prata. Nemus frondibus ornatur, sic per frondes renovatur. Bruma vilis, nebulosa, erat nobis taediosa. Cum Aprilis redit gratus, floribus circumstipatus, philomena cantilena replet nemoris amoena,  et puellae per plateas intricatas dant choreas. Omnis ergo adulescens in amore sit fervescens; quaerat cum qua13 delectetur et, ut amet, sic ametur. Et amicum virgo decens talem quaerat qui sit recens atque velit modo pari tam amare quam amari. Iuvenis et virgo pulchra in obscuro premant fulcra, et vicissim per conexus dulces sibi dent amplexus. Osculetur os, maxillam iuvenis, dum tenet illam. Tangat pectus et papillam, satis aptam et pusillam. 13

 qua] Könsgen, Moralejo; quo R Nicolau, Latzke

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Such is its vigor that should her life soon come to an end, I would prefer to die than be subject to love thereafter.

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17 SUMMER49 Summer, welcome to all, is returning. In the meadows the grass is now green. The woods are adorned with foliage, and so renew themselves along their branches. Unlovely winter with its mists we found tiresome. When welcome April returns, girt with flowers, the nightingale fills with her song the pleasant stretches of the woods,   and in the squares the girls perform their intricate dances. So let every youth50 be fervently in love; let him seek a girl with whom to find delight, and to be loved as he loves her. And let a proper young woman seek a boyfriend who is young and who wants to love and be loved on equal terms. Let a young man and a pretty young woman lie down on a couch in the dark and, holding each other close, exchange sweet embraces. Let the young man kiss her mouth and cheeks as he holds her; let him touch her chest and breast, well-shaped and small.

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102

Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Femur femori iungatur, fructus Veneris sumatur. Tunc omnino cesset clamor; adimplebitur sic amor.

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18 Quisquis eris  qui credideris  fidei mulieris, nonne vides  quam curta fides  manet in muliere? Crede mihi,  si credis ei,  quia decipiere. Nam dabit ipsa fidem  tibi quam violabit ibidem. Cumque tibi iurat  quod te super omnia curat, aspice, quod iurat,  quam parvo tempore durat. Nil tibi debebit,  postquam quod habes, et habebit. Postquam discedes  et eam fidam tibi credes, attribuens14 munus  si tunc accesserit unus quilibet ignotus,  tu mox eris inde remotus. Turpis vel luscus  si sit15 vel corpore fuscus, hunc tibi praeponet,  si maxima16 munera donet. Iurat ei  per membra Dei,  per membra piorum, quemquam praeter eum  quod non amat illa virorum. Ergo cave  ne tu prave  capiaris ab ulla! Namque fidem  servare quidem  scit femina nulla.

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19 LAMENTATIO PRO SEPARATIONE17 AMICAE Heu dolor immodicus, mea qui nunc pectora tangit! Quod latet interius penitus me mordet et angit. Sed, puto, si nostri causam manifesto furoris, in manifestando dabitur medicina doloris. Versibus ergo meis cum Musis, Phoebe, venito, adsit et alma Venus, quae subsidietur amico.  attribuens] other MSS. (see Werner, p. 31), Morelejo; accipiens R Nicolau, Latzke  turpis vel luscus si sit] Latzke, Moralejo; si sit turpis uel luscus R Nicolau 16  maxima] Werner (p. 31); magna R editors 17  SEPARATIONE] editors; SEPARATIONIS R 14 15

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May their thighs join and the fruits of Venus be taken. Then let all the noise cease; in this way love will be accomplished.

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1851 Whoever you are who have put your trust in a woman’s fidelity don’t you see how short-lived fidelity is in a woman? Believe me, if you trust her, you will be deceived. She will give you her word and violate it right away. Whenever she swears she cares for you more than anything,   see how short a time what she swears lasts. She will owe you nothing once she also has what you have. If, after you depart, believing her to be faithful to you, some unknown person arrives and offers her a gift, you will soon be removed from the scene.   If he is ugly, blind in one eye, or dark-skinned, she will prefer him to you if he gives her really big gifts. She swears to him by the body of Christ, by the bodies of saints, that she loves no man but him. So watch out! Don’t be heinously taken by any woman! For no woman knows how to keep her word.

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19 LAMENT FOR HIS SEPARATION FROM HIS GIRLFRIEND52 Alas for the great pain that now touches my heart! What lies hidden deep within gnaws at me, causing me anguish, But I think if I reveal the cause of my madness, the revelation will provide medicine for the pain. So come, Phoebus, with the Muses, to aid my verses and may kindly Venus be present too to help her friend.

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Aestus erat nimius, quia solem Cancer habebat, et mea mens fervens gemino fervore calebat. Tunc intro thalamum cupiens relevare calores. Ornatus thalamus roseos habet undique flores. Accubui lecto, sed nec calor ipse tepescit nec mea mens nimio vexata calore quiescit. In thalamo dum sic crucior, venit, ecce, sororis in speciem mutata meae tunc mater Amoris. Ad lectum properat, lateri18 se iungit et inquit. “Heu mihi, mi frater, cur nunc te vita relinquit? Me miseram, quid agam? Moriar, si tu morieris, quod, puto, non fieret, modo si muliere frueris. Hoc quod nunc pateris, nihil est nisi fervor amoris. Ut valeas igitur rumpantur claustra pudoris. Crede mihi, quod nulla tibi medicina valebit, ni calor iste tuus prius in muliere tepebit. Ergo citus propera! Nimios exstingue calores, qui modo mortiferos faciunt te ferre dolores. Egregia specie generosam quaere puellam, cuius tu formam valeas adamare tenellam.” Dixerat; utque novus miles data bella perhorret, sic me non solitum luxu Venus ipsa remordet. Hinc amor et morbus quaeratur amica monebant, sed pudor atque timor, velut est mos, impediebant.  Ilico persensit, quid erat, quod amare timebam, et cur, si valeam, Venerem vitare volebam. Tunc ait arridens: “Vereor ne tu moriaris, qui pro tam nihilo suffers quod sic patiaris, tu quia, ni fallor, vitas metuisque pudorem qui tibi donaret vitam modo spernis amorem. Sed puerile quidem nimis est, mi dulcis amice, vivere si perdes nimium vivendo pudice. Quare, mi frater, precor, hunc postpone pudorem, qui facit ut fugias vitam, dum spernis amorem. Forsan tu dices: ‘Nequeo reperire puellam quae mihi conveniat nostris in partibus ullam.’ 18

 lateri] Latzke, Moralejo; laterique meo R Nicolau

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It was very hot because the sun was in Cancer53 and my mind was feverishly hot with a double heat. I then went into my bedroom seeking relief from the heat. The room was adorned everywhere with roses. I lay down on the bed but neither did the heat diminish nor did my mind, troubled by the excessive heat, calm down. While I agonized like this in my bedroom, see, there came the mother of Love, changed into the likeness of my sister. She hurried to my bed, came right up to me, and said: “Alas, my brother, why is life leaving you now? Woe is me! What am I to do? If you die, I will die too, but I don’t think this will happen provided you enjoy a woman’s love. What you are suffering now is merely the passion of love. So, to be in good health, you need to break the bonds of chastity. Believe me, no medicine will be of any avail for you, unless this passion of yours is first cooled by a woman.54 So hurry up! Quell the excessive heat that is now causing you to endure deadly pain. Search out an attractive young noblewoman, whose tender beauty you can really love.” She finished speaking and just as an untried soldier shudders at the war he faces, so Venus’s words gnawed at me, inexperienced in sex. On the one hand, desire and my malady advised me to look for a girlfriend, but shame and fear, as usual, stood in the way. She sensed right away why it was that I was afraid to love and why I wanted to shun Venus, if I could.55 She then said with a smile: “I am afraid you will die if you continue to endure what you are suffering like this for no reason, because, unless I am mistaken, you shun and fear shame and now spurn the love which could give you life. It is very childish indeed, my dear friend, if you lose your life by living with excessive chastity. So, my brother, I beg you, put aside this sense of shame which is making you flee from life as long as you spurn love.   Perhaps you will say: ‘I can’t find any young woman in our region to suit me.’

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Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Hoc quoque confiteor; sed quod cupis hic reperire, posses, si velles Romarici Monte redire.” His monitus verbis Veneris non differo multum virgineum Montis Romarici visere cultum. Illic tunc reperi mihi quae bene conveniebat et cuius species nimium mihi pulchra placebat; Hanc ego dilexi, pariter quae cessit amori. Sic datur ipsa meo subito medicina dolori. Sed livor nostros ad praesens rupit amores unde meo nimii consurgunt corde dolores. Vos igitur, socios, precor; hunc lenite19 dolorem, qui, puto, me morti dabit huius propter amorem.

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20 AD DESERTAM MACIMA Quot iuvenes Marti20 gaudent servire feroci,   quotque velut dominae sub iuga sunt Veneris, quotque puellarum studio cultuque Dianae   gaudent, ut dominam quotque colunt Venerem, dulcis amica mei, formosior ipsa Diana,   tot tibi sint laudes, sed bona plura tibi. Temporis illius recolens, quo carmine fausto   me tibi teque mihi iunxit amica Venus, conqueror et doleo, quod sic velut ante solebam   me sociare tibi corpore non valeo. Sed si, quod cuperem, tibi me coniungere possem,   nil mihi felici posse nocere puto. Namque tuos crines cernens oculosque micantes,   pascerer ipse tuis dulcibus alloquiis. Oscula captarem carnes palpando suaves,   quae puto caelestes posse movere deos. Oscula captando forsan, quod dulcius esset,   temptarem tacitus, tactus ab igne tui. Sed cur affecto mihi quod fortuna negavit? 19 20

 lenite] Moralejo; linite R Nicolau, Latzke, Dronke  Marti] Latzke, Moralejo; mariti R

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This I confess is true; but what you wish to find here, you could find if you chose to go back by way of Remiremont.”56 Advised by these words of Venus, I did not long delay in going to see the observance of the young women of Remiremont. There I found a woman who suited me very well and whose beautiful appearance pleased me very much. I loved her and she likewise yielded to love. In this way she was promptly given as the very medicine for my pain. But envy has disrupted our love for now, and this has caused great pain to be felt in my heart. So I call on you, my companions; ease this pain which, I think, will consign me to my death out of my love for her.

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20 TO HIS GIRLFRIEND LEFT BEHIND57 However many58 young men take joy in serving fierce Mars,   and however many are under the yoke of Venus as their mistress, and however many girls take joy in Diana’s concerns and in her worship,   and however many worship Venus as their mistress, my sweet girlfriend, more beautiful than Diana herself,   may such be your praise, and your fortune even better! As I recall59 the time when, with an auspicious song,   a friendlly Venus united me with you and you with me, I protest and grieve that I cannot   be with you in person, as I used to be before. But if I could embrace you as I desire,   I think nothing could mar my happiness. As I looked at your hair and flashing eyes,   I would feast on your sweet words. As I caressed your delectable flesh, I would snatch kisses,    which I think could move the gods in heaven. While snatching kisses, I would, perhaps, silently try   for what would be sweeter still, touched by your fire. But why do I strive for that which fortune has denied me?

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108

Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

  Forsan quod cupio quilibet alter habet. Heu! Dolor iste meam mentem iam commovet intus;   qui nisi discedat, crede mihi, moriar. Quare, virgo decens, toto mihi carior orbe,   vivere si me vis, sit tibi pura fides, et quia non possum tibi corpore consociari,   mente tibi iaceam, nam mihi mente iaces. Invidus ille modo pro quo simul esse nequimus   vivere nec possit nec sibi mors veniat! Quam citius potero, credas mihi, nympha, redibo,   et si non potero, rumpar amore tuo. Supplex ergo Deum rogites ut nostra secundo   navis eat vento, quae freta mota timet.

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Appendix 1 DE EPISCOPO PAPIENSI21 Urbs Papia, gratulare hoc pro tanto22 praesule qui te reget, sicut decet, mirifico ordine. Viduata iam ex diu pastore23 catholico, pecte comas, quia nubis praesuli legitimo. Tuae formae cultum addas, parum livent oculi, pro plangore quem24 sumpsisti ex dissensu populi. Clerus, proceres et cives grates reddant Domino, qui pastorem talem habent suo episcopio. Qui non curat adulantes nec placere omnibus, sed propositum premendo se regit divinitus. Cuius vocem lupus rapax timens cupit fugere, sic nec audet suas oves a longe respicere. Unde gaudens clericorum ordo 25 intime melos sonet Salvatori fretus hoc antistite.  PAPIENSI] T&H; PAPIENSE R Nicolau  tanto] Nicolau; tant R 23  pastore] Nicolau; pastor R 24  quem] Nicolau; que R 25  totus] T&H; two syllables missing in R, Nicolau, Dronke 21 22

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Perhaps someone else has what I desire. Ah! This pain now troubles my heart deep down; unless it goes away, I will die, believe me. So, exquisite woman, dearer than all the world to me, if you want me to live, stay true to your word, and since I cannot be with you physically, may I lie with you in your thoughts, for you lie with me in mine. May that envious man who now prevents us from being together be unable to live, yet may death not come to him! I will return as quickly as I can, believe me, my nymph, and if I cannot, I will be torn apart by my love for you. So beg God on bended knee that our ship,60 which fears turbulent seas, may sail with a favorable wind.

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Appendix 1 REGARDING THE BISHOP OF PAVIA City of Pavia, give thanks for this great bishop who will rule you, as is fitting, with wonderful orderliness. You who have been so long widowed of a Catholic pastor,61 comb your tresses, for you are now the bride of a legitimate prelate. Add refinement to your beauty; your eyes are a little blood-shot625 from the lamenting you have done over your people’s discord. Let the clergy, the city’s leaders, and its citizens give thanks to the Lord for having such a shepherd for their diocese. He does not reward flatterers or strive to please everyone; rather, setting aside his own ways, he is guided by God’s will. 10 Afraid of his voice, the rapacious wolf63 was eager to flee, and now does not venture to look back at his flock from afar.64 Accordingly, let the entire clergy rejoice and, reassured by this prelate, let them sing wholeheartedly a hymn to their Savior.

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Est nunc26 equidem plaudendum, quia sicut spargere malus pastor studet oves, sic iste colligere. Hic, et nobilis et prudens, honestatem diligit et ecclesiae profectum, praesuli quod convenit. Et idcirco deprecemur Christum nunc magnopere, ut hic felix diu vivat suo fretus numine.   Isto quidem conservato salvi fient clerici, si salvatur, servabuntur pariter et laici. Quare clerus et communis populus congaudeat et antiqui dolos hostis hactenus non timeat!

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2 AD EPISCOPUM METENSEM Infulam pontificalem quisquis cupit sumere nobilis et literatus sit, et mundo corpore: nobilis, ut largitatis dexteram obtineat, literatus, ut commissas oves bene muniat, sed et mundus, ut libare Christo possit placide; sic ad caelum datas oves poterit conducere. Cur hoc dicam forsan velit aliquis attendere, audiendo quod iam27 dicam poterit advertere. Huius civitatis clerus grates debet Domino, quod pastorem talem habent suo episcopio. Qui non curat saeculares res tractare penitus, sed, divinis insistendo, sua tractat caelitus. Nobilis hic et in omni doctus est scientia, unum28 nunc in eo viget maxima clementia. Lumbos habet sic praecinctos29 ipsa pudicitia, quod ab eo removetur omnis immunditia. Nunquam fuit quisquam pastor oves qui sic regeret sicut iste, qui nec30 unam oberrantem perderet.  nunc] Nicolau; nuc R  iam] Dronke;  ?am R; tam Nicolau 28  unum] R Nicolau; unde Dronke 29  praecinctos] R; percinctos Nicolau 30  nec] T&H; vel R Nicolau, Dronke 26 27

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We need now to acclaim the fact that just as a bad shepherd seeks to scatter his sheep, so this shepherd seeks to gather them. He is noble and wise and loves what is honorable and advantageous for the Church, as befits a bishop. Therefore, let us now earnestly beg Christ that he should live a long and happy life, supported by his God. If he is kept safe, the clergy will be safe. If he is safeguarded, they and the laity will be too. So let the clergy and the ordinary people rejoice together and no longer fear the guile of the Old Enemy!65

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2 FOR THE BISHOP OF METZ Anyone who wishes to don a bishop’s chasuble should be noble, lettered, and pure in body: noble, so that his right hand might be generous, lettered, so that he might safeguard the sheep entrusted to him, but also pure so that he can agreeably make offerings to Christ;   thus will he be able to lead to heaven the sheep given to his charge. Perhaps someone wishes to consider why I say this; when he hears what I am about to say he will be able to understand. The clergy of this city owes thanks to the Lord that they have such a shepherd for their diocese.   He has no desire at all to involve himself in secular matters; rather, pursuing divine matters, he is occupied with his religious duties. He is nobly born and learned in every branch of knowledge; one quality now flourishes in him—boundless clemency. He has loins so girded with chastity that every impurity has bee stripped from him. There never was a shepherd who so guided his sheep as he does, for he would not lose even one that went astray.

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112

Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — Latin Text

Si per singulas virtutues eius vellem currere, quod inciperem non possem ad effectum ducere. Finem ergo nos ponamus istis demum laudibus, quae per se finem non habent, nostris in carminibus.

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If I were to run through all his virtues one by one, I could not bring to completion what I had started.   Let us then finally put an end in our poem, to these accolades, which are inherently endless.

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Carmina ex codice Vat. lat. 4389 desumpta 1 1. Tinniunt auriculae; prurientis lingulae motus excitatur. Qua retarder gratia quin ex abundantia cordis os loquatur? 2. Sed id potest obici quod sermone didici loqui nimis duro, quod exclusis31 propriis meis parco vitiis, aliena curo. 3. Nolunt aures tenerae, nolunt rodi temere tam mordaci vero. “Excessi,” confiteor et confessus mereor veniam quam quaero. 4. Ergo tibi consulo quisquis es, qui titulo satirarum gaudes, taedia ne parias; saltem breve facias turpiter quod32 audes.

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 exclusis] T&H; exclusus V. See Traill, “Reginald,” 219–20.  turpiter quod] quod turpiter V. V’s reading violates the rhythm.

Poems from Chartres (in MS. Vat. lat. 4389) 11 1.

My ears are ringing; my tongue is itching to begin.2 Why should I stop my mouth from speaking from the fullness of my heart?3

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But the objection might be raised that I have learned to speak in too harsh a vein, because by excluding my own vices, I spare them, and focus on the failings of others.

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Tender ears don’t want to be brashly scolded with truth so biting. “I crossed the line,” I confess, and having confessed, I deserve the forgiveness I seek.

4.

So I advise you, whoever you are, who delight in satire’s privilege, not to be tedious; at least be brief in your shameful audacity!

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5. Si quid tamen dicimus, quod indignans33 animus ferat auditoris nec est vis nec ratio sisti nos iudicio nisi iunioris. 6. Nam habemus iudicem piumque pontificem qui nos possit pati, qui nobis oboediens et nostrae compatiens sit infirmitati, 7. Gauchelinum scilicet, qui de nobis iudicet ut de suo grege quos decet Decembrica magis quam canonica iudicari lege. 8. Gauchelinus gaudeat, suo cum tot videat subditos honori, cui cedit ad gloriam, quod maiores etiam deferunt minori. 9. Deferunt et merito cum sit ex abscondito raptus in praeclarum; magnis minor imperat et imberbis superat populum barbarum.

33

 indignans] V; indignus Bischoff



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

5.

But if we say something that the mind of the listener endures with indignation there is no power or rationale that can bring us before any court other than that of a youngster.

6.

We have a judge and pious bishop, who can put up with us and who listens to us and has sympathy for our weaknesses,4

7.

namely, Gauchelin,5 who can judge us as members of his flock who should be judged by December’s law rather than by canon law.6

8.

May Gauchelin rejoice when he sees so many subject to his office; it is to his glory that even his elders also defer to one who is their junior.7

9.

And it is right that they defer to him, since he has been swept from obscurity into the limelight; a youth is in command of adults8 and, still beardless, lords it over the bearded9 people.

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10. Patrem habet parvulum sed staturae modulum redimit affectus, in quo possunt animi quantitate redimi corporis defectus.34 11. Laudis nostrae terminus noster ille dominus Raginaudus erit, qui maior est omnibus et tamen minoribus sese parem gerit. 12. Hunc mores avunculi sollemnesque tituli capiant heredem; sic sub ipso militet, eius ut hereditet mores atque sedem. 13. Quia parit taedium copia similium, recreant diversa, ne vertar in taedia, convertor ad alia metri lege versa. 2 1.

Desevré solent estre, ch’ oï dire iadis, di a demonibus et demones a dis; mes or sunt tuit ensemble enfer et paradis, un a l’un fet des dos et fit hendiadys.

2. C’apel ge paradis? Potentum curiam, quae se constituit inferni sociam, 34

 defectus] V; detectus Bischoff



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

10. His father is a short man but the affection, whereby physical shortcomings can be redeemed by the size of a man’s heart, redeems the shortness of his stature.10 11. The goal of our praise will be our lord, Reginald,11 who is greater than everyone but nonetheless conducts himself as an equal of those of lesser standing. 12. May he be heir to the character and grand titles of his uncle; may he serve under him with such distinction that he inherits his character and diocese.12 13. Because a great deal of the same thing produces tedium, while a change is refreshing, to avoid becoming boring, I am turning to other themes and changing meter. 213 1.

They are usually kept separate, I once heard said, gods from demons, and demons from gods. But now paradise and hell are both together. They have made one out of two, forming a hendiadys.14

2. What do I call paradise? The court of powerful men, which has made itself an ally of hell,

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cum laesa sequitur fide perfidiam et ius determinat per iniustitiam.

3.

Cist noster paradis non patet pauperi; nam in hoc superant infernum superi, quod apud superos sunt mille Cerberi, cum unus solus sit ad portas inferi.

4.

Si pauper i apele, quid quaerat, quaeritur; si pulsat vidua, repulsam patitur; a curialibus nullus admittitur, nisi spes praevenit et res subsequitur.

5.

Id nostri procul est a domo domini, cuius iustitia se negat nemini, cuius in curia neminem memini, qui plus non deferat Deo quam homini.

6.

Quippe cum similis sit ipse talium, sibi conciliat mores similium; stans ut par aequitas in ore parium det de similibus idem iudicium.

7.

Mores desipiunt, usus degenerat, virtutes serviunt et luxus imperat, Fortuna neglegit, quid in quem conferat. Qui bonis deficit, malis exuberat.

8.

Aetatem praevenit velox ingenium, usurpant iuvenes senis officium; iam quisque syncopat aetatis medium a pueritia vergens in senium.

9.

Si quem cupiditas semel inebriat, nil haurit sitiens, quo minus sitiat. Nil illi satis est, nil illum satiat dum parcens habitis habendis inhiat.35

35

 inhiat] Bischoff; inihat V



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation



when it pursues perfidy with broken trust and unjustly decides what is just.

3.

This “paradise” of ours is not open to one who is poor, for in it the powerful are worse than hell in that among the powerful there are a thousand Cerberuses, while there is only one at the gates of hell.

4.

If a poor man calls there, he is asked what he wants; if a widow knocks, she is driven away. The courtiers let no one in unless there is first a prospect of payment and then the follow-through.

5.

This is far from the practice at our master’s palace, 15 for his justice is denied to no one. I recall no one in his court who does not defer to God more than to man.

6.

Given that he is a man just like them, he assimilates the moral conduct of his peers to his own so that there is fair justice in the mouths of fair judges, that renders the same judgment in similar cases.

7.

Our way of life is foolish, our practices are in decline,16 virtue is subservient and self-indulgence rules. Fortune cares not what she bestows on whom. The man deficient in goods overflows with ills.

8.

A sharp wit trumps age; young men assume the role of the old; everyone now cuts out the middle stage of life, passing from youth into old age.

9.

Once intoxicated with greed, a thirsty man drinks nothing without remaining thirsty. Nothing is enough for him, nothing satisfies him, since he ignores what he has and yearns for what is yet to be had.

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10. Quid mando prodigus harenae semina? Quid mea nititur in cassum pagina? Quid hydram fodio dans hydrae germina? Secta repullulant in triplum crimina. 3 1.

Ut hanc laete liceat  transigi diaetam, libertatis titulo  me donari petam, cum sit opus libere  currere poetam qui cupit optatam cursu contingere metam.

2.

Miros gradus gratiae  per offensam quaero, sed ex hoc plus odii  quam favoris fero, quippe cum displiceat,  cui placere spero, auriculas teneras mordaci radere vero.

3.

Movet vos, cur primitus  a me non detergo crimen, quod in alios  impudenter vergo; sed praemissis aliis  sic postremus pergo, ut praecedenti spectetur mantica tergo. 4

1.

Loqui de pauperibus  pauperis est styli et fortunae merito  parcitur exili; dicatur in divites,  quod non pendant vili, quod irae sufficiat  et movendae bili.

2.

Ut mortale liceat  os in caelum poni, seniores populi,  patres et patroni, quae deberent tempora  contemplationi, deputant deliciis  et corruptioni.

3.

Cum non bonis actibus  studeant rabboni, sed in scelus celeres  et in luxum proni neque Deo deferant  nec religioni, quid agendum censeas  tenero tironi?



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

10. Why do I wastefully sow seeds in the sand?17 Why does my writing strive to no purpose? Why stab the hydra only to produce more sprouting heads?18 Lopped-off sins grow back in triplicate. 319 1.

To permit me to complete this day’s work happily, let me request that I be given permission to speak freely, since a poet needs to run free if he wishes to reach the desired goal in the race.20

2.

I am asking for an exceptional degree of grace for any offense, but in this role I incur more dislike than favor, since I may displease one whom I hope to please by galling tender ears with the nip of truth.21

3.

It upsets you that I don’t first clear myself of the charge which I shamelessly level at others, but rather by putting others first I take up the rear so that I can view the bag on the back before me.22 423

1.

Talking about the poor is a sign of an impoverished pen and forbearance is duly shown to a meager fortune; let me speak against the rich in terms that they should not discount on the grounds of their potential to provoke their anger and indignation.

2.

To ensure setting their mortal mouths against heaven,24 the elders of the people, the fathers and rulers, devote to pleasures and corruption time that they should be spending in contemplation.

3.

Since our worthy leaders25 are not focused on good acts but are quick to sin and prone to self-indulgence, deferring neither to God nor religion, what would you reckon a raw recruit should do?

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4.

Mors multorum nascitur  ex unius vita; multos facit Simones  unus Giezita, dum dispensat ordines  et praebendas ita, sit ut semper ratio  pretii praescita.

5.

Transit ergo taliter  gratia per tales cum gradus aut redditus  dant spirituales, quasi quae lapideos  aqua per canales discurrit areolas  ad sationales.

6.

Quae cum dona gratiae  sint, non meritorum, praemia gratuita36  vi sacramentorum, nec auget nec minuit  manus ministrorum, seu per fores cathedras  intrent37 seu per forum.

7.

Hi sunt, qui satiricos38  aspernantur sales nec curant, quid dicere,  sed quid dare vales; ut, verum ne verear,  ipsi cardinales, si transponas syllabam,  fient di carnales.

8.

Quod instans non impetret  pauper et ieiunus, praeoffertur diviti,  ne sit importunus. Leviter in alium  transit apex unus, ergo levi transitu  manus it in munus.

9.

Cum praelatis  subditi lingua blandiuntur, manu dona porrigunt,  factis obsequuntur, subditi cum Simone  partem sortiuntur, praelati post Giezim  munera sequuntur.

10. Caute sed illicite  licitari student. Opus est ut opera  tandem se denudent: si nos hi deluserint,  illi non illudent, cui, qui celant scelera,  clausa tunc recludent.

 gratuita] Bischoff; gratuitam V  intrent] V; intret Bischoff 38  satiricos] T&H; satiros V Bischoff 36 37



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

4.

One man’s life causes the death of many; one Gehazi creates many Simons26 as he hands out positions and benefices in such a way that the price of each is always made known beforehand.

5.

Accordingly, when they award spiritual rank or revenues, grace passes through them like water scurrying along stony channels to seeded enclosures.27

6.

Since these are gifts of grace, not earned but freely granted by the power of the sacraments, neither enhanced nor diminished by their assistants,28 whether they ascend to a bishop’s see by the doors or by the market.29

7.

These are men who spurn satirical wit and care not for what you can say but what you can give just as—not to fear the truth—the cardinals themselves, if you transpose a syllable, will become “gods in the flesh.”30

8.

What a hungry pauper would not get on importunate request is offered to a rich man to forestall his demanding it. One extreme31 passes smoothly into another; accordingly, by an easy change “hand” becomes “gift.”32

9.

When subordinates flatter their prelates with their tongues, offering gifts with their hands and seeking favor with their actions, the subordinates assume the role of Simon, while the prelates imitate Gehazi33 by pursuing gifts.

10. Cautiously, but illicitly they strive to put things up for sale.34 They need finally to divest themselves of this work. If those who conceal their crimes dupe us, they will not deceive him to whom they will one day reveal their secrets.

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11. Agitatis clunibus  loqui de virtute promerenda satis est  procul a salute; novit enim Dominus  intus et in cute cui sit mentis habitus  bene constitutae. 5 1. Iube, domne, legere, iube bene dicere,39 ne temere videar arripere seriem lectionis, turpiterve40 cedere defectu rationis. 2. Vivat, cuius gratia, Carnotensis patria, te visito, cuius laudi milito ferventer et devote cuius tibi merito plus debeo quam pro te. 3. Tibi cum profecerit et ad annos venerit, hunc perfice, pro quo te magnifice cum laudibus frequento laudans metonymice continens pro contento. 4. Bona puer indole bonum patrem recole; dum puer es, ad valorem properes in puerili flore, 39 40

 bene dicere] T&H; benedicere V Bischoff  turpiterve] V; turpiter ne Bischoff



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

11. To speak about virtue after wiggling one’s buttocks35 is a rather far remove from earning salvation; for the Lord knows, inside and out, who has the characteristics of a well-ordered mind. 536 1.

Bid me read, Father,37 bid me speak well lest I be seen to be wildly grasping at the narrative of the lesson or to be withdrawing in disgrace due to my lack of understanding.

2.

Long live the man by whose grace, land of Chartres, I come to visit you;38 it is for his glory I campaign vigorously and devotedly, for thanks to him, I owe you more than what I do for you.

3.

When he has served you well and has come of age,39 promote him; for because of him I shall often come,40 lavishing praise on you by metonymy on the container instead of the content.41

4.

Being a youth of good character, reflect on your good father.42 While you are a youth, speed towards strength and virtue in the flower of your youth

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ut vir non degeneres a patrio valore. 5. Quem habes avunculum, ipsum vitae speculum, praehabeas, ut et actu compleas quod sit honestum dictu et mores exhibeas formatos a convictu. 6. Sic vivas, sic valeas sic eius exhibeas vicarium, quod nec ducas otium nec cesses a virtute nec cadas in vitium viventis dissolute. 7. Si saevus in subditos torqueres vel meritos atrocius, tortoris esset potius quam iuste punientis, cui nil est gloriosius quam modus in tormentis. 8. Nec fastus originis nec praeclari sanguinis nobilitas tibi res illicitas possint persuadere nec ducat impunitas te turpe quid audere. 9. Quicquid dicant alteris,41 tuo non te praeteris iudicio 41

  alteris] T&H; aliis V Bischoff.



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation



so that as a man you do not fall short of your father’s worth.

5.

Regard your uncle as a very model43 for your life so that what is honorable in your words you may also accomplish by your deeds and reveal a character shaped by the company you keep.

6.

May you so live, so flourish, so present yourself as his surrogate that you neither prolong leisure nor cease from virtuous pursuits nor fall into the vice of one who lives degenerately.

7.

Were you to act savagely towards subordinates, cruelly torturing even those who have served you well, that would be the sign of a torturer rather than one who punishes justly for whom there is no greater glory than moderation in torture.44

8.

Let neither pride in your origin nor in the nobility of your distinguished blood succeed in persuading you to commit illicit acts nor impunity induce you to dare anything shameful.

9. Whatever some may say to others, you do not circumvent passing judgment

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qua si quos praesumptio reddet impunitatis laborantes vitio pravae securitatis. 10. Ne quid hyperbolice dixerim, circumspice42 nec dubita, quin omnis ad merita se velit laus aptari, quin omnis indebita debeat retractari. 11. Cum te palpo mulceat, cum cinaedus mordeat, mens media sit inter iudicia palponis et cinaedi; tua te sententia iudicans in te redi. 12. Cum te vulgus vellicet levique diiudicet arbitrio, tua de te ratio quid sentiat, revolvas, cuius te iudicio condemnes vel absolvas. 13. Baculare debitum soluturus transitum hinc faciam sumensque materiam laudis a Gauchelino vovebo victoriam heredi Vincentino. 42

 circumspice] circonspice V; conspicere Bischoff





Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

on yourself if a presumption of impunity causes some to wallow in the vice of a depraved sense of security.45

10. Not to speak hyperbolically, take care and do not hesitate to ensure that all praise is awarded where it is due and that all undue praise is retracted. 11. When a flatterer speaks soothingly to you or a catamite46 snaps at you, let your attitude be midway between the views of the flatterer and the catamite; using your own discretion, judge yourself and rely on yourself. 12. When the public carps at you and arbitrarily vilifies you, reflect on what your own reasoning feels about your behavior, for it is by its judgment that you should condemn or acquit yourself. 13. With the intent of paying the crozier the debt that is its due47 I will make a transition at this point and, taking from Gauchelin the subject matter for my praise, will solemnly promise a victory for the heir of St. Vincent.48

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14. Suis oro subditis, quam gradu tam meritis sit praeminens, sic agat, et desinens, quod indolis est bonae, quod vere sit obtinens quam rem gerit personae. 15. Ne quid durum teneris, mea Musa, dixeris, iam desine. Nolo quis acumine tui pungatur rostri. Tu autem, Domine, miserere nostri. 6 1.

O qui nubes transiens  habitas in caelis, id est in sublimibus  animae fidelis, nos, qui terram sapimus,  habitare velis et in nobis suscita  zelum Danielis.

2.

Ut memor infantia  sit infantis Christi, tuis, Christe, laudibus  dignum est insisti, qui, laudi perfectio  ne deesset isti, ex ore infantium  laudem perfecisti.

3.

Ut in nobis resonet  laus perfecta Dei, non ore sed opere  vult nos ad se vehi; qui sine re nominis  nomen habet rei; nomen habet irritum,  dum res abest ei.

4.

Ne tamen absterreat  vos simpliciores, quod apud catholicos  legitur auctores, quia non exaudiat  Deus peccatores et qui peccatorum43 sunt  usu crebriores,

43

 qui peccatorum] T&H; quorum peccata V Bischoff



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14. I pray that he tower as much above his subordinates in his merits as he does in rank and so perform his role that, even when it ends— and this is the mark of good breeding— he may really hold on to the substance of the role he performs. 15. To avoid saying anything harsh to the young, my Muse, stop now. I don’t want anyone to be pecked by your sharp beak. But you, Lord, have mercy on us!49 650 1.

You who pass through clouds and dwell in heaven, that is, in the sublime regions of a faithful soul, may you choose to dwell in us, who smack of the earth, and arouse within us the zeal of Daniel.51

2.

That their infancy may be mindful of the infant Christ, it is fitting that they engage in praise of you, Christ, who, to ensure that this praise not lack perfection, bestowed perfection on praise from the mouths of babes.52

3.

So that perfect praise of God might resonate within us, he wants us to come to him not with words but by deeds53 for if one has a name for something without its substance he has a name that is invalid, since its substance is absent.54

4.

But the more guileless among you should not be scared, that we read in Catholic authors that God pays no heed to sinners and particularly to those who practice their sins most frequently,

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5.

non laudari siquidem  vult a peccatore nec est speciosa laus  in illius ore, qui non culpam incidit  lapsu rariore, sed de consuetudine  peccat et de more.

6.

Qui non nocent ideo,  quod sunt impotentes aut nocere nesciunt,  non sunt innocentes, dum, quod impotentia  negat, appetentes manus habent avidas  invidasque mentes.

7.

Non omnes innocuos innocentes nota, quia non est innocens  omnis idiota, cuius cor impaenitens  et mens indevota, nisi praepositio  sit augmenti44 nota.

8. Innocentes igitur  digne Deum laudent, ut qui privilegio  castitatis gaudent; eius enim laudibus  dignius applaudent, qui45 quocumque ierit  sequi semper audent. 7 1.

Rachel plorat filios  nec vult consolari, plorat, cum humanitus  se dolet orbari, sed solamen reicit  ausa confortari, cum videt in melius  ipsos immutari.

2.

De maternis sinibus  vix adhuc progressi non ore sed opere  Christum sunt professi, qui prementes ubera  ferro sunt oppressi, mutant florem fructui,  mutant herbam messi.

3.

Lac infantes, sanguinem  martyres fuderunt, passionis calicem  lacti miscuerunt; sic baptismo duplici  sordes abluerunt et hinc inde duplicem  stolam meruerunt.

44 45

 augmenti] T&H; agmenti V Bischoff  qui] Bischoff; que V



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

5.

since God has no wish to be praised by a sinner, and praise has no attraction from the mouth of one55 whose incursions into sin are not occasional lapses but rather customary and normal practice.

6.

So those who do no harm because they are powerless or do not know how to harm are not innocent when they have hands greedy for, and hearts that envy, what their impotence denies them, though they yearn for it.

7.

Note that not all who inflict no harm are innocent because every individual whose heart is unrepentant and whose soul is not devoted is not innocent, unless the prefix is an indicator of intensification.56

8.

Accordingly, since they enjoy the privilege of chastity, the innocents should praise God in a fitting manner for those who always have the courage to follow him, wherever he goes, will be more deserving to sing his praises. 757

1.

Rachel weeps for her sons and will not be comforted;58 she weeps, grieving the bereavement men have caused her, but rejects solace, for she has the courage to find comfort in seeing that their lives have changed for the better.

2.

Having scarcely moved from their mothers’ breasts, they professed Christ not by words but by their deeds; while yet at their mothers’ breasts, they were killed by the sword, exchanging the flower for the fruit and the shoot for the harvest.59

3.

As infants they shed milk, as martyrs they shed blood; they mingled the chalice of the passion with their milk, thereby washing away impurity with a twofold baptism and hence they earned a double robe thereafter.60

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4.

Sui dant primitias  suo salvatori, quorum salus animae  prior46 quam vox ori, neque vita taedio  neque mors dolori, cum utramque duxerint  hora breviori.

5.

Supplicemus Domino  mente proniori, quo sui participes  nos admittat chori, grex qui se non47 miscuit  gregi peccatori, cum nascendo moriens  nasceretur mori. 8

48 mea charta, modo si quis de nomine quaerat, dic: “meus ignoti nominis auctor erat.” 9 1(1).49 De grege pontificum non est praeter unicum dignitate dignus, cui nil tuto creditum, cuius fides hospitum solet esse pignus. 2(2). Mimorum50 non minimus, cuius vox et animus nil habent commune. Nec in se rem praesulis nec habet in loculis gratiam Fortunae. 3(3).

Solus habet criminum, quicquid in tot hominum

 prior] V; prius Bischoff  se non] V; non se Bischoff 48  O] Bischoff; omitted from V where a space has been left blank. 49  The stanza numbers in parentheses are those of A. 50  Mimorum] V; minorum A 46 47



4.

Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation

They gave their first-fruits to their savior, the salvation of their souls preceding words in their mouths. They were neither tired of life nor grieved by death, since their experience of both was very brief.61

5. Let us humbly supplicate the Lord to62 let us join as members of his heavenly chorus for our flock63 has not mingled with the flock of sinners, since its death was born when it died at birth. 864 O my parchment, should someone ask after my name, say: “Mine was an author of an unknown name.”65 966 1.

Of the tribe67 of bishops there is only one worthy of the office68 for to him nothing is safely entrusted and his word is usually as good as the assurances of innkeepers.69

2.

He is not the least of actors70 for his words and thoughts have nothing in common. He has neither within himself the essence of a bishop nor in his purse71 the favor of Fortune.

3. He has within himself all the faults found diffused

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mentes est diffusum. Omnibus abutitur, quae creasse legitur Dominus ad usum. 4(5). Sitim temulentia, vomitu convivia non sat est finire, sed cum languet ebrius, ut repotet, potius sitit resitire. 5(4). Servus gulae51 potius quam naturae filius sumit, ut consumat contra ius et ordinem quicquid in libidinem fortius despumat. 6(8). Postquam madet bibulus, tunc deducit oculus exitus aquarum. Extunc nec discretio sexus nec exceptio fiet personarum. 7(9). Quis vel quae sit obviam, propter conscientiam non interrogatur. Nil intactum praeterit. Quod se prius ingerit, prius occupatur. 8(6). Cum apponi faciat sibi, quod sufficiat tribus Epicuris, 51

 gulae] A; quidem V Bischoff



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation



in the makeup of many individuals.72 He ravages everything, that the Lord created, we read, for our enjoyment.

4.

Drunkenness is not enough to put an end to his thirst nor vomiting to his banqueting; rather, when he lies in a drunken stupor, he longs to regain his thirst so that he can drink again.

5.

More a slave to his appetite than a son of nature,73 he eats in order to consume, beyond what is right or fitting, whatever better stimulates his lust.74

6.

Once he is soaked in his cups, then his eye lets loose a deluge of water.75 Then there will be neither discrimination of sex nor exemption of station.

7.

For conscience’ sake, he does not ask what man or woman has come his way. He leaves nothing untouched. Whatever he launches himself upon first, first keeps him busy.

8. When he has set beside him what would be enough for three Epicuruses,76

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cuncta passim demetit, nisi quod plus appetit ea, quae sunt pluris. 9(7). Invitatur pretio venter in convivio, Venus in cubili; et hoc empto carius delectatur potius quam hac merce vili. 10(10). Totus est Venerius nec cursum alterius sequitur planetae. Totus est libidinis; hinc tota lex hominis pendet et prophetae. 11(11). Si denominatio fiat ab officio, quod fit omni mane, deputare poteris septem dies Veneris omni septimanae. 12(16). Videt hunc domestica sedulum, dominica mensa negligentem, in qua non diiudicat, quam nocens sacrificat sacrum innocentem. 13(14). Ut aperte liqueat hic in quo praemineat ceteris et quantum, plures quidem52 pluries 52

 quidem] V A; enim Bischoff



Twelfth-Century Lyric Anthologies — English Translation



he mows down everything in sight— except that he has a greater appetite for the more expensive dishes.

9.

For a price he has his stomach invited out to dinner and a “Venus” in his bed, and when this entertainment costs more, he takes greater delight in it than when it comes cheap.

10. He is entirely devoted to Venus;77 he follows the course of no other planet. He is wholly given over to lust;78 the man’s entire “law and the prophets”79 is based on this. 11. If days were to be named after the duty performed every morning, you could reckon seven days of Venus80 in every week. 12. The table in his palace sees him assiduous in attendance, but the Lord’s table finds him negligent. There he does not perceive how harmful is his sacrifice of the Holy Innocent.81 13. To make it quite clear in what way and to what degree he surpasses all others, you will find that very many have lied more often

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mentitos invenies sed hunc semel tantum. 14(19). Cum sit fraudis laqueus, vitiorum puteus, sordium lacuna, quot in mare flumina, tot in ipsum53 crimina confluxerunt una. 15(22). Quem non reddat stupidum? De viru quot aspidum, de quot vitiorum prodiit visceribus, malis peior omnibus, pessimus peiorum? 16(15). Tot se modis proteat ut modum54 non teneat. Nam laesurus lenit et mulcet, ut mulgeat; a quo, nisi veneat, gratia non venit. 17(18). Tanto premit55 odio tanto ducit56 taedio, studia virtutum, ac si totis studiis totam vitam vitiis solvat in tributum. 18. Cui sic est in studium, quicquid sacris obvium venit institutis  ipsum] V A; eum Bischoff  modum] A; nodum V Bischoff 55  premit] V Bischoff  ; ducit A 56  ducit] V Bischoff; premit A 53 54





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but that he has matched them with a single lie.

14. Since he is a snare of deceit, a pit of iniquity, and a pool of filth, as many vile tendencies have converged in him as there are rivers that run to the sea. 15. Whom would he not stun senseless? From the venom of how many snakes and from the womb of how many vices did he come forth, worse than all other scoundrels, the worst of the worst? 16. He transforms82 himself in so many ways as to observe no limit. When about to harm you, he is gentle and soothing in order to milk you. From him there comes no grace except when it is for sale.83 17. Pursuit of the virtues he suppresses with such hatred, considering it so tedious, as if he were wholeheartedly devoting his entire life in tribute to the vices. 18. He is such an enthusiast for whatever opposes sacred institutions;

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quasi virtus nescia, quasi mortis devia viae sint salutis. 19(17). Quem nil aeque piguit, quam quod non interfuit illi iudicando, quem et Iudas vendidit et Iudaea tradidit iudici nefando. 20(12). Cui si forte praedices quod debent pontifices esse luxu puri, id habens pro frivolo mavult cum apostolo nubere quam uri. 21(13). Cui si dicas “contine,” dicet, “In volumine Pauli continetur non ut quis contineat, sed ut suam habeat, cum qua fornicetur.” 22. Qui cum suae minime curam gerat57 animae, curas ceterarum dispensando ceteris; securus de miseris de se curat parum. 23(20). Pacem lite dirimit, innocentes58 deprimit, relevat nocivum. Ius omne defoederat; 57 58

 gerat] V; gerit Bischoff  innocentes] V A; innocentem Bischoff





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it is as if brute force84 and deadly false trails were the ways to salvation.

19. Nothing has disgusted him so much as the fact that he was not present at the trial of the man85 whom Judas sold and Judea handed over to the infamous judge.86 20. If you were perhaps to preach to him that bishops ought to be free from self-indulgence, he would regard this as foolish, and prefer, with the apostle,87 to marry rather than to burn. 21. But were you to say, “Show continence!” he will say, “The advice contained in Paul’s book is not that one should show continence but that each should have his own woman to fornicate with.” 88 22. While doing very little to care for his own soul, he assigns to others the care of other souls; uncaring of the wretched, he takes little care of himself. 23. He shatters peace with litigation; he oppresses the innocent and raises up the criminal. He undoes every law,

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naturale temerat, spernit positivum. 24(21). Fit ius ex iniuria cum hic iudex retia; laxat in capturam et olfacto munere facit condescendere censui censuram. 25. Quaeri potest merito: “Quis haec ex abscondito duxit in praeclarum? Nam quis sic se reserat ut in lucem59 proferat opus tenebrarum?” 26.60 Qui nil vel in noctibus agit absque testibus vegetis et vivis, fas in testimonium produci si testium sit deminutivis. 27(23). A me si requiritur, quis est qui sic dicitur mendax et mendosus; oblitus sum nominis quia nomen hominis est “Obliviosus.”61 10 1. Iam vere fere medio ver senescente Martio Favonio  lucem] V; locem Bischoff  Stanza 26 is omitted from Bischoff’s edition. 61  quia nomen hominis est “Obliviosus”] A Bischoff; nam nomen est hominis obliviosus V 59 60





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violating those of nature, and scorning those of men.

24. A right89 arises from a wrong: when he sits as judge, he extends his net for a catch, and when he smells a gift, reduces the penalty according to the purse. 25. It can fittingly be asked: “Who has brought this out of obscurity into the light of day? Who would so reveal himself as to bring to light a work of darkness?”90 26. It is right that one who does nothing, even at night, without vigorous and lively testes should be called to testify, if he is a man of manly vigor.91 27. If I am asked who it is who is said to be so mendacious and full of faults, I have forgotten his name, because the man’s name is “Forgettable.”92 1093 1. Now, about the middle of spring, as March grows old, spring entrusts its flowers

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flores mandat  quos expandat aeris arbitrio, Fert Aprilis,  “Aperilis,” nomen ab officio. 2. Resumens usum veterem ne dedignando Venerem degenerem amo quidem  nec id idem si liceret, agerem; sed invitus  aro litus atque lavo laterem. 3. Meam laboro fieri quae nec se flectit muneri nec Veneri sese spondet; nec respondet cultum litus Cereri nec abluto  sine luto datur esse lateri. 4. Tanto datus flagitio sentire vix sufficio quod sentio. Usus mali  malum tali temperat remedio, ut sit idem  mihi pridem solus pro solacio. 5. Vix spero sub hanc sarcinam diem durare crastinam. Sed utinam poena quaevis,  dum sit brevis, terminet diutinam, ut vel mori  vel dolori vivere sic desinam.62 62

 desinam] Bischoff; desin V



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to the west wind to make them grow at the bidding of its breeze. April, “The Opener,”94 takes its name from its role. 2. Following age-old custom, to avoid degenerating95 by disdaining Venus, I am in love, but if I could, I would not be. Against my will, I plough the shore and wash a brick.96 3. I struggle to make my own one who neither yields to a gift nor promises herself to Venus;97 neither does the tilled shore respond to Ceres nor is a washed brick ever allowed to be free of mud.98 4. Having succumbed to such disgrace, I can scarcely bear to feel what I feel. The experience of misfortune soothes misfortune with a sort of cure that has long been for me the sole solace. 5. I scarcely expect to live one more day under this burden. If only some punishment—provided it were short-lived— could end this one of long duration so that I could stop either dying or living in pain.

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6. At spero, morbus cederet si quam mei non miseret me viseret. Haec me nisi,  quam praemisi, spes adhuc reficeret, in immensum  sui sensum dolor hic produceret. 7. Medenti se fax occulit, quae me latenter perculit, nec contulit medicinam,  qui urinam,63 non urinae consulit, cum humorem,  non amorem, causam morbi protulit. 8. Videtur enim pluribus quod sic laborem febribus, sed omnibus horis cremor  nec me tremor suis quatit vicibus. Non est febris,  quod64 tam crebris me cremat ardoribus. 9. Cum quo languore dimico iam certo satis indico pronostico. Nec ignoro,  cur laboro, sed, ut de me iudico, vel aegrotus  magis notus sum mihi quam medico. 11 1a. Laudate, pueri, nascentem puerum 63 64

 qui urinam] Bischoff; qui urinam per urinam V  quod] V A; quot Bischoff



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6. My hope is that my sickness might pass if she who has no pity for me were to come to see me. If this hope, which I have set forth, should still not restore me, this pain would wrench me to a profound awareness of it. 7. The torch which secretly wounded me hid itself from the physician and he brought me no relief, for he checked my urine without giving thought to my semen,99 citing a humor not an amour as the cause of my illness.100 8. To most people it appears that I am wracked with fevers, but at all hours I am on fire; it is not a tremor that shakes me with recurring shudders. What burns me with such frequent bursts of fiery passion is not a fever. 9. Of the illness I am fighting I now give a very accurate diagnosis. I am well aware why I am in pain. When it comes to passing judgment on me, even when sick I know myself better than the doctor does.101 11102 1a. Sing the praises, boys,103 of the boy104 who was born

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purgato veteri fermento veterum. Qui puer es,  ne properes in vitium, videto; sed caveas,  ne careas aetatis epitheto. 1b. Puer hoc proprie sibi vocabulum per innocentiae defendat titulum. Rem nominis  et criminis perdet immunitatem, qui praevia  malitia suppleverit aetatem. 2a. A pueris  prae ceteris sibi laudes exigit et eligit a paribus laudari. Puerilis puritas ut paritas sit vel in aevo pari. 2b. Ut igitur  exigitur, digne laudet Dominum grex virginum ludatque reverenter licite non luditur, ni sumitur licentia prudenter. 3a. Quasi modo geniti vagiant infantes et infantis incliti laudibus vacantes, dicant singuli: “Salve, Maiestas parvuli salvare venientis,

 

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when the old leaven of the old days was cleaned out.105 You, who are a young boy, make sure1065 that you don’t rush off into sin; rather, take care you do not fall short of the epithet107 for those of your age.

1b. Let a boy defend this appellation that is properly his for its claim of innocence. Anyone who has filled his life with past iniquity will lose the significance of the term “boy”108 and its immunity from a charge of wrongdoing. 2a.

153

A boy seeks to win praise from boys more than from others and chooses to be praised by his peers. There is a purity among boys so that there is parity at least109 among those of the same age.110

2b. Accordingly, when a group of virginal boys111 is required to praise the Lord in a fitting manner, and to play in a reverent manner, play is not permitted unless permission is prudently obtained. 3a. Just as newborn infants112 may wail, even when devoting themselves to the praise of the renowned infant,113 so let each boy say: “Hail, Majesty of the little one who came to save,

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Salus populi, Pater futuri saeculi, Principium praesentis.”

10

3b. Ad illius praesulis decus et decorem qui surrexit parvulis agnus in pastorem, {three missing lines}65 laudes debitas exsolvat haec sollemnitas in praesulem promoto.  

10 12

1a. Invehar in Venerem nisi resipiscat et dediscat veterem malignandi spiritum, quo principiis blanditur et blanditiis molitur tristem laetis exitum. Ref. Non est grata satis, ni se Venus gratis exhibeat; nam si venit, ut veneat, cum debeat beare, magis debeat,

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1b. Prius de ludibrio Veneris incertus nunc expertus  It is clear from 3a that there are three lines missing from 3b. Since in praesulem promoto echoes 3b.1–4, the missing lines are best assumed to precede laudes debitas.

65





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155

Salvation of the people, Father of the age to come114 and Beginning of the present one.”11510

3b. To the glory and honor of that guardian, who rose from being a lamb to become a shepherd for the little ones,116 ……… ……… ……… let this customary ritual render due praise to the one who was induced to become our guardian.

 

10

12117 1a. I will rail against Venus118 if she does not repent and unlearn119 her inveterate spirit of ill will 5 with which she smiles at beginnings and contrives for her auspicious blandishments a sad outcome. 10 Refrain: Venus is not really welcome unless she shows up at no cost; for if she comes120 at a price, she rather “deriches”1215 when she ought to enrich. 1b. I was previously uncertain about Venus’s mocking ways but now, having experienced them,

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sentio quam sit malae fidei; non exaudior blanditus, unde blandior invitus et invitor invehi. Ref.

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2a. Ab annis coepi teneris cum miseris servire castris Veneris nec adhuc statum muto; sed cum sim paene penitus emeritus, adhuc me vexat servitus et adigit tributo. Ref.

5

2b. In hoc se gessit fortius quam alius Laertis ille filius, cuius caput immune ab hac transit angaria sollertia qui solus Solis filia potitus est impune. Ref.

5

3a. Cur amo, si non amor? Satius est, ut amor in odium vertatur. Sed absit quod amantium remedium sit odium, quod initum per gaudium consortium  divortium per gaudii contrarium sortiatur. Ref.

 

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157

I perceive her bad faith.1225 I am given no hearing when I offer blandishments; so I am reluctant to flatter and am induced to berate her. 10 Ref. 2a. From the years of my youth I began to serve with the poor wretches in Venus’ camp and am still not changing my position; but although I have almost served long enough to be a veteran, my service123 still torments me and forces me to pay tribute. Ref.

5

2b. In this respect she has acted more vigorously than did another, the famous son of Laertes, whose person cleverly passed unscathed out of this thraldom for he was the only one to possess the daughter of the Sun with impunity.124 Ref.

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3a. Why love if I am not loved?125 It would be better for my love to turn to hate. But may it never be that the cure for lovers should be hatred, that a union joyfully embarked upon should end in a parting of the ways in a manner that is the opposite of joy. Ref.

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3b. In odium converti nec ius amoris certi nec finis est probandus. Amorem enim odio si finio,  si vitio per vitium subvenio desipio;  si studio sanitatis insanio non sanandus. Ref.

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3b. Turning to hatred is neither right for a love that is sure nor is it a laudable end. If I end love with hatred, if I try to right a wrong with a wrong, I act foolishly; if I act insanely with the zeal of sanity, I will never be sane again. Ref.

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Notes On the Regensburg Poems  The poet is male.  In Aesop’s story of the fox and the grapes as told by Phaedrus, Fabulae 4.3, the fox calls the grapes he cannot reach sour. The moral applies to those who speak contemptuously of what they cannot achieve themselves but wish they could. The poet sees his resemblance to the fox in his own behavior towards potential girlfriends. 3  Falernian was the wine most highly rated by the Romans, made from grapes grown on Mount Falernus on the border between Latium and Campania. 4  The poet is probably male. Solum fore (literally, “being alone”) in the last line is masculine. 5  The beast is the chimera. The source for both the physical description and the allegorical interpretation of the chimera appears to be Fulgentius, Mythologies 3.1. However, while Fulgentius sees the chimera as an allegory of the fluctuatio (varying stages) of love, the poet sees it here as allegorizing the stages of illicit love (scelus)—adultery or rape. Similar allegorizations of classical myth are common in the prose of this manuscript as well. 6  The allegory here hinges on the fact that maculosus can mean both “piebald” (like a goat) and also “defiled” or “polluted.” 7  The poet is male. The gender of the addressee is unspecified, but the reference to “Hymen’s games”— that is to say, marriage—indicates this love as a heterosexual one. 8  Although English usage more or less requires us to take effrenatis in sense with amoris, Horace, Satires 1.2.33, speaks of “foul lust” inflating the veins; so venae effrenatae makes sense in Latin. 9  Amor has to be understood as the subject here. Compare Ovid, Heroides 5.149: amor non est medicabilis herbis. 10  The gender of the poet is unspecified, as is the gender of the addressee. 11  For the allegorical interpretation of the Chimera, see poem 2 above. 12  The gender of the poet is unspecified, as is the gender of the addressee, although Paravicini believes this poem to be by a woman and Newman believes it to be addressed to a male teacher by a female student. It is certainly the case that disheveled hair was a common trope to describe academics in the twelfth century. 13  The “vestal chorus,” which is mentioned several times in these poems, is presumably a group of nuns or canonesses addressing this poem to one or more authority figures of unspecified gender. These poems are generally interpreted to be by female students addressing their male teacher, but see the following note. 14  Vos and vestrae (in the second line) are possibly the respectful plural for singular forms; compare the similar use of vous/votre in French. Nevertheless, as Paravicini points out, there are only two times when the women use the second person plural: here and in 51. Otherwise, even when they speak collectively, they use the second person singular; so in Paravicini’s view we should take this poem literally as addressing several people. However, in this case the use of vos for tu seems the more natural interpretation. 15  These lines suggest competition among female students for a male teacher’s favor—though it must be said that the gender of the poet is unspecified. The piece is unusual in that it is written in regular hexameters, whereas all the other poems are in Leonine hexameters—although line 2 would be an acceptable Leonine hexameter (with single-syllable rhyme). 1 2

162 Notes  The gender of the poet is unspecified, but the addressee is female.  Amica in classical and Medieval Latin usually has erotic implications; prima could mean “first” in time or rank. 18  Imber (“rainstorm”) could be a punning reference to the river Regen (on which Regensburg is situated) or Regensburg itself, for Regen is German for “rain”. Crebro could refer to frequent showers or the river in spate. 19  This poem is usually presumed to be from a female student to a male teacher since poems 7–9 are generally taken to concern the same people and indeed the poems are contiguous in S. 20  The gender of the speaker is unspecified, but both the friends and those whom Virtue has taught are female. Paravicini assigns this poem to a male author. 21  Presumably, these two lines accompanied a gift to the recipient. 22  Paravicini indicates a lacuna after the second line, but we believe that the sense is complete. 23  The grammatical gender of the addressee is masculine (if the emendation is correct), and because this poem and the one following (12) are adjacent in the manuscript and 12 seems to respond to 11, it seems reasonable to conclude, with Paravicini, that the poet is female. 24  The genders of the speaker and addressee are male and female, respectively. 25  There are no indicators of the genders of the “you” and “I” in this poem. 26  Paravicini assigns this poem to a female author, although there are no grammatical indicators of the poet’s gender. 27  The gender of the addressee is female, that of the poet is unspecified. 28  Presumably this request is for an erotic encounter rather than more gifts. 29  The poet’s gender is male, that of the addressee is unspecified. 16 and 17 both refer to a proposed lovers’ tryst at an “old chapel,” generally assumed to be the Alte Kapelle in Regensburg. If read as a pair (and indeed they are adjacent in the manuscript), 16 purports to be from the male cleric in charge, asking his female lover, Emma, to meet him there, while 17 is from a third party, privy to the proposed assignation, taunting Emma with the news that the provost does not really care for her. The poet plays with the ambiguities of noscere, which can refer to carnal knowledge as well as mere acquaintance, and prima, which means “first,” either in rank or time. 30  The gender of the poet is unspecified here, but the addressee is female. 31  This poem seems to be about a nun (see on line 13) who doubles as a prostitute at night. Lines 7–8 seem to suggest that the poet (male) has had her as a student, and the final lines suggest that the poet occupies a position of power over her. 32  For decipere in the sense of “disappoint,” see OLD, s.v. decipio, 2. 33  D(a)emonialis means “demoniac(al)” or “possessed by a demon”; however, since monialis means “nun” (compare 26.3), the word also suggests “lapsed nun”; conveniens indicates that this latter meaning is relevant. 34  We have translated quam nescio, which makes no sense here, as if it were nescio quam, which does make sense but does not scan. 35  Magistra could refer to a female teacher, an abbess, prioress, or some other woman in charge. 36  The gender of this pronoun is feminine (as conveyed by the modifying adjective, solam), but the gender of the speaker is unspecified. 37  If this couplet reflects a real event, it might be associated with the visit of King Henry IV of Germany to Regensburg from December 1103 until February 1104; see Robinson, Henry IV (1999), 321. By Cynthia we should probably understand Diana, goddess of the hunt, rather than a cook or prioress. Such playful references to the pagan deities are common among the intelligentsia in medieval literature and would in no way imply deviation from Christian beliefs. The gender of the poet is unspecified. 38  Alternatively, this could refer to the gemstone jacinth. 16 17



Notes163

39  As often, it is difficult to tell precisely what is being described in this poem. It seems that this poem is addressed to a male teacher or cleric by a nun or canoness who is speaking for their convent and describing the rules by which he must abide if he is to be admitted to her circle (perhaps as a teacher), but the woman is (or the women are) expressing power over him as judge and jury of his character. 40  Mercury’s flower is mentioned again in poem 35. On the surface, the reference seems to be to the moly plant Mercury gave Ulysses to make him immune to Circe’s power to transform him into some kind of animal. This would have been known to the poet through Ovid’s Metamorphoses 14.291–3, the first line of which scene seems to be echoed here. However, it is probably the case that an allegorical interpretation of this scene is also intended. At fol. 93r, we learn that “Mercury signifies human speech (humanum sermonem),” so the flower of Mercury is likely eloquence. Rhetorical skill will thus protect the poet from unwelcome advances. 41  The gender of the poet is not specified. 42  Compare Acts 8:19: Date et mihi hanc potestatem (“Give me also this power”). 43  The gender of the poet is not specified, nor is the gender of the addressee. Paravicini interprets this poem as written by a woman; Newman assumes it is from a female student addressed to a male teacher. Other combinations are also possible. 44  The perpendiculum was a chain attached to a leather case so that a wax tablet could be worn suspended from a belt. 45  The first-person plural forms could refer to the “vestal chorus” but perhaps more probably refer to the writer alone, whose gender is female (indicated by fracturas, which we take to agree with nos). 46  Compare the similar wording at Metamorphoses 1.471, where Cupid’s gold-tipped arrows are said to enflame love while the lead-tipped arrows are said to cause people to flee. 47  The poet is male. 48  Medus (here in a double dative construction) may be either mead or the precious stone with curative powers (DMLBS, s.v. 1 Medus, 3). 49  Could this nun be the nun disparagingly described in poem 18? 50  Alternatively, if we take pellam as a present subjunctive, we might translate: “I can drive men from the field, a girl I will much more easily conquer.” 51  Most assume that this poem, from its content and from its pairing with poem 28 in S, is addressed to a woman by a man, but it should be noted that the genders are not specified in the Latin of either poem. 52  This poem clearly responds to poem 27, which comes just before it in S without any indication of a break or change of poem. Indeed, it is entirely possible that 27 and 28 were intended to be read as a single text containing both the lover’s request and the response. 53  The genders of the speaker and addressee are not specified, but from the content Paravicini assumes that the speaker is a woman, and Newman assumes the speaker is a female student. Note, however, the interesting reference to “our girls,” a fact that makes us inclined to think that the speaker might be a fellow authority figure with the addressee. 54  This short address is written in prose, not poetry. We have included it in our edition of the Regensburg poems because Paravicini did so and assigned it a number. The source manuscript is filled with numerous short prose statements that Paravicini otherwise excluded, but she presumably included this one because it bears a certain similarity to some of the poems in its seeming portrayal of a lovers’ quarrel. Paravicini assumes the speaker is female, but there are no grammatical reasons why this must be so. 55  The genders of the letter-writer and recipient are unspecified. It is tempting to take this poem as responding to poem 27 and assume that the speaker is the same as that of 28, but it is worth noting that this poem is separated from that grouping by several folios in the manuscript. Paravicini attributes the poem to a woman.

164 Notes  The gender of the poet is unspecified.  Some orders of nuns wore (and still wear) a ring to symbolize their marriage to the “bridegroom” of Song of Songs, often interpreted as Christ. 58  We have interpreted Magister to refer to Christ (DMLBS, s.v. magister, 9b), who is often identified with Sapientia. Uncapitalized, it could refer to the head of the convent, a teacher, or the writer of the poem. 59  The genders of the speaker and the addressee are unspecified. Paravicini and Newman assign this poem to a man, but we see no reason for assigning it to a particular gender since women filled many positions of authority in convents. 60  The poet (male) appears to spell out what he sees as his side of the pact with his female beloved (compare especially line 8) now that he is away from Regensburg. It seems reasonable to assume that this poem involves the same couple as poems 27 and 28, but it is by no means certain. The speaker refers allusively to an incident involving himself and the recipient which remains difficult to decode. 61  Since line 11 and following seem to supplement what precedes, it is best to understand dicimus as a historic present. Exchanging poems falls short of the ideal of communicating in person. 62  This poem answers one from a woman and refers to some incident about which she seems to have had questions. Without her questions and the broader context, we do not know what the coming down and going away refer to—movement within a building, town, or over far distances? 63  There are different views as to how this poem should be interpreted. Some hold that Hemma (“Emma” in modern English spelling) is the poet or the young man’s lover. Others hold that she is the mother who laments her dying (or dead) son. This is almost certainly a different Emma from the Emma of poem 17. 64  That is, the woman’s name is said to be Hemma (“Emma” in modern English spelling). This is probably a different Emma from the Emma of poem 17. 65  Compare Virgil, Georgics 2.40: O decus, o famae merito pars maxima nostrae (“O worthy man, justly my chief claim to fame”), where the line is addressed to Virgil’s patron, Maecenas. 66  In Medieval Latin poetry iuvenis usually denotes a man between the ages of 28 and 50; see Watenphul and Krefeld, Die Gedichte (1958), 21. 67  See note 40 above. 68  DMLBS, s.v. pigmentum, 2: “a concoction that contains an aromatic plant.” 69  A group of “sisters,” presumably his students (line 10), have given their departing male teacher some writing tablets as well as this poem (perhaps originally copied on the tablets?) to encourage him to remain chaste. Assuming that the teacher is the same as the man addressed in poem 41, we could perhaps infer with Paravicini that he is traveling to Rome (see 41.28). 70  Martianus Capella says nothing about children of the marriage of Mercury and Philology, but in the Middle Ages Mercury was closely associated with the three Graces, whose names have been somewhat corrupted here from their classical forms (Pasithea, Aglaea, and Euphrosyne). Note that the Graces are given similar names in S at fol. 94v, where they are characterized as follows: Tres Gratie sunt: Euprobone bona vox, Eugiale bona operatio, Pasithea modestus habitus (“The three Graces are: Euprobone, good voice; Eugiale, good work; Pasithea, modest way of life).” Note also the lesson appearing on fol. 93r that lists the three handmaidens given by Mercury to his bride Philology: Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric. 71  DMLBS, s.v. ingenium, 3 offers the meanings “clever scheme, trick, trickery”; accordingly, the “father of ingenuity” clearly refers to Mercury here, but it can also be seen as a teasing reference to the teacher himself, who taught them these skills. 72  The reference to hot springs tends to confirm that the addressee of this poem is the same as the addressee of 40, for the hot springs at Chaudfontaine (near Liège—see 40.11) are the only hot springs in what is now Belgium. 56 57



Notes165

73  This poem is addressed in a male voice to an unnamed woman. Lines 4–5 suggest that poem 37 is a reply to poem 36 and indeed they are adjacent physically in S, as are poems 38–50, often with no outward indication of where one begins and another ends. Confusingly, however, while 36 was written in a first-person plural voice, suggesting several women, this poem is addressed consistently to a single woman. This is a frequent occurrence throughout these poems and may suggest that the female lover is a spokesperson for the group or even in a position of authority over them. 74  Orpheus, after his failed attempt to retrieve Eurydice from the underworld, could love no other woman and instead transferred his love to young men; he was killed by Bacchanals for scorning them; see Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.64–85 and 11.1–43. 75  The story (as told at Ovid, Fasti 6.695–710) is that Minerva, after inventing the flute, saw from her reflection in the water how playing it puffed out her cheeks, and threw it away in disgust. (Hyginus, Fabulae 165, adds the detail that Juno and Venus laughed at her before she saw her reflection.) Marsyas found the flute, learned to play it, and was flayed alive for challenging Apollo to a musical contest. The author seems to have altered the story to present the musical contest as an exemplum in which a male is defeated by a female. Marsya is an alternative nominative form for Marsyas. 76  This poem appears to be a reply to poem 37 by the same author(s) as 36. It begins in a singular first-person feminine voice but later in the poem becomes plural as if one woman is serving as a spokesperson for the others. 77  Both Tritonia and Pallas are standard epithets of Athena (Minerva), who is frequently called simply Pallas. 78  On the Thracian bard and Marsyas see notes 74 and 75 above. 79  At Aeneid 1.69–75 Juno offers the nymph Deiopeia, “the most beautiful of her companion nymphs,” to Aeolus, god of the winds, if he will rouse up a storm to shatter the Trojan fleet. 80  Nuns were brides (sponsae) of Christ; nympha can also mean “bride” (in the normal sense), but is more sexually suggestive and could mean “young woman” or “mistress.” 81  The “turmoil in the kingdom” must refer to the events at the end of the reign of Henry IV, king of Germany from 1050 to 1105. Henry had his son Henry V crowned joint king of Germany in 1099 on condition that he take no active role until after his father’s death. The young king, however, backed by Pope Paschal II and others, revolted against his father in 1104. Henry IV was captured, imprisoned and forced to abdicate in 1105. For more details on the troubled conclusion of Henry IV’s reign, see Robinson, Henry IV (1999), 321–44. 82  Like 39, this poem is again in a first-person feminine voice and appears to be addressed to the same teacher from Liège indicated by lines 9 and 11. Presumably the author is the same as that of poems 36 and 39. 83  If the line is correctly emended, there is a double entendre intended with foedus, which could be a noun (“pact”) with hoc or an adjective (“foul”) with Cupido; compare the similar ambiguity in line 8. The translation offers both meanings. 84  Alternatively, penna fugitiva can be taken with scribas, “with hurrying pen.” 85  Magister, literally “master” or “teacher,” but also a title and sign of respect. 86  For Liège as the teacher’s home town, see note 72 above. 87  The miles amoris (“soldier of love”) is a trope in Ovid’s Amores. See especially Amores 1.9. 88  In S the e of te has been expunged and a superscript i added to indicate reading as tibi (as one would expect with suadere), but this does not scan, so we prefer the uncorrected text. For the possibility of persuadere taking an accusative of the person, see DMLBS, s.v. persuadere, 1. 89  For sic in the sense of “accordingly,” see DMLBS, s.v. sic, 5. 90  This poem is written in the first-person feminine voice addressing a man, so it seems most likely that the poet is again the teacher’s love interest. 91  This is a common expression for death, rather than, as we might expect, forgetfulness.

166 Notes  This appears to be a poetic way of saying that if she wants to recall exactly what he said at his departure, all she needs to do is go to the threshold and his words will return to her. 93  Presumably this is a reference to Matthew 7:24–27 indicating their wisdom. 94  We have transposed this line from its original position in S since it fits more logically immediately following line 22. Paravicini notes (Carmina [1979], 11) that line 24 is essentially a reworking of line 22 in a more explicitly pagan vein. She uses this fact to argue that the original from which S was copied was a working notebook not containing the finished poems. 95  The sentiment here seems to suggest that the author of this poem holds a position of authority, that is, that she is not merely a young student. 96  There is no indication of a lacuna here in S, but it is possible that more than just a few words are missing here—an entire line or more could be missing. 97  Immediately following this verse is a quotation of Virgil’s Eclogue 2.18: Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur (“White privets fall away, dark violets are picked”). This verse is, perhaps not coincidentally, about as close as Virgil ever comes to writing a Leonine verse and may have been intended as the concluding line. In Virgil, the line is addressed to a younger male love interest and means essentially: “Don’t count on your youthful good looks lasting forever.” If the line is meant to conclude poem 41, then it might imply that the author of poem 41 is older than the teacher. 98  There are no indications in this poem as to the identity or gender of the poet and addressee, nevertheless Paravicini assigns it to a woman and Newman to a female student. 99  The addressees are female. There are no gender markers to indicate the speaker. Since the poem is addressed to women, it is not impossible that the poet is the teacher—presumably Paravicini’s assumption in assigning it to a man. Nevertheless, we could equally imagine that this poem was written by a woman addressing it to her own convent or a neighboring one. 100  That is, the king has died. Henry IV died in Liège on August 7, 1106. 101  On the political upheavals see note 81 above. After his father Henry IV died in Liège in August 1106, his twenty-five-year-old son, Henry V, was now sole king of Germany. Wattenbach and Dronke had believed that puer insipiens referred to the seven-year-old Henry IV in 1057, but there is precedent in Medieval Latin for applying the term puer to males up to age 28—especially as here there is both the biblical resonance (line 11) and a clearly derogatory application of the term. See Paravicini, Carmina (1979), 13. 102  Compare Ecclesiastes 10:16: Vae tibi, terra, cuius rex puer est (“Alas for you, O land, when your king is a boy”). 103  The addressee is male. We presume, with Paravicini, that the poet is female. 104  The concluding pentameter is missing. 105  The genders of the poet and addressee are unspecified, so their identities are very much open to interpretation, but from the content and context of this poem, it seems reasonable to assume with Paravicini that this poem was written to the teacher by his female love interest. 106  The boy must be Amor (i.e. Cupid). The lack of a before quo is probably due to his being considered as much a primal force (amor) as a god. 107  Iungere often, as here, has strong sexual overtones. 108  For ferre in the sense of “to go,” see DMLBS, s.v. ferre, 2e. 109  Our translation “harm for our sins” is intentionally ambiguous to reflect the ambiguity of the Latin, which can mean “harm (to us) caused by our sins” or “harm to our sinful behavior.” 110  Tu solus (line 11) indicates that the addressee is male. Since the consimiles tui of 47.4–6 appear to have been male and apparently engaged in some military maneuver, it is more than likely that the writer of 46 was also male, although Paravicini and Newman assume that the author of 46 was the teacher’s female love interest. 92



Notes167

 Our conjecture, sclavus, makes sense of the use of this word at 46.16 and 47.4.  For the turmoil, see notes 81 and 101 above. 113  For translating vitium as “mess”, see DMLBS, s.v. vitium, 4, “a faulty or defective state.” 114  Normally, the right hand would carry the sword or other offensive weapon. 115  See note 110 above concerning the identities of the interlocutors. 116  Horace, Ars poetica 386–88, advises would-be writers to keep anything they write locked away till the ninth year. 117  The poet writes in the first-person feminine voice. The poem is presumably addressed to the male teacher of 46. The “coterie of young women”—literally, “chorus of virgins”—evokes the context of a convent. Again, the way the poet describes her situation sounds as if she is in a position of authority over the others at her convent. 118  This line is partly our conjecture since it is unmetrical and missing at least a word in S. We treat the h in has as a consonant for metrical purposes; see Bede, De arte metrica, in Grammatici Latini, ed. Heinrich Keil, vol. 7 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1880), 230–1. For a classical example, Bede cites Virgil, Aeneid 9.610, where h counts as a consonant to lengthen the preceding vowel. 119  Again, the poet writes in the first-person feminine voice to an unnamed man. 120  The word play here depends on the fact that the letter-writing formula in Latin requires a wish of good health (salve/vale) for the addressee. 121  The genders of the poet and the addressee are both unspecified. Paravicini assumes that the poem is by a man, but Newman believes that the poem is by a female student. Regardless of the poet’s gender, the fact that this poem immediately follows a poem that is so strikingly at odds with its content (though sharing the theme of rivalry) undercuts the idea that these poems are a conversation between two real people. It would seem that one of the interlocutors of 50 has to be different from those of 49. This in turn casts doubt on whether these poems were ever (part of) real letters or simply composed on particular themes. 122  Between poems 50 and 51 there is a gap of nearly one folio. The second person plural is used consistently throughout this poem, suggesting the possibility that it is addressed to a group of men— especially since they have been replaced by a group of different men. The gender of the poet is not specified, but the plural is consistently used. Paravicini assumes that the poem is by a man, but it seems more likely that the poem was written by one or more of the women at the convent, if not the very woman who addressed so many other poems to the male teacher. 123  The Lord Hugo is perhaps the Margrave of Este, who had allied with Henry IV’s son Conrad, when he rebelled against his father in the 1090s; see Robinson, Henry IV (1999), 297. 124  In light of the unrest outlined in 43.6–7, it seems most likely that the potential conflict referred to is to be seen as a military one; but Dronke’s interpretation that it represents a contest with the local men for the affections of the Bavarian women seems possible too. 125  This poem has a male addressee. There is no indication of the gender of the poet, although the first-person plural suggests the possibility of multiple authors/speakers whom Paravicini assumes are women. Given this poem’s proximity to poem 51, the thematic similarity, and the fact that both use the first-person plural, it seems probable that this poem was written by the same person(s) and that it is addressed to the same man (or men) as poem 51. 126  The poet is female. 127  The poem mentions an unnamed woman, but the gender of the poet is not indicated. Paravicini assumes it was written by a man. 128  The poet is male, the addressee female. 129  On the medieval practice of redundant -que see Stotz, Handbuch (1998–2004), 4:470. 130  We take the first two lines of this poem to be spoken in the persona of the girdle, perhaps even intended to be an inscription on the girdle (similar to the ubiquitous me fecit inscribed on objects). 111 112

168 Notes We believe that the next four lines of this poem should be taken as a separate poem, so we have labeled these 56a and 56b. The gender of the poet (lines 3–6) is unspecified. Paravicini believes this poem to be by a woman, but it seems equally possible that it was written by the male teacher who hopes that the nuns will sing his compositions. 131  The gender of providus indicates that the addressee is male, but we are given no indications as to the gender of the poet. Paravicini assumes that this poem is by a woman (presumably because it is addressed to a man), which may be the case, but the author takes on the role of a teacher (whether real or imagined), so we would not agree with Newman in attributing this poem to a student. 132  On the raven and its transformation from white to black, see Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.596–632. 133  The addressee is male, but the gender of the poet is unspecified. Paravicini assumes that it was written by a woman. 134  No genders are specified. Paravicini assumes this poem is by a man. 135  Paravicini and Newman reasonably infer a female speaker from “glory of Pallas’s girls,” although it should be noted that this poem may be intended to be read as a spiritual allegory where the glory of Pallas’s girls stands for the intellect. See note below. 136  Bringing back the golden apples of the Hesperides was one of the labors of Hercules. As the myth is usually told today, Hercules had Atlas steal the apples while Hercules held up the sky in his place, but in S at fol. 91v the story is told as follows: “They say that [Hercules] defeated all the dragons and carried off with him the apples in a famous theft and returned them to his king with a renowned triumph.” This myth is then immediately interpreted as a spiritual allegory. 137  The poet of 61 is unspecified, but the poem is addressed to a woman. Paravicini assumes the author is male. 138  Since 61 and 62 are paired in S and it makes sense to read the second as responding to the first, we can probably assume with Paravicini that the poet of 62 is a woman. The gender of the addressee is again unspecified. 139  The gender of the poet(s) is unspecified, but the poem is addressed to a man. It is perhaps possible to hear an echo of poem 56 here in the reference to singing songs for the absent teacher. We can likely infer that this is, if not the teacher, then a teacher because of the wish that he remain employed by the Muses. Paravicini assumes the speakers to be women. 140  The words chaire and shalom lach mean “farewell” in Greek and Hebrew respectively. Their use here shows off the learning of the writer and embellishes the closing of the letter in a way similar to the effect that would be caused by a letter in English ending with “au revoir” and “ciao.” 141  No genders are specified here. Paravicini assumes that it was written by a man. 142  The gender of the poet is unspecified, but the addressee is a woman. Paravicini and Newman assume the poet is a man, but it seems at least as likely that this poem was addressed by a woman to another woman. 143  No genders are indicated. 144  The gender of the poet is unspecified, but it is addressed to men. 145  The gender of the poet is unspecified, but the friend mentioned is male.

On the Ripoll Poems  Rhythmical pattern: 3×(6pp+6pp).  The poet alters the word order of line 3 to introduce a new rhyme for stanza 2. Compare lines 21–2. 3  Eodem tempore … cardine is merely a poetic way of saying “just after noon.” 4  For arx = “heaven” see DMLBS, s.v. arx, 1.c. 1 2



Notes169

 See note 2 above.  Rhythmical pattern: 4×8p. 7  There was an important cult of Venus on Cythera, an island to the south of the Peloponnese; so she is often called “the Cytherean.” 8  Compare Carmina Burana 117.5.4: arcum cuius reformido. 9  Ovid, Amores 1.2.34, indicates that the crowd calls out Io at Cupid’s triumph. 10  Lines 25–32 constitute a descriptio puellae, a recurring feature of medieval love poetry in which the attractive features of the beloved woman are listed and briefly described; generally speaking, these descriptions start at the head and work down to the feet. 11  The Judith whose name is spelled out in lines 39–43 is generally regarded as Judith II, abbess of Remiremont in Lorraine; see Elliott, “A Note on Names” (1980), 112–15. She may be the unnamed woman referred to in poems 19 and 20. 12  Rhythmical pattern: 2×(4p+4p, 7pp). 13  Besides being the name of the goddess, Venus can mean “sexual desire” or “sexual activity.” 14  On Cytharean, see note 7 above. 15  The quem clause is equivalent to a result clause. 16  In the Middle Ages the two Catos, the Elder (234–149 bce) and the Younger (95–46 bce), tended to blend into one, consistently dubbed rigidus. There is an impressive list of citations at Moralejo, Carmina (1986), 174–5. 17  Another descriptio puellae follows; see note 10 above. 18  Meter: elegiac couplets. This poem is closely modeled on Ovid, Amores, 1.5 (also in elegiac couplets), where Ovid is visited by Corinna, who is apparently already known to him, rather than by an unknown puella dramatically introduced by Venus. 19  Compare Ovid, Amores, 1.5.25: cetera quis nescit? 20  Meter: Leonine hexameters (1–10) and caudate hexameters (11–12). 21  Meter: elegiac couplets. Each couplet begins and ends with the same phrase. 22  Rhythmical pattern: 6pp+6pp. This poem owes much to the eleventh-century Versus Eporedienses, which describe the poet’s encounter with a young woman who claims descent from the royal house of Troy. He then tries to seduce her with an enormous list of expensive gifts. For text, translation, and commentary, see Kretschmer, Latin Love Elegy (2020), and for further discussion, Tilliette, “Troiae ab oris” (1999), 413–21. 23  The use of nimium in lines 35–6 to rhyme with itself violates normal practice, as is also the case with vigilans in lines 37–8. The two deliberate violations are perhaps meant to signal the end of the poem. In our translation of the final two lines (which once confused editors of the poem) we follow the interpretation proposed by Dronke, “Interpretation” (1979), 23–4. 24  Meter: caudate hexameters. This is clearly a companion piece to 7. The setting changes from the meadow to the bedroom, but overall the pieces are very similar and virtually identical in their beginnings and endings. 25  Meter: caudate hexameters. 26  These lines pointedly end with the masculine forms of the end-words of 1 and 2. 27  The dictator, an author but also with its English meaning of “commander” or “director,” is Ovid, particularly as author of the Ars amatoria. Compare Ars amatoria 1.17: Ego sum praeceptor amoris. 28  Occasionally, the quod is omitted in indirect statement; see Blaise, Manuel (1955), §261. 29  For this use of the indicative of posse in conditionals, see Gildersleeve and Lodge, Latin Grammar (1965), §597, 3b. 30  Ovid, Ars amatoria 1.668–80. 31  Rhythmical Pattern: 4×7p. There are many instances where the rhythmical and natural word stress clash. 5 6

170 Notes  Doloris is a partitive genitive after nimis.  Note that in the Latin the lines of stanza 2 end with the same key words, although in a different order, as end the lines of stanza 1, almost as if answering them. 34  Lines 13–20 constitute a short descriptio puellae; see note 10 above. 35  Meter: elegiac couplets. The poem does not indicate which countess is addressed; there was of course no “countess of France.” If, as seems fairly likely, the author’s home base was in Metz, then in the German empire, the countess may well be Agnes of Champagne, the wife of Reginald II, count of Bar (1150–70), whom she married in 1155, and mother of the young Reginald of Bar, who appears in the poems from Chartres. Her sister, Adèle of Champagne, married Louis VII in 1160 and was mother of Philip Augustus (born 1165). The county of Bar was based in France but embraced territories in the German empire. 36  Lines 9–12 were clearly inspired by Godfrey of Reims’s Parce, precor, virgo (full text at Broecker, Kritische Gesamtausgabe [2002], 199–203). Both poets flatter their addressees by asking what beauty a flammeum (or flammeolum) can add to an already beautiful head. Godfrey’s Dic teretes digitos cur annulus et lapis ambit, | cum teretes digiti dent pretium lapidi is the source for 11–12 here. 37  Rhythmical pattern: 4×8p. 38  Besides its obvious mythological meaning, nympha was commonly used of young women, for instance at Ovid, Heroides 9.103 and below at 14.5. It seems most likely that nympha here is a reference to his other girlfriend about whom he more usually writes since the title specifically refers to Guilibergis as a different girlfriend. 39  The phoenix was usually said to live for 500 years, at which time it would burn itself up and be resurrected from the ashes. 40  Meter: elegiac couplets. 41  The opening three words echo the repeated refrain of poem 6. 42  Rhythmical Pattern: 2×(4p+4p, 7pp). 43  The poet seems to open his love poem knowingly as if it were a hymn to Mary. Only the following stanzas make clear the identity of this particular woman. 44  Nectare, adopted to replace R’s nonsensical exoe, gives good sense and plays on the double meanings of nympha (see note 38). For the single-syllable rhyme (with genere), not unusual in the first half of the twelfth century, compare oscula/caelestia below at 34/36. Aere, adopted by most editors, creates a hiatus unparalleled elsewhere in the Ripoll poems and is certainly a surprising form of nutrition for either humans or nymphs. 45  The poet plays with the different meanings of genus: “class, kind” and “birth, lineage.” 46  Meter: hexameters. 47  Lucifer (“Light-Bringer” or “Morning Star”) was the name given to the planet Venus when it appears in the east just before sunrise; it is of course the rising sun that eventually blots out the stars, but before the sun has fully risen, Venus is often the brightest celestial body in the sky. 48  Rhythmical pattern: 2×(4p+4p, 7pp). The poet professes lasting love for his girlfriend. 49  Rhythmical pattern: 8p. This poem shares with Carmina Burana 75 the topic of girls dancing in the squares at the onset of spring and the opportunities for young love. 50  Dronke, “Interpretation” (1979), 28 n. 30, suggests that adolescens and quo (which we have emended to qua) are best understood as gender-neutral, but lines 17–20, which balance 13–16, appear to undermine this view. 51  Meter: hexameters, of which lines 1–3, 13, and 15 are trini scalientes (see Norberg, Introduction [2004], 60–1). The rest appear to be regular Leonine hexameters. These misogynistic lines were almost certainly not written by the author of poems 1–17 and 19–20. They modify and amplify two hexameters traditionally attributed to Marbod of Rennes in ways closely paralleled in other manuscripts. Compare the very similar poem in Werner, Beiträge (1905), 31 (no. 71). 32 33



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52  Meter: caudate hexameters. This title is the only one in which a form of amica is not written backwards. However, it is clear that the scribe was distracted because he made an uncharacteristic blunder by writing pro separationis instead of pro separatione. 53  That is, it was the middle of summer. 54  In muliere: in + ablative is commonly used in Medieval Latin for the ablative of instrument: so here the woman is thought of as an instrument, like medicine. 55  Throughout this poem, but especially here, the common meaning of Venus as a euphemism for sex is prominent. 56  As Dronke, “Interpretation” (1979), 28, points out, the ablative here is one of route; see Gildersleeve and Lodge, Latin Grammar (1965), §389 and (more specifically) Kühner and Stegmann, Ausführliche Grammatik (1912–14), I, pt. 1, pp. 350–1. The suggestion to return “by way of Remiremont” makes perfect sense if the poet is to be thought of as in Lorraine and hard to imagine if he is in Ripoll. Moralejo prints the ablative form here, recognizing that Latzke’s Montem is metrically impossible, but persists in translating it as “to Remiremont.” The abbey of secular canonesses at Remiremont was highly selective; only daughters of the nobility were admitted. They enjoyed a fairly luxurious existence, each with her own set of servants and living quarters around the abbey. The abbey gained a reputation for sexual improprieties, which came to the attention of Pope Eugene III, who wrote a letter on this subject on March 17, 1150, to the archbishops of Trier and Cologne; see Jaffé, Regesta (1885–88), 2:66. The famous Concilium Romarici Montis (Council of Remiremont), which purports to report a debate held there before a church council on the comparative virtues of a knight and a cleric as a lover, is best seen as a satire based on the scandal. The scandal seems to have blown over fairly quickly, for, apart from this passage and the Concilium, there seems to be no reference to it elsewhere in Medieval Latin love poetry. 57  Meter: elegiac couplets. The position of this poem in the collection and its content invite us to view it as the sequel to Venus’s advice in 19. The poet tells us that he stopped at Remiremont, perhaps for a week or two, had an affair with one of the ladies there, and then pressed on to his destination further south. However, we should be guarded about how much autobiographical reality we should see in the poem. 58  For a single quot … tot in a similar context as lines 1–4, compare 11.1–2. 59  As a verb of remembering recolere may take the genitive. 60  Navis (“ship”) was often used metaphorically to denote a love affair in ancient and medieval poetry and it is best seen in this sense here.

On the Appendix The panegyrics of two bishops that constitute this appendix appear to have been written during the papal schism that lasted from 1159 until 1179, when Frederick Barbarossa appointed three comparatively short-lived anti-popes, Victor IV (1159–1164), Paschal II (1164–1168), and Callixtus III (1168– 1178), who were generally recognized within his empire, while elsewhere in Europe Alexander III was recognized as pope. The unstated point of the panegyrics is almost certainly to suggest that the new bishops should consider appointing the writer to some appropriate position in the diocese with an accompanying prebend. The rhythmical pattern used in both poems is 8p+7pp. The new bishop of Pavia praised in the first panegyric appears to be Sirus, who was appointed bishop of Pavia in 1162 by Rainald of Dassel, Frederick Barbarossa’s archbishop of Cologne and archchancellor of Italy. The “rapacious wolf” of 1.11 would then be Peter of Tuscany, who was bishop of Pavia 1142–1162 and loyal to Alexander III. Not surprisingly, he fled when Rainald entered Pavia in 1162 and appointed Sirus to replace him. We know that Peter continued to serve Alexander in various capacities. (For more details see Traill, “The Origin of the Ripoll Love Poems” [2006], 908–09.) Metz

172 Notes lay within the German empire at this time and Frederick was careful to pick someone loyal to himself for this important bishopric. In 1163, when Stephen of Bar, bishop of Metz from 1120 through 1163, died, Frederick replaced him in 1164 with his nephew, Thierry (or Dietrich) of Bar, who held the bishopric until 1171. 61  By “Catholic pastor” and “legitimate prelate” (line 4) the poet means “sanctioned by the anti-pope, Victor IV.” 62  The poet implies that they are now red from weeping. For livere in this sense, see ThLL 7.2 (lividus), 1546, 15: cuius lividi oculi, nonne eorum qui commorantur in vino? (“Whose eyes are bloodshot? Isn’t it the eyes of those who spend a lot of time with wine?”). 63  Peter of Tuscany. For this identification, see the introductory note on the Appendix. 64  Peter of Tuscany is next seen at the 1163 Council of Tours, called by Alexander III, where he must be the “bishop of Pavia” who is listed as present; see Somerville, Pope Alexander III (1977), 29. 65  The Old Enemy is the devil.

On the Vatican Collection  Rhythmical pattern: 2×(7pp, 7pp, 6p).  Literally, “the movement of (my) itching tongue is aroused.” 3  Compare Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45: Ex abundanta enim cordis os loquitur (“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”). 4  Compare Hebrews 4:15: Non enim habemus pontificem qui non possit compati infirmitatibus nostris (“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses”). 5  Gauchlin was the boy-bishop during these Feast of Fools activities (between December 26 and January 1 or 6), but otherwise unknown. 6  During the post-Christmas festivities considerable license was permitted. Canon law was replaced by “December’s law,” for which the boy-bishop would act as judge. 7  The words maiores (“senior officials” or “nobles”) and iunior (“junior”) can refer as much to relative age as to relative status. 8  As at stanza 8, the Latin carries a double meaning impossible to render in English; this phrase could equally be taken to mean “a lesser person rules over the great.” 9  Barbarum is a genitive of description; so “the people with beards.” However, it could also be the accusative of barbarus and so mean “the barbarian populace.” There is no doubt also a play with the name of Reginald’s home town and the family title, since his father was count of Bar. 10  Given the rather faint praise assigned to Gauchlin’s father, the family would appear to be of only local significance. 11  Reginald, the third son of Reginald II, count of Bar, was born into one of the leading noble families of France no earlier, and probably not much later, than 1160; see Poull, Maison souveraine (1994), 119 and 129, and Traill, “Reginald of Bar” (2017), 217 with notes 4 and 5. As the nephew of Adèle of Blois, queen of France, and her brother, William of the White Hands, bishop of Chartres (1165–76), archbishop of Sens (1168–76), and archbishop of Reims (1176–1202), he was powerfully connected. He later served as bishop of Chartres from 1183 until 1217. 12  By December 1180, the probable date of this poem, Reginald’s uncle, William of the White Hands, had crowned Philip, king of France, in Reims and was the de facto primatial archbishop of France. 13  Rhythmical pattern: 4×(6pp+6pp). Heaven and hell have been merged. The courts should be heaven but have been corrupted into a hell. Courts are not open to the poor, for whom life is hell anyway. The count’s courts, however, are just. Morals are in decline, Fortune is fickle, and the poor suffer. The 1 2



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young and smart are taking over. Greed is an all-encompassing obsession. What is the point of my complaining? This macaronic poem may have been inspired by Walter of Châtillon’s A la feste sui venuz (Shorter Poems [2013], no. 50). 14  Hendiadys is the figure of speech whereby what is essentially a single concept is presented as if it were two; so “by force of arms” becomes “by force and by arms.” 15  It is uncertain who “our master” is but Reginald’s uncle, Theobald V, count of Blois (1151–1191), whose lands included Chartres, seems likely. His sobriquet, “the Good,” fits well with the tenor of stanzas 5 and 6. 16  The lament for the decline in morals and the topsy-turvy nature of society is a common literary topos of the time; compare, for instance, Carmina Burana 6. 17  Plowing or planting seeds in sand is a recurring motif to express futility. 18  Initially, in his attempts to kill the multi-headed Hydra of Lerna, Hercules found that when he lopped off one head, others grew to replace it. 19  Rhythmical Pattern: 3×(7pp+6p) + auctoritas (Goliardic stanzas cum auctoritate). The poet asks for the license usually granted to satirists to speak freely and criticize others. 20  Horace, Ars Poetica 412: qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam. 21  Compare Persius, Satires 1.107–08: Sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere vero / auriculas? 22  Compare Persius, Satires 4.24: Sed praecedenti spectatur mantica tergo. This is a rendering of the proverbial notion that our faults are in a bag slung over our backs so that we readily see the faults of others but fail to see our own. 23  Rhythmical Pattern: 4×(7pp+6p), Goliardic stanzas. The leaders of society are focused on pleasure and corruption. Teachers set a bad example. Simony is rampant. 24  Compare Psalm 72(73):9: posuerunt in caelo os suum (“They set their mouths against heaven”); for the anti-heretical interpretation and use of this passage, see Jeanjean, “L’utilisation” (2001), 374–87. 25  Rabboni is usually a vocative form used in addressing a teacher or master, famously used by Mary Magdalene in addressing Christ in the garden (John 20:16). Here it is used ironically and treated as nominative plural. 26  At 2 Kings 5:1–27, when Elisha refused payment from Naaman for curing him of leprosy, Elisha’s servant Gehazi ran after Naaman and took money in Elisha’s name. Simony is so called because Simon offered money to Peter to bestow the power of the Holy Spirit on him at Acts 8:9–19. 27  That is to say, grace passes through them without stopping. 28  In this context, the term ministri designates the priests who administer the sacraments. 29  This stanza points out that it should be God’s grace that awards positions and prebends in the Church, uninfluenced by intrigues of the clergy or business interests. 30  This witticism (cardinales = di carnales) is borrowed from Walter of Châtillon’s Propter Sion non tacebo (17.1–2) and therefore dates this poem (and presumably poems 1–8) after March 1179; see Walter’s Shorter Poems (2013), civ–cv and 268–9. 31  Apex quite literally means “peak, top,” but the following line suggests that a double-meaning is intended, for apex can also mean “letter” (see DMLBS, s.v. apex, 3). 32  In Latin only one letter distinguishes “hand” (manus) from “gift” (munus). 33  On Simon and Gehazi, see note 26 above. 34  Note the word play with illicite (“illicitly”) and licitari (“to put up for sale”). 35  A recasting of Juvenal 2.20–21: de virtute locuti | clunem agitant; compare Walter of Châtillon, Shorter Poems (2013), 44.26.4: clunagitant, de hiis et de virtute locuti. 36  Rhythmical pattern: 2×7pp, 4pp, 2×(7pp, 7p). The poet, happy to be back in Chartres, sings the praises of his young master, Reginald of Bar, and advises him to model himself on his uncle, William of the White Hands, giving him some practical advice about how to behave in his new position as provost at Chartres.

174 Notes  The poet assumes the role of the lector addressing the officiating priest with “Your blessing, Father” before he reads the lesson. Lines 1–2 echo Iube, domne, benedicere, but lines 3–7 and the space between bene and dicere in the manuscript suggest that the poet here means bene dicere (although he is certainly playing with the expected benedicere). 38  From lines 2–3, clearly our poet is not normally a resident of Chartres. In Medieval Latin patria can mean “land” in general in addition to the meaning “homeland.” 39  If, as seems likely, the Feast of Fools is to be dated to 1180, these words indicate that Reginald, who cannot be more than twenty, is not a candidate for the currently vacant position of bishop of Chartres (John of Salisbury died in October 1180). 40  Frequento: apparently a present for a future, common with verbs of motion in many languages. 41  Metonymy is the use of a term closely associated with the concept intended rather than the concept itself; for example: “Washington’s view is …” instead of “The American government’s view is ….” We are grateful to Peter Stotz for pointing out that in the manuals on rhetoric continens pro contento is a standard sub-category of metonymy. The poet’s use of technical rhetorical terms, such as metonymy and (at 5.2.1.4) hendiadys, suggests that his relationship with Reginald might be that of teacher. In this poem he at least assumes that persona. Here the container is Chartres and the content is Reginald, but the poet quickly moves on to the content. 42  In Medieval Latin a young man could be referred to as a puer (“boy”) up to the age of 28; see Archpoet, Gedichte (1958), 21. In 1180, the probable year of these festivities, Reginald would be about 20; in 1183 he became bishop of Chartres. In contemporary American English it is now considered unacceptable to address, or refer to, a male aged 18 or over as a “boy” and clearly the poet had no intention of disparaging Reginald; so we have resorted to the more acceptable term “youth.” For further information on Reginald’s age and the date of these festivities; see Traill, “Reginald of Bar” (2017), 217 and 221. Reginald’s father, Reginald II, count of Bar, had died ten years earlier when Reginald was about 10. 43  The uncle here is again William, archbishop of Reims. Literally, the imagery is: “hold your uncle before you as a mirror of your life.” The genre of “mirrors of princes,” where a model ruler is described for emulation, saw a surge in popularity in the twelfth century, and one of the first and certainly the most popular of these to have “mirror” in its title dates from the late twelfth century, namely, the Speculum regum by Godfrey of Viterbo. 44  In a charter dated 1181 Reginald is listed as a provost (praepositus) of Chartres (see Lepinois and Merlet, Cartulaire [1802], 297). The four provosts of Chartres were the stewards charged with managing the extensive lands owned by the cathedral chapter and ensuring that its share of the revenues, which funded the chapter’s prebends, was paid by those who worked the land (see ibid., lxxxv). This led to abuses; for example, sometimes the provosts reduced the prebends to suit themselves (see ibid., xcviii). Extracting payment from the farmers could be a difficult process, and stanza 7 suggests that it was well known that some provosts resorted to extreme forms of torture when the farmers refused to pay the required sum. No doubt too, some provosts sought to extort more than what was rightfully due. The last line indicates that applying torture in moderation was normal and acceptable. 45  This difficult stanza appears to mean that Reginald should be careful not to give his friends or subordinates the impression that because they are within his inner circle or acting on his behalf, they can act with impunity, for he will not be able to escape blaming himself for any crime they commit. Given that nowhere else in poems 1–8 does our poet violate the late twelfth-century norm that rhymes must be of two syllables, it is clear that V’s aliis at 9.1 is an error for alteris (in Medieval Latin alter is often indistinguishable in meaning and usage from alius). 46  This association of Reginald with a catamite in a poem performed in public seems to reflect the rather surprising fact that even in the latter part of the twelfth century the traditional condemnation 37



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of the passive partner in sodomy had not yet extended to the active partner provided that he was of noble birth. Such behavior seems not unexpected, and indeed condoned, among young members of the nobility at this time; see Kuefler, “Male Friendship” (2003), 155–6. 47  The baculus, the staff carried by the boy-bishop in the post-Christmas celebrations, was an important symbol of the events and of the suspension of the normal rules of behavior. 48  There is a play with the words victoria and Vincentino, both being derived from vincere (“to conquer”). While it seems clear that line 7 refers to Gauchelin, it is unclear to what Vincentino refers, but it is presumably a stretch of land or other property called Saint-Vincent that is owned by his father. 49  The words Tu autem Domine, miserere nostri were recited at the end of the reading from the Bible in the liturgy of the medieval Church. Accordingly, this poem begins and ends with the formulaic language used before and after the reading of the lesson. 50  Rhythmical Pattern: 4×(7pp+6p), Goliardic stanzas. The poet, apparently speaking on behalf of young boys on the Feast of the Innocents (December 28), calls on Christ to dwell in them and guide them and urges the boys to be mindful of Christ, sing his praises, and match their words with their deeds. 51  The Book of Daniel tells how he resisted pressure from his Babylonian captors to eat food forbidden by Jewish dietary laws and was cast into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship a golden image. 52  Compare Matthew 21:16: ex ore infantium et lactantium perfecisti laudem (“out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself”). 53  Compare 1 Corinthians 2:4: non in … verbis sed ostensione spiritus et virtutis (“not with … words …, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power”). 54  Bischoff points out the similarity with poem 11.1b.5—also a song for the Feast of the Innocents. 55  Compare Sirach 15:9: Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris (“Praise is unseemly on the lips of a sinner”). 56  In the puzzling last line of this stanza, the praepositio (“prefix”) is presumably to be understood as in-. Besides functioning as a privative prefix, in- may also be used as an intensifier in Latin. These distinct meanings for the prefix were well known and discussed by medieval grammarians. Compare, for instance, “In” modo in compositione privativum est, ut iniustus, improbus; modo intensivum, ut imprimo, incuso” (Alcuin, Ars grammatica, PL 101:900B). The poet is thus playing with both grammar and logic. The statement, “all innocuos (‘harmless people’) are innocentes (‘innocent’)” is false unless the in in innocentes and innocuos is read as an intensifier. Then, the statement would become, “all very harmful people are very hurtful,” a true statement. For mens = “soul,” see Blaise, Dictionnaire (1954), s.v. mens, 1. 57  Rhythmical pattern: 4×(7pp+6p), Goliardic stanzas. This poem for the Feast of the Innocents focuses on the fate of the original Holy Innocents, slaughtered on Herod’s orders. 58  Compare Matthew 2:18: Rachel plorans filios suos, et noluit consolari, quia non sunt (“Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more”). 59  That is, they gave up their short life on earth for their eternal life in heaven. 60  It was thought that on entering heaven souls were awarded a double garment; see Remigius of Auxerre’s comment on Psalm 5:11: “let them forever shout for joy” in his Enarrationes in Psalmos (PL 131:170A): plenarie gaudebunt, cum duplicem stolam immortalitatis accipient (“they will be exultant when they receive the double garment of immortality”). 61  In Medieval Latin the ablative of third declension nouns and comparative adjectives frequently ends in -i; the ablative is often used to express duration of time. 62  In Medieval Latin quo is often used instead of ut in purpose clauses without a comparative. 63  Grammatically, grex belongs inside the qui clause. 64  Meter: elegiac couplet.

176 Notes  These lines are best taken as the humble acknowledgment by the poet of the preceding poems, that their author is a “no-name” poet, in contrast, no doubt, to the authors of the four following poems, which, as Spanke, “Review” (1931), 374, suggests, he admired and which may have, to some extent, inspired him. 66  Rhythmical pattern: 2×(7pp, 7pp, 6p). The author of this poem is Walter of Châtillon. It is a satirical attack on a bishop whose weaknesses for excess in eating, drinking, and indiscriminate sex are amusingly described at considerable length. His name is revealed in a riddle that closes the poem. This poem is also found in the fourteenth-century British Library manuscript Arundel 384 (A), where four stanzas (18, 22, 25, and 26) are missing. They may be subsequent additions by Walter or perhaps by someone else. In the Arundel manuscript, the stanzas are arranged as follows: 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 8, 9, 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 14, 19, 22, 15, 18, 17, 12, 13, 20, 21, 27. The surprising rarity of the simple rhythmical pattern of De grege pontificum (the goliardic line with duplication of its first half) makes it more than likely that Walter’s poem inspired the poet of poems 1–8, who uses it as a model for his introductory satire, poem 1. For the attribution of this poem to Walter of Châtillon and its probable dating to 1162, see his Shorter Poems (2013), xxvii–xxviii. It may have been performed during the post-Christmas festivities, when this kind of satirical attack on the failings of the higher clergy was permitted and quite normal. However, the attack is unusual in that it is directed against a specific bishop, Manasses, bishop of Orléans, who is identified, albeit cryptically, by name. It seems more likely, therefore, that the satire was delivered at the court of Henry the Liberal, count of Champagne, who appears to have had grounds for blaming Manasses for his humiliation before Frederick Barbarossa in that he was obliged to hold nine of his castles as Frederick’s vassal. This was a result of the failure of the promised meeting between Frederick and Louis VII at Saint Jean-de-Losne on September 22, 1162, arranged by Manasses and Henry to settle whether Alexander III or Victor IV (Frederick’s anti-pope) should be recognized as pope. For more on this topic (although some of the details are murky), see Walter of Châtillon, Shorter Poems (2013), lxxiv–lxxv, and Evergates, Henry the Liberal (2016), 70–2. 67  Grex usually referred to a group of animals, particularly sheep, and by extension to a Christian congregation. It was also commonly applied to a troupe of actors. Applied to bishops it is humorously derogatory, reducing them to the level of either their flocks or actors. 68  These lines imply that there was a very low bar for admission to the rank of bishop since the “praises” Walter sings of the one bishop worthy of his station are hardly flattering. 69  At this point, it becomes clear that the poem will be no eulogy, since innkeepers in the ancient and medieval worlds had a reputation for untrustworthiness. 70  V’s mimorum (“of actors”) makes better sense than A’s minorum (“of the lesser”). What an actor says in his role does not reflect his true animus. 71  Besides “purse,” loculus (here in the poetic plural for the rhyme) can mean “scrotum” (see DMLBS, s.v. loculus, 3) and in iconoclastic contexts such as this, the sexual double entendre would be readily understood. 72  Compare Claudian, In Rufinum 1.111: Solus habet scelerum, quidquid possedimus omnes (“He has within himself alone as much criminality as all of us have possessed altogether”). 73  Peter Lombard, Sententiae, 3.10.2.1, referring to Christ says, dicitur natura vel naturae filius …. His translator, Giulio Silano, translates the whole passage: “He is called son by nature or of nature because he is naturally a son, namely, having the same nature as the one who begot him.” 74  Compare Jerome’s letter 69, where, in a discussion of the vices of bishops, he writes at 9.1 (ed. Labourt, 3:206): venterque mero aestuans cito despumat in libidines (“and the stomach, heated up by the wine, quickly foams into lust”). 75  Compare Psalm 118(119):136: Exitus aquarum deduxerunt oculi mei (“My eyes shed streams of tears”). 65



Notes177

76  By the Middle Ages Epicureanism was thought of in terms of “eat, drink, and be merry,” so that “Epicurus” was another name for a glutton. 77  In this stanza, Walter plays with two of the meanings of “Venus”: (1) sex and (2) the planet. 78  Libidinis is a genitive of description, equivalent to the adjective “libidinous.” 79  In the New Testament, the Old Testament is frequently referred to as “the law and the prophets” (as at Matthew 22:40); so lust is the bishop’s Bible. 80  Friday was dies Veneris; the name survives as French vendredi and Italian venerdì. 81  The Holy Innocent here is Christ, whose body a priest offers at Mass. The words, however, suggest the Holy Innocents and neatly equate the bishop with Herod. 82  Proteus was a mythological character who could transform himself at will. He is commemorated in the English word “protean” and the Medieval Latin verb proteare, “to transform.” 83  Throughout this stanza, Walter plays with pairs of words that look identical (or virtually so) but have different meanings: modus “way, manner” (line 1) and modus “limit” (2); mulcere “to soothe” and mulgere “to milk” (4); venire “to be on sale” (5) and venire “to come” (6). The grace of line 6 is the grace that comes from performance of the sacraments, which are supposed to be offered gratis. 84  For virtus in the sense of “force,” see DMLBS, s.v. virtus, 3. 85  That is, Christ. 86  That is, Pontius Pilate. 87  The apostle is Paul, who says melius est enim nubere quam urere (1 Corinthians 7:9). 88  At 1 Corinthians 7:2 Paul writes: Propter fornicationes autem unusquisque suam uxorem habeat (“But for fear of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife”). However, propter could be understood in the sense of “for the sake of” rather than “for fear of”; see DMLBS, s.v. propter, 5. In short, Walter has reversed the meaning of Paul, for whom marriage was a way of preventing fornication, while for the bishop it provided a license to fornicate. 89  Ius here seems to refer to the bishop’s view of his right to a bribe when a case comes before him. 90  Perhaps alluding to Romans 13:12: Abiciamus ergo opera tenbrarum et induamur arma lucis (“Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light”). 91  This stanza relies on the old Roman joke that testes (“witnesses”) could also mean “testicles.” Hence testium … diminutivis refers to the diminutive of testes, i.e. testiculi, and consequently “manly vigor”; compare Persius, Satires 1.103–4: haec fierent, si testiculi vena ulla paterni | viveret in nobis? (“Could such things be, if any trace of our fathers’ manliness were still alive in us?”). 92  Obliviosus is best understood here in its less common meaning of “that causes forgetfulness” (to explain Walter’s forgetfulness) rather than “forgetful”; Horace applies obliviosus in this sense to Massic wine at Odes 2.7.21. Bischoff, “Vagantenlieder” (1931), 91–3, pointed out that the Hebrew name “Manasses” means “forgetful” and identified the Manasses in question with the bishop of Orléans (1146–85), about whose behavior complaints had been made to the pope. For details regarding grievances that Walter’s patron, Henry the Liberal, count of Champagne, had against Manasses in 1162, see note 66 above. 93  Rhythmical pattern: 2×8pp, 4pp, 2×(4p+4p, 7pp). The author is Peter of Blois (the canonist). It is spring and the poet has fallen in love—against his wishes. He is struggling to make her his own but she refuses to reciprocate. Misfortune, however, heals misfortune. He hopes his sickness will pass if she comes to see him. His physician does not understand what is wrong with him, considering it to be a physical rather than emotional issue. Others are similarly mistaken. He concludes that he can diagnose his pain better than his doctor. 94  Aperire is the Latin verb “to open.” 95  Besides “degenerating” Peter probably also implies “failing to generate offspring.” 96  Plowing the shore and washing a mudbrick were proverbial illustrations of futile activity.

178 Notes  The dominant meaning of Venus here appears to be “sex.”  See note 96 above. 99  Peter plays with the meanings of urina, which can mean either “urine” or “semen,” and of consulere, which with an accusative can mean “consider, deliberate on,” and with a dative, “to be mindful of.” 100  Humoral theory, the dominant medical theory at the time, held that most illnesses were due to some imbalance of the four bodily humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. 101  Besides the straightforward meaning, Peter may be suggesting that adhering to the Greek injunction “Know thyself” is more effective than resorting to medical advice. 102  Rhythmical pattern: Sequence: 1ab: 4×6pp, 2×(4pp+4pp, 7p); 2ab: 4p+4pp, 2×(7pp, 4pp, 7p). The author is Peter of Blois (canonist). This poem was probably written for performance on the Feast of the Holy Innocents (December 28). 103  The opening line quotes the first two words of Psalm 112(113), read as the fourth psalm of Vespers on Sundays and major feast days. 104  The boy, of course, is Christ. 105  Compare expurgate vetus fermentum (“clean out the old yeast”) at 1 Corinthians 5:7. In preparation for Passover, observant Jews are expected to clean out foodstuffs with leaven in them. 106  Line 5 probably inspired the line dum puer es, ad valorem properes at 5.4.3–4 by the poet of poems 1–8. 107  We are grateful to Peter Stotz for pointing out that medieval scholars tended to link the word puer (“boy”) etymologically with purus (“pure”); see for example, Isidore, Origines 11.2.10: puer a puritate vocatus, quia purus est. Accordingly, the epithet is probably purus rather than innocens. 108  As explained in the note above, the significance of the name is purus (“pure”). Compare 7.3.3, where the concern is also the substance behind the name. 109  For vel in the sense of “at least,” see DMLBS, s.v. vel, 7. 110  There is a surprisingly modern feel to these perceptions, suggesting an author who saw a lot of interaction among boys, probably a teacher. Peter of Blois, the letter-writer, addresses his namesake (the canonist) as his teacher in the salutation of letter 77; see Traill, “Disentangling” (2018), 600. 111  Both Bischoff (“Vagantenlieder” [1931], 95) and Spanke (“Review” [1931], 376) thought that the phrase grex virginum implied a convent of nuns. However, from late antiquity virgo could denote a virginal male, and in the Middle Ages this usage became more common; see Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), s.v. virgo, IIb; Blaise, Dictionnaire (1954), s.v. virgo, I.3; and DMLBS, s.v. virgo, 2b. The virgins are the pueri of 1a.1. 112  Although the Vulgate has sicut modo geniti at 1 Peter 2:2, the introit for the Sunday after Easter (Quasimodo Sunday) has quasi modo geniti, as does Walter of Châtillion, Shorter Poems (2013), 60. 113  The infant of renown is Christ. 114  Compare Isaiah 9:6: “For a child has been born to us, a son is given to us; he will bear the symbol of dominion on his shoulder; and his title will be: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty Hero, Eternal Father (Pater futuri saeculi), Prince of Peace.” 115  Probably a reference to the fact that the reckoning of years of the modern era dates from Christ’s birth. Taken together, the last two lines of this stanza allude to Revelation 1:8: Ego sum alpha et omega, principium et finis, dicit Dominus Deus: qui est, et qui erat, et qui venturus est, omnipotens (“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”). 116  Praesul in classical Latin denoted the dancer at the head of a procession; in late antiquity it came to denote a guardian or a high-ranking ecclesiastic, especially a bishop. At John 1:29 Christ was hailed by John the Baptist as agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”) and at John 10:11 Christ says, Ego sum pastor bonus (“I am the good shepherd”); at Matthew 19:14 he says: sinite parvulos … venire ad me (“let the little children come to me”). Compare also 1 Peter 2:25. 97 98



Notes179

117  Rhythmical patterns for the sequence: 1ab: 7pp, 6p, 4p, 3pp, 7pp, 2×(5pp, 3p), 7pp. For the refrain: 2×6p, 2×(4pp, 8pp); 2ab: 2×(8pp, 4pp, 8pp, 7p); 3ab: 3×7p, 6×8pp, 4p. The author is Peter of Blois (canonist). 118  In Latin Venus can refer to the goddess, a woman the poet finds attractive, a courtesan, or sexual activity. In the first stanza, he appears to be addressing the goddess, but in the refrain and subsequent stanzas he is clearly thinking of his girlfriend, apparently a courtesan. 119  On dediscat see note 121 below. 120  For the play with the two verbs venire (venio and veneo) compare note 83 above. 121  The invention of de- compounds to give the sense of undoing or reversing the normal sense of a given root was a fashionable conceit of twelfth-century poetry; so debeat (from debeare) means the reverse of beare (“enrich, make happy”). It can rhyme with debeat (Ref. 5) because that is a form of debere. Unlike the similar play with venio and veneo or with gratus -a -um and gratis, this particular play is unusual and probably original here, for debeare is an invented word. 122  Malae fidei is genitive of description. 123  Servitus can mean “servitude” as well as “service.” 124  Laertes was the father of Odysseus. In Odyssey 10 Homer tells how Odysseus and his men arrived at the island of Circe, daughter of the Sun, where she turned some of his men into pigs. With the help of the magic herb, moly, Odysseus resisted Circe’s machinations, succeeded in sleeping with her safely, had his men turned from pigs back into men, enjoyed Circe’s hospitality for a year, and resumed his travels. This episode would have been known to Peter through Ovid’s Metamorphoses 14.223–319. 125  Compare The Arundel Lyrics, trans. McDonough (2010), 11.2.4: Amo quidem sed non amor (“I love but am not loved in return”), which was also written by Peter of Blois (canonist).

Indices Classical and Medieval Authors Aesop, 161 n. 2 Alcuin, 175 n. 56

Ovid, 6, 7, 161 n. 9, 163 n. 46, 165 nn. 74–5, 165 n. 87, 168 n. 132, 169 n. 9, 169 nn. 18–19, 169 n. 27, 169 n. 30, 170 n. 38, 179 n. 124

Baudri of Bourgueil, 7 Bede, 167 n. 118

Persius, 177 n. 91 Peters of Blois (the two), 2 n. 8, 178 n. 110 Peter of Blois (canonist), 2, 14–16, 177 n. 93, 178 n. 99, 178 n. 102, 179 n. 117 Peter Lombard, 176 n. 73 Phaedrus, 161 n. 2

Cato, 73 Claudian, 176 n. 72 Fulgentius, 161 n. 5 Godfrey of Reims, 12, 170 n. 36

Virgil, 164 n. 65, 165 n. 79, 166 n. 97, 167 n. 118

Horace, 161 n. 8, 167 n. 116

Walter of Châtillon, 2, 14–16, 173 n. 30, 176 n. 66, 177 n. 77, 177 n. 81, 177 n. 92, 178 n. 112 Wido of Ivrea (Versus Eporedienses), 12, 169 n. 22

Isidore, 178 n. 107 Martianus Capella, 164 n. 70

Modern Authors Bischoff, Bernhard, 2, 4 n. 11, 14, 154, 175 n. 54, 177 n. 92, 178 n. 111 Blaise, Albert, 169 n. 28 Bourgain, Pascale, 11–12 Broecker, Elmar, 170 n. 36 Columbas, G.M., 13 Dronke, Peter, 1, 2, 4–6, 8, 11, 166 n. 101, 167 n. 124, 169 n. 23, 170 n. 50, 171 n. 56 Ebel, Anke, 4, 6 n. 21 Elliott, Alison, 12, 169 n. 11 Evergates, Theodore, 176 n. 66 Gildersleeve, Basil Lanneau, 169 n. 29, 171 n. 56

Holder-Egger, Oswald, 9 n. 33 Jaffé, Philipp, 171 n. 56 Krefeld, Heinrich, 164 n. 66 Kretschmer, Marek, 12, 169 n. 22 Kuefler, Matthew, 175 n. 46 Kühner, Raphael, 171 n. 56 Latzke, Therese, 171 n. 56 Lepinois, Eugène de, 174 n. 44 Lodge, Gonzalez, 169 n. 29, 171 n. 56 McDonough, Christopher, 179 n. 125 Merlet, Lucien, 174 n. 44 Moralejo, José Luis, 11–12, 169 n. 16

182 Indices Newman, Barbara, 1, 4, 6, 9, 161 n. 12, 163 n. 43, 163 n. 53, 164 n. 59, 166 n. 98, 166 n. 110, 167 n. 121, 168 n. 131, 168 n. 135, 168 n. 142 Nicolau d’Olwer, Luis, 10 Norberg, Dag, 3, 170 n. 51 Paravicini, Anke, 1, 4–6, 8–9; 161 n. 12, 161 n. 14, 162 n. 20, 162 nn. 22–3, 162 n. 26, 163 n. 43, 163 n. 53–5, 164 n. 59, 164 n. 69, 166 n. 94, 166 n. 98–9, 166 n. 101, 166 n. 105, 166 n. 110, 167 nn. 121–2, 167 n. 125, 167 n. 127, 168 nn. 130–1, 168 nn. 133–5, 168 nn. 137–9, 168 nn. 141–2 Poull, Georges, 172 n. 11

Robinson, Ian Stuart, 9 n. 32, 162 n. 37, 165 n. 81, 167 n. 123 Schaller, Dieter, 8 Somerville, Robert, 172 n. 64 Spanke, Hans, 14, 176 n. 65, 178 n. 111 Stegmann, Carl, 171 n. 56 Stotz, Peter, 178 n. 107 Tilliette, Jean-Yves, 169 n. 22 Traill, David, 171, 172 n. 11, 178 n. 110 Watenphul, Heinrich, 164 n. 66 Wattenbach, Wilhelm, 4, 6, 8, 166 n. 101 Werner, Jakob, 170 n. 51

Subjects Agnes of Champagne, 170 n. 35 animals ape, 27 chimera (lion, goat, serpent), 25, 27 dogs (hounds), 67 fox, 25, 27 lambs, 57 sheep, 111 snakes, 143 Sphinx 27 wolf, 57, 109 antipopes (Victor IV, Paschal II, and Callixtus III), 171 biblical quotations/allusions, 163 n. 42 (Acts 8:19), 166 n. 93 (Matthew 7:24–27), 166 n. 102 (Ecclesiastes 10:16), 172 n. 3 (Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45), 172 n. 4 (Hebrews 4:15), 173 n. 24 (Psalm 72(73):9), 173 n. 25 (John 20:16), 173 n. 26 (2 Kings 5:1–27 and Acts 8:9–19), 175 n. 52 (Matthew 21:16), 175 n. 53 (1 Corinthians 2:4), 175 n. 55 (Sirach 15:9), 175 n. 58 (Matthew 2:18), 175 n. 60 (Psalm 5:11), 176 n. 75 (Psalm 118(119):136), 177 n. 79 (Matthew 22:40), 177 n. 87 (1 Corinthians 7:9), 177 n. 88 (1 Corinthians 7:2), 177 n. 90 (Romans

13:12), 178 n. 105 (1 Corinthians 5:7), 178 n. 112 (1 Peter 2:2), 178 n. 114 (Isaiah 9:6), 178 n. 115 (Revelation 1:8), 178 n. 116 (John 1:29, John 10:11, Matthew 19:14, and 1 Peter 2:25) birds blackbird, 67 crow 45, 61 raven, 168 n. 132 boy-bishop, 8, 15, 16, 117 cardinals, 173 n. 30 catamite, 131, 174 n. 46 Cato, 73, 169 n. 16 Chartres, 1, 2, 3, 14, 16, 127, 173 n. 26, 174 n. 38 chapel, old, 31 Christ 31, 35, 39 (“Lord, Master”), 53, 103, 133, 135, 177 n. 81, 177 n. 85, 178 n. 104, 178 n. 111 Daniel, 133, 175 n. 51 descriptio puellae, 71, 75, 87, 89, 91, 97 dream, 79 Elisha 173 n. 26 Epicurus 139, 177 n. 76



Indices183

feast of fools, 1, 14, 172 n. 5, 174 n. 39 Feast of the Innocents, 175 n. 50, 175 n. 54, 175 n. 57 Flora, 77 Frederick Barbarossa, 176 n. 66 fish eels, 37

Henry IV (king of Germany), 33, 51, 65, 162 n. 37, 165 n. 81, 166 nn. 100–01 Henry V (king of Germany), 53 (foolish boy), 165 n. 81, 166 n. 101 Henry the Liberal (count of Champagne), 176 n. 66 Hugo, Lord, 59, 167 n. 123

Gauchlin, 15, 16, 117, 131, 172 n. 5, 172 n. 10, 175 n. 48 Gehazi, 125, 173 n. 26 gifts garlic and vase, 3 gold, cloaks, purple clothes, gray leather, hides, 81 writing tablets and poem, 164 n. 69 God (Lord), 51, 59, 73, 95, 109, 121, 123, 133, 135, 137, 173 n. 29 gods Apollo (Phoebus), 47, 51, 165 n. 75 Athena (Pallas/Minerva/Tritonia), 37, 43, 45, 61, 63 Ceres, 149 Cupid (Love), 47, 49 (“boy”), 53 (“boy”), 67, 69, 71, 81, 87, 99, 103 Cynthia (Diana), 33, 61, 67, 89, 107, 162 n. 37 Fortune, 63, 121 Graces (Euprophone, Eugyale, Pasithea), 43, 164 n. 70 Hymen, 25 Jupiter, 47 Mars, 107 Mercury, 35, 41, 43, 45, 63, 65 Muses, 47 (Calliope and Clio), 51 (Calliope), 59, 61, 65, 103, 133, 168 n. 139 Pasithea (goddess for all), 43 Proteus, 177 n. 82 Venus (Cytherean), 47, 67, 69, 72, 73, 75, 76, 77, 81, 83, 86, 87, 88, 89, 99, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 140, 141, 149, 155, 157, 169 n. 7 grace (divine), 173 n. 27, 173 n. 29

John of Salisbury, 174 n. 39 Judas, 146 Judea, 146 judge, 117 Judith, 169 n. 11

harp, 61 hell, 121 hendiadys, 173 n. 14

Louis VII, 176 n. 6 Manasses (bishop of Orléans), 177 n. 92 Mary Magdalene, 175 n. 25 “Mercury’s flower” (moly or, allegorically, eloquence), 163 n. 40 metonymy, 174 n.41 misogynistic poem, 170 n. 51 mythological figures, creatures, and features Aeolus, 45 Bellerophon, 65 Hercules, 63 Hydra, 123 Laertes, 157, 179 n. 124 Marsyas, 43, 45, 165 n. 75 Medusa, 57 Lethe, 91 Orpheus, 43, 45, 165 n. 74 phoenix, 179 n. 39 names of girlfriends Judith, 71 Guilibergis, 93 names of students/others Bertha, 29 Emma 31, 41 nuns as brides of Christ, 39 senior, 48 nymphs (non-human), etc. Deiopeia, 45 Eugyale, 43 Pasithea, 43

184 Indices Hesperides, 63 referring to mortal women, 57

puns demoniacal, 33 Testes, 177 n. 91

pact (lovers’), 37, 39, 47, 57, 65 paradise, 121 Rachel, 135 Paul (apostle), 145, 177 nn. 87–8 Rainald of Dassel, 171 personifications Reginald II (count of Bar, 1150–70), 170 n. 35 Honor, 37 Reginald of Bar (later bishop of Chartres, Propriety, 47 1182/3–1217), 170 n. 35, 172 n. 11, 173 Philology, 43 n. 36, 174 n. 39, 174 nn. 42–6 Virtue, 35, 39, 47 route, ablative of, 171 n. 56 Peter of Tuscany (bishop of Pavia), 171, 172 n. 64 satire, 115 philosophers, 49 simony, 173 n. 23, 173 n. 26 physician, 151 Sirus (anti-bishop of Pavia), 171 place names “slave” jibe, 55 Bar (town and county in France), 172 n. 9, springs (hot), 43, 47, 164 n. 72 172 n. 11 Liège, 47, 165 n. 86, 166 n. 100 Theobald V (count of Blois), 17 Metz, 111 Thierry of Bar (anti-bishop of Metz), 172 Pavia, 109, 171 Regensburg, 164 n. s60 Versus Eporedienses, 169 n. 22 Remiremont, 107, 169 n. 11, 171 nn. 56–7 Vestal virgins, 27, 35 Reims, 172 n. 12 Rome 51, 164 n. 69 = 100,2Walter mm of Châtillon, 173 n. 30, 173 n. 35, 176 Philip Augustus (king of France), 172 n. 12 n. 66 Pontius Pilate, 145 n. 86, 177 n. 86 William of the White Hands (archbishop of Paschal II (pope), 165 n. 81 Reims and uncle of Reginald of Bar), 119, prostitute, 33, 162 n. 31 129, 172 n. 11, 174 n. 43 proverbs, 25, 175 n. 22 writing tablets, 35, 41

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