The Construction of Historical Reality in Jean Froissart's Chronicles Jean Froissart, one of the most famous chroniclers of the Middle Ages, is generally recognized for the literary qualities of his work, less so for the credibility of his account. In my research I have endeavoured to follow those scholars whose aim has been to rehabilitate the author by studying him not on the basis of principles which govern our contemporary understanding of history as an academic discipline, but rather on the basis of conceptual movements which conditioned historical writing in the 14th century, taking into account the traditions upon which medieval conception of history was built. Put differently, this work seeks to examine closely the "historical forge" of Jean Froissart. Clearly, Froissart's historical project falls within a specific discourse on historical genres, on relationships between form and truth which an account of deeds is expected to convey, on the manner in which the authority of a story being told is constructed. It is on the very intersection of this context, on the one hand, and the individuality of the author, on the other, that I based my search for the chronicler's perspectives on the writing of history. Froissart was from the outset concerned with the issues of impartiality and credibility...

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This thesis will posit that a query of the medieval trope, Fortune, can be read as a query into femininity. Fortune is depicted with many quintessentially medieval feminine traits, and women in texts that discuss Fortune often have Fortune's traits. While texts that link Fortune and femininity usually do so to censure women, some writers turned the trope to their advantage for just the opposite purpose. Both Chaucer in the "Monk's Tale" and Christine de Pizan personify Fortune to subtly point out the flaws in antifeminist medieval view of women. This thesis explores the ways in which these writers cleverly took advantage of genre and characterization to use Fortune to defend women and womanhood.

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本篇碩士論文的寫作目的在於用系統化的方法來分析距今六百二十多年前傑福瑞．喬塞的«眾鳥之會»一詩中對於自然的這個概念的三種不同層面的透視觀點 本詩在文本的分類上屬於夢幻愛情詩 乃是詩人藉著夢境來傳達愛情的神秘和象徵的意涵 本文中所謂自然的觀點就是指人類如何理解及認知這個外在自然的世界 身為自然的一份子 人類觀察了外界環境並企圖要了解這個世界 這樣的認知包含了神話 傳奇 及古典時期的學術研究 在文學的世界中 詩人在文本中創造了一個奇幻的世界 由奇異的時空 充滿想像力的動植物的再現 以及富有愛與性的原始力量的自然神祇 這是人文主義式的世界架構 而其世界的中心乃是人類 而不是遙不可及的上帝 詩中人感受並享受著自然的美好 同時 他也察覺到自己和這個世界的存在 透過他的觀察 在文本中投射出一個他對於一個系統化層級分明的理想世界 在西洋中古時期的文學之中 對於自然的理解和感受的表達的確是個相對稀有的一個現像 所以本詩值得我們更深入的檢視與研究 本篇論文分為五大部份 第一章是序言 簡述作者生平 文本背景 歷代學者的研究心得 和本論文研究的主旨 第二章討論夢境中時間與空間的結構 分析夢境文學中常見的時間跳躍的現像 和對於中古花園的空間設計 第三章討論花園中的植物圈和動物圈 喬塞安置了許多種的動植物在花園中 這些草木鳥獸反映了中古時期的自然史和許多被他所引用的文獻 這些動植物都被賦與象徵性的意義 在第四章中 分析在黃銅神殿裡外的羅馬神祇 一有七個不同的神出現 直接或間接地提到 他們有愛與性的影響力 而性與愛使得自然中的生物得以生生不息 第五章是結論 整篇論文以 “自然之愛” 和 “愛的天性” 作結 / The objective of this thesis is to analyze the three perspectives of nature in this poem. By definition, “perspective” means the way that objects appear smaller when they are further away and the way parallel lines appear to meet each other at a point in the distance. It, in the level of thought, means a particular way of considering something. In other words, it means a point of view. The perspective of nature is the way how human beings perceive the natural world. Human beings, as members of the whole nature, observe the environment and try to understand the world. Ancient people did not rely on science entirely; they used their cognition and imagination to form their knowledge of the world. It is mixed with mythology, folklore, legend, and classical academics. In literature, the writers create a world, which is full of nature deities, imaginative animals and plants in the fantastic space and time. This is a humanistic way to recognize the world whose center is man, not an abstract and remote God. In this poem, the persona perceives and enjoys nature. He senses the existence of himself and nature. Through his senses, he projects a model of the world by setting nature deities, plants and animals in the methodized nature. It is rather a comparatively rare phenomenon in mediaeval literature. Even the persona of mediaeval literature is surrounded by nature, the writers are never or seldom aware of this fact. The writers and readers of mediaeval literature do not seem to care about much the beauty and pleasure of nature. The thesis is divided into five parts. Chapter One is the introduction. Chapter Two discusses the structure of time and space. It will convey the concept of time and the design of the garden in the dream vision. Chapter Three discusses Flora and Fauna in the garden. Chaucer settles many kinds of plants and animals in the garden according to his knowledge from many sources. The plants and animals have symbolic meanings. The data shows us the cognition of nature people in the Middle Ages had. Chapter Four analyzes the Roman deities outside and inside the brass temple. There are seven gods and goddess of fertility in the background of the dream vision. All of them share the attributes of love and sex. They are divinized drives of live and the origin of the nature. Chapter Five is the conclusion.

Jean Froissart’s Chroniques, composed of four Books, relate the first stages of the Anglo-French conflict later known as the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). This thesis explores Froissart’s textual journey(s) to Gascon lands (south-west of modern-day France) and history/stories. Relying on Gérard Genette’s and Mikhail Bakhtin’s narrative theories, it uses literary and narratological tools to analyse three passages from Book I and III concerned with Gascony: the Earl of Derby’s Gascon campaigns (Chapter 1); the Black Prince’s Gascon campaigns and the principality of Aquitaine (Chapter 2); Froissart’s personal journey to and stay at the court of Gaston Fébus, count of Foix-Béarn (Chapter 3). One aim of the study is to investigate the representation of the region but it also argues that the Gascon passages have wider implications for the Chroniques, Froissart’s work as a whole, and the writing of history in the fourteenth century. At the turn of the twentieth century, Froissart’s ‘history’ was often disparagingly discussed by scholars due to factual inaccuracy and literary embellishments: such a ‘historical narrative’, it was felt, fell short of history and was nothing more than an entertaining story presenting outdated chivalric ideals. Although this approach has been partly revised, some critics still view the Chroniques’ earlier Books as being a narratively straightforward reflection of such a chivalric ideology, lacking critical hindsight on fourteenth-century events and society, and thus presenting paradoxical and irreconcilable tensions with later Books to the extent that they are occasionally deemed to be an entirely different kind of work than their later counterparts. The narrative thread of Froissart’s Gascon (hi)story explored here allows the revision of such views and shows that Froissart’s narrative is far from narratively and ideologically straightforward. This complexity is present as early as the first versions of the Book I, which should be envisaged in parallel, not in opposition, with the ‘later’ Chroniques. Similarly, the various tensions (e.g. fiction/history; ideal/real) underpinning the whole work, manifested in the portrayal of Gascony/the Gascons, are best approached in terms of co-existence, not antagonism. Such a multi-faceted work (a mirror and/or product of the fourteenth century?), à mi-chemin between history and fiction, between conflicting yet co-existing perspectives, is precisely what makes Froissart’s Chroniques valuable to literary critics, philologists, and historians alike.

This dissertation offers the first systematic historical contextualization and literary analysis of the five saints' lives composed by Philotheos Kokkinos (ca. 1300-1378) for his contemporaries Nikodemos the Younger, Sabas the Younger, Isidore Boucheir, Germanos Maroules, and Gregory Palamas. Notwithstanding Kokkinos' prominent role in the political and ecclesiastical scene of fourteenth-century Byzantium, as well as the size and significance of his hagiographic oeuvre, both the hagiographer and his saints' lives have received surprisingly little scholarly attention. My dissertation fills this gap and shows Kokkinos as a gifted hagiographer who played a leading role, both through his ecclesiastical authority and hagiographic discourse, in orchestrating the societal breakthrough of hesychast theology that has remained at the core of Christian Orthodoxy up to this day. The dissertation is structured in three parts. The first, Philotheos Kokkinos and His OEuvre, offers an extensive biographical portrait of Kokkinos, introduces his literary oeuvre, and discusses its manuscript tradition. A thorough palaeographical investigation of fourteenth-century codices carrying his writings reveals Kokkinos' active involvement in the process of copying, reviewing, and publishing his own works. This section includes an analysis of the 'author's edition' manuscript Marcianus graecus 582, and presents its unusual fate. Moreover, Part I establishes the chronology of Kokkinos' vitae of contemporary saints and offers biographical sketches of his heroes, highlighting their relationship to their hagiographer. The second part, Narratological Analysis of Kokkinos' Vitae of Contemporary Saints, constitutes the first comprehensive analysis of Kokkinos' narrative technique. It first discusses the types of hagiographic composition ('hagiographic genre') Kokkinos employed for his saints' lives (hypomnema, bios kai politeia, and logos), and then it offers a detailed investigation that sheds light on the organization of the narrative in Kokkinos' vitae and his use of specific narrative devices. This includes a discussion of hesychastic elements couched in the narrative. Part II concludes with considerations on Kokkinos' style and intended audience. The third part, Saints and Society, begins with a detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of the miracle accounts Kokkinos wove in his saints' lives. This considers the miracle typology, types of afflictions, methods of healing, and the demographic characteristics of the beneficiaries (such as age, gender, and social status), revealing that Kokkinos shows a predilection for including miracles for members of the aristocracy. Second, it presents Kokkinos' view on the relationship between the imperial office and ecclesiastical authority by analysing how he portrays the emperor(s) in his vitae. Moreover, this part addresses the saints' encounters with the 'other' (Muslims and Latins), revealing Kokkinos' nuanced understanding of the threats and opportunities raised by these interactions. Finally, it makes the claim that through his saints' lives Kokkinos offers models of identification and refuge in the troubled social and political context of fourteenth-century Byzantium, promoting a spiritual revival of society. As my dissertation shows, Kokkinos' vitae of contemporary saints sought to shape and were shaped by the political and theological disputes of fourteenth-century Byzantium, especially those surrounding hesychasm. Their analysis offers insights into the thought-world of their author and sheds more light on the late-Byzantine religious and cultural context of their production. The dissertation is equipped with six technical appendices presenting the chronology of Kokkinos' life and works, the narrative structure of his vitae of contemporary saints, a critical edition of the preface of his hitherto unedited Logos on All Saints (BHG 1617g), a transcription of two hitherto unedited prayers Kokkinos addressed to the emperors, the content of Marc. gr. 582 and Kokkinos' autograph interventions, and manuscript plates.

Cette thèse s’intéresse aux collaborations et au partage du savoir entre intellectuels juifs et chrétiens, en France, durant les XIIIe et XIVe siècles et propose une analyse comparative des différents échanges, dans trois domaines distincts : théologie, philosophie et astronomie. En prenant en compte les sources latines et hébraïques qui témoignent de cette transmission du savoir, nous proposons une étude approfondie divisée en deux parties. La première s’intéresse à l’évolution de l’enseignement dans les communautés juives et dans la société chrétienne. La seconde analyse le contexte de rédaction des Extractiones de Talmut, la transmission du savoir entre Maïmonide et Thomas d’Aquin, la collaboration étroite entre Jacob ben Makhir et Armengaud Blaise, ainsi que l’échange intellectuel significatif entre Gersonide et ses confrères chrétiens. Notre objectif est de répondre aux questions suivantes : les savants chrétiens et juifs recevaient-ils l’information selon leur propre valeur intellectuelle, ne tenant pas compte de leur provenance ? Et existait-il une influence directe de l’un et de l’autre ? Cette étude tente ainsi de montrer les différents motifs de ces échanges à travers un champ contextuel constitué par un événement intellectuel précis. Nous verrons ainsi que ces relations vacillent entre méfiance et admiration. / This thesis sheds lights on collaborations and transfer of knowledge between Jewish and Christian scholars in France during the 13th and 14th centuries. We propose a comparative analysis of different exchanges, in three distinct areas: theological, philosophical and astronomical. Taking into account the Latin and Hebrew sources that testify this transmission of knowledge, we propose an in-depth study, dividing in two sections. The first part narrates the evolution of education in the Jewish communities and in Christian society. The second part analyses the context of the Extractiones de Talmut, the transmission of knowledge between Maimonides and Thomas Aquinas, the close collaboration between Jacob ben Makhir and Armengaud Blaise, as well as the significant intellectual exchange between Gersonides and his fellow Christians. Our objective is to answer the following questions: did Christian and Jewish scholars receive information according to their own intellectual value, ignoring their source? And was there a direct influence from one scholar towards the other? Thus, this study demonstrates the different motives of these exchanges through a contextual field constituted by a specific intellectual event. We will perceive that these relations vacillate between mistrust and admiration.

Cette étude porte sur un corpus de chroniques du XIVe siècle qui comprend les trois principaux textes historiographiques florentins en langue vulgaire de cette période – Cronica delle cose occorrenti ne’ tempi suoi de Dino Compagni, Nuova Cronica de Giovanni Villani et Cronaca fiorentina de Marchionne di Coppo Stefani – et se fixe pour objet l’analyse des principaux concepts employés pour décrire le fonctionnement de la cité et ses enjeux, ainsi que l’identification des sources présentes dans les chroniques. L’analyse prend en compte à la fois l’écriture du fait politique et la valeur de celui-ci dans l’élaboration du discours de la cité.Pour mettre en évidence ce qui transparaît des principaux rouages politiques de la cité, les textes du corpus sont abordés selon les trois axes suivants : les rapports entre cité et citoyens dans le contexte de l’affirmation de la souveraineté du Comune et en regard des notions d’unité et de division ; la question de la liberté à Florence, ses principes fondamentaux, ses formes et ses représentations, par opposition à la tyrannie ; les liens entre cité céleste et cité des hommes à partir de l’analyse de la réception des signes célestes et des notions de providence, fortune et libre arbitre. L’approche retenue s’arrête sur les enjeux et les représentations propres à chacun de ces axes.De cette analyse conceptuelle il ressort que les trois sources principales du discours de la cité sont les auteurs de l’Antiquité gréco-romaine, la théologie chrétienne et le droit. On trouve également des sources contemporaines des chroniqueurs : textes officiels et documents produits par la cité, auteurs de référence pour la période comme Dante Alighieri. / This study focuses on a corpus of chronicles of the Fourteenth century consisting in three main historiographical Florentine texts written in vernacular in this period, namely Cronica delle cose occorrenti ne’ tempi suoi by Dino Compagni, Nuova Cronica by Giovanni Villani and Cronaca fiorentina by Marchionne di Coppo Stefani. It aims at analyzing the principal concepts describing the running of the city and its stakes, as well as identifying the sources present in these chronicles. The analysis takes in account both the operation of writing the political experience and its value in elaborating the discourse on the city.To highlight what can be seen from the main aspects of political machinery in the city, the approach to the texts is threefold : the connections between city and citizens both in the context of the Comune’s increasing sovereignty and in the light of the concepts of unity and division ; the question of freedom in Florence, its fundamental principles, its forms and representations, in opposition to tyranny ; the links between the celestial city and the city of men based on the analysis of the reading of celestial omens and the concepts of Providence, Fortune and Free Will. The approach chosen concentrates on the stakes and representations peculiar to each of those subjects.From this conceptual analysis it emerges that the three main sources to the discourse on the city are the authors of Classical Antiquity, Christian Theology and Law. Contemporary sources of the chroniclers also can be found : official texts and documents produced by the city, noted authors in the period as, for instance, Dante Alighieri.