The luminous, famous and enigmatic The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are timelss objects at the center of heated scholarly discussion. There are six tapestries, created circa 1480-1500 (figures 1 – 6), and were commissioned by the le Viste family of Lyon, whose heraldic arms appear in each tapestry. This paper seeks to connect the tapestries conceptually to contemporary courtly, feminine ideals, the image of woman in late fifteenth-century Paris, and most importantly to Christine de Pizan's writings, particularly City of Ladies and The Treasury of the City of Ladies, both written in 1405. Through her texts, Christine de Pizan (1363 – 1434) created a noble, dignified image of women that may have influenced the way viewers were intended to perceive The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. While recent scholarly studies have connected the tapestries to contemporary texts, there has not been a discussion regarding Christine de Pizan's influential writings, their surrounding discourse, or the image of a woman as the visual embodiment of the le Viste family in connection to the tapestries. Specific passages in Christine's texts resemble motifs, objects, and underlying messages in The Lady and the Unicorn. While Christine's works may not have been the direct inspiration for the tapestries, both are a part of the visual and textual make-up of the abstracted feminine ideals that were circulating in Paris and France at large in the fifteenth century. The Lady and the Unicorn may also have had a didactic purpose similar to Christine's Treasury of the City of Ladies, displaying for the le Viste daughters through a visual medium the attributes of the ideal maiden. Exploring the cultural context in which The Lady and the Unicorn was created, specifically as it relates to women in society, the upper class, expectations for young maidens, visual and written moral messages for women and their artistic manifestations provides a new understanding of these exceptional tapestries.

L’engouement du Moyen-Âge pour le mythe troyen se traduit tout particulièrement à travers sa figure centrale, Hector. Benoît de Sainte-Maure, qui s’appuie sur la tradition homérique telle que l’a transmise la littérature latine tardive (Ilias latina, Éphéméride de la guerre de Troie de Dictys de Crète, Histoire de la destruction de Troie de Darès le Phrygien), fait du fils de Priam le héros incontesté de son œuvre, le Roman de Troie, et glorifie les exploits de ce guerrier à la prouesse exemplaire. Ce texte constitue le jalon majeur de la construction du mythe d’Hector à l’époque médiévale, dont témoignent les réécritures en prose ou en vers, même si, parallèlement, l’histoire de Troie continue d’être transmise par le texte latin de Darès ou sa traduction. À ces deux traditions s’ajoute celle qui naît de l’œuvre de l’Italien Guido delle Colonne, l’Historia destructionis Troiae, réécriture latine du roman de Benoît au XIIIe siècle. Cependant la notoriété de la figure d’Hector s’exprime aussi dans des œuvres où le personnage tend à se dissocier du destin de sa cité et apparaît seul ou associé à d’autres héros, troyens ou non, pour servir de référence en terme de bravoure, ce qui lui vaut de figurer parmi les Neuf Preux. C’est pourquoi le personnage va continuer d’évoluer indépendamment du roman de Benoît et de ses réécritures directes, ce qui se perçoit aussi bien dans la chanson de geste que dans les récits arthuriens. Les valeurs qu’il incarne intéressent aussi bien l’auteur de l’Ovide moralisé que Christine de Pizan. Figure exemplaire, presque archétypale, Hector est aussi un personnage protéiforme dont l’histoire ne cesse d’être réécrite par la tradition médiévale. / In the Middle Ages, the interest in the Trojan myth focuses particularly on its main character, Hector.Using the Homeric tradition inherited from the late Latin literature ( Ilias latina, Ephemeridos belli troiani by Dictys of Crete, De Excidio Troiae historia by Dares the Phrygian) as a basis to his work, Benoît de Sainte Maure makes Priam’s son the uncontested hero of his novel, The Roman de Troie, in which he praises the feats of this exceptional warrior.This text greatly contributes to the construction of Hector’s myth during the Middle Ages, as shown by its rewritings in prose or verse, although the story of Troy was also transmitted via Dares’ Latin text or its translation.In addition to these two traditions, another one appeared in the 13th century with the Italian Guido delle Colonne whose Historia Destructionis Troiae is a Latin rewriting of Benoît’s novel.However, Hector’s fame also asserts itself in other works in which the character tends to dissociate himself from his city’s destiny and appears alone or associated to other heroes, Trojan or not, to serve as a reference in terms of bravery, which earned him his place among the Nine Worthies.That is why this character continues to evolve independently from Benoit’s novel and its rewritings, as can be seen through epic poetry and Arthurian tales.Both Christine de Pizan and the author of Ovide moralisé take an interest in the values he embodies.Hector is a model, almost an archetypal figure as well as a character whose story never ceased being rewritten by Medieval tradition.

Ce travail sur l’iconographie de Fortune au Moyen Âge et à la Renaissance se base sur un corpus de plus d’un millier d’images dont seul un tiers y est reproduit. L'enquête commence par une nécessaire étude lexicographique qui permet de mieux cerner les sens du mot latin « fortuna » ainsi que ceux du mot français « fortune » entre le xie et le xvie siècle. Une seconde partie s’intéresse au motif iconographique de la Roue de Fortune médiévale – i.e. cette roue sur le pourtour de laquelle prennent place des personnages dont le premier monte, les second trône, le troisième tombe et le dernier gît à terre –, depuis sa genèse dans un manuscrit bénéventain datant des années 1060-1070 jusqu’à sa diffusion sur toutes sortes de supports (peinture murale, sculpture monumentale, mosaïque, etc.) ainsi qu’aux différents usages de ce motif (didactiques, emblématiques, divinatoires). Une troisième partie recense les nombreuses variantes que génère au fil des siècles ce très fécond motif : Roue de la Vie, Roues animales satiriques, Roue des Vicissitudes de l’Humanité, etc. Une quatrième partie étudie la personnification de Fortune qui apparaît au xiie siècle, tant dans les images que dans les textes, avant de devenir l’une des vedettes de l’iconographie de la fin du Moyen Âge, la figure de Fortune se retrouvant dans d’innombrables manuscrits de Boèce, Jean de Meun, Boccace ou Christine de Pizan. La cinquième et dernière partie est consacrée à la mutation que connaît Fortune à la Renaissance, mutation qui la voit changer tant de forme que de fonction, l’aveugle et duplice déesse du sort abandonnant alors sa fonction didactique – et la roue d’exemples qui va avec – pour devenir une accorte jeune femme nue à la mèche de cheveux flottant au vent dont la fonction est propitiatoire et l’usage emblématique. / This work on the iconography of Fortune in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is based on more than one thousand images of which only one third is reproduced in the document. The study begins with a lexicographical study aiming at better understanding the various meanings of the Latin word « fortuna » and the French word « fortune » from the xith to the xvith centuries. The second section addresses the iconographical pattern of the mediaeval Wheel of Fortune – i.e. that wheel where four human beings occupy different positions on the rim: the first ascends, the second is enthroned, the third falls and the fourth lays on the ground – from its inception in a 1060-1070 Beneventan manuscript to its diffusion to various media (mural painting, monumental sculpture, mosaic, etc.) as well as its different uses (didactic, emblematic, divinatory). The third section identifies the numerous variations that this fertile pattern has generated over the centuries: Wheel of Life, satirical animal Wheels, Wheel of Vicissitudes of Humanity, etc. The fourth section studies the personification of Fortune which appears in the xiith century before becoming a star of late mediaeval iconography, her figure gracing innumerable manuscripts of Boethius, Jean de Meun, Giovanni Boccaccio or Christine de Pizan. The fifth and final section is devoted to Fortune’s mutation during the Renaissance: changing both form and function, the blind and treacherous goddess of fate gives up her didactic function – and the wheel of examples that comes with it – and becomes a beautiful naked woman with a forelock whose function is propitiatory and use emblematic.

Darstellungen der Planeten und ihrer Kinder gehörten zu den ersten paganen Bildern, die im Spätmittelalter produziert und rezipiert wurden. Während der rund 200 Jahre ihres hauptsächlichen Auftretens, bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts, erreichten sie eine enorme Popularität. Im Weltbild des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit war jeder Mensch von dem Gestirn geprägt, unter dessen Einfluss er geboren wurde. Dieser Planet bestimmte, wie man körperlich und charakterlich beschaffen war, welchen Beruf man ausübte und welche gesellschaftliche Stellung man erwarten durfte. Der Geburtsmoment sorgte für eine lebenslange, familiäre Verbindung zum Gestirn, man wurde quasi zu dessen Kind. Die Macht der Sterne zeichnet die Entwicklung von der ersten Erwähnung der Planetenkinder in Schriftquellen, über die Herausbildung eines relativ stabilen ikonografischen Kanons in verschiedenen Medien, funktionsgebundene Variationen bis zum Aufgehen in anderen Bildgattungen nach. Die zumeist siebenteiligen Zyklen stellen sich als Teil eines weit ausgebauten Beziehungsgefüges und Verweissystems dar, in dem sich das jeweilige gesellschaftliche Bild der Zeit spiegelt. Die Darstellungen dokumentieren zudem zentrale Entwicklungen des individuellen Denkens bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts. Sie zeigen, wie das jeweils aktuelle kosmologische Verständnis und Wissen einem breiten Publikum durch Bilder vermittelt werden konnte, wie dies mit dem religiösen Leben vereinbar war oder sich im Alltag niederschlug. Planetenkinder-Darstellungen hatten im Verlauf ihrer Geschichte vielfältige Funktionen. In ihnen manifestierte sich die Vorstellung einer Einheit der Dinge in zahlreichen Analogien. Gezielt eingesetzt wurden die Bilder zur Markierung sozialer Aufstiege, politischer Interessen und der Reklamation von Machtansprüchen sowie der Repräsentation von Einfluss bzw. Verherrlichung von Auftraggebern. Die Bilder zeigen philosophische Diskurse auf, verweisen auf konkrete historische Ereignisse und bewerten diese. / Representations of the planets and their children were among the first pagan images to be produced and adopted in the late Middle Ages. During the circa 200 years in which they mainly appeared, up until the end of the sixteenth century, they became enormously popular. In the worldview of the Middle Ages and early modern era, every person was believed to be influenced by the celestial body under whose influence they were born. This planet determined one’s physical appearance and character, one’s profession, and the social standing one could expect. The moment of birth ensured the continuation of a life-long, familiar connection to this celestial body, and a person was effectively considered its “child”. Die Macht der Sterne traces these developments from the first written references to the children of the planets, through to the emergence of a relatively stable iconographical canon in various media, variations in terms of function, as well as their appearance in other pictorial genres. These cycles, usually consisting of seven parts, presented themselves as part of a highly elaborate relational structure and system of references which reflected the current social worldview. The images also document key developments in individual thought up until the end of the sixteenth century. They show how the prevailing understanding of the cosmos and knowledge could be communicated to a wide audience by means of imagery, how this was reconciled with religious life, and how it was reflected in everyday life. Over the course of their history, images of the children of the planets served a variety of functions. By means of a number of analogies they illustrated the notion of the unity of all things. These images were also consciously employed to underscore social advancement, political interests, and the reassertion of claims to power as well as representations of influence or the glorification of patrons. These depictions also highlight philosophical discourses and refer to concrete historical events while offering evaluations of these phenomena.

This study considers Thomas Hoccleve’s role, throughout his works, as a “religious” writer: as an individual who engages seriously with the dynamics of heresy and ecclesiastical reform, who contributes to traditions of vernacular devotional writing, and who raises the question of how Christianity manifests on personal as well as political levels – and in environments that are at once London-based, national, and international. The chapters focus, respectively, on the role of reading and moralization in the Series; the language of “vice and virtue” in the Epistle of Cupid; the moral version of Chaucer introduced in the Regiment of Princes; the construction of the Hoccleve persona in the Regiment; and the representation of the Eucharist throughout Hoccleve’s works. One main focus of the study is Hoccleve’s mediating influence in presenting a moral version of Chaucer in his Regiment. This study argues that Hoccleve’s Chaucer is not a pre-established artifact, but rather a Hocclevian invention, and it indicates the transnational literary, political, and religious contexts that align in Hoccleve’s presentation of his poetic predecessor. Rather than posit the Hoccleve-Chaucer relationship as one of Oedipal anxiety, as other critics have done, this study indicates the way in which Hoccleve’s Chaucer evolves in response to poetic anxiety not towards Chaucer himself, but rather towards an increasingly restrictive intellectual and ecclesiastical climate. This thesis contributes to the recently revitalized critical dialogue surrounding the role and function of fifteenth-century English literature, and the effect on poetry of heresy, the church’s response to heresy, and ecclesiastical reform both in England and in Europe. It also advances critical narratives regarding Hoccleve’s response to contemporary French poetry; the role of confession, sacramental discourse, and devotional images in Hoccleve’s work; and Hoccleve’s impact on literary tradition.