This dissertation regards the medieval French literary tradition’s presence in Northern Italy in the late Middle Ages. This phenomenon produced a corpus of texts copied or composed by Northern Italian scribes and authors in the French language. The Italian authors’ command of French verse was, in some cases, imperfect; in others, they consciously manipulated the French language for creative purposes. Whatever the case, what resulted was a body of work ostensibly written in French but with a distinctly Northern Italian flavour. Every work within this corpus presents unique linguistic features and a distinct blend of French and Northern Italian vernaculars. This cultural phenomenon, which is commonly referred to as “Franco-Italian,” was no doubt born from the linguistic proximity of the Northern Italian vernaculars to the languages of France in the late Middle Ages: absent an autochthonous Italian literary tradition, Northern Italian literati adapted the languages of France, which had already developed vernacular literary traditions, as a means for their own literary expression. Northern Italy constituted, in this sense, a peripheral region of a medieval “Francophonie.” This dissertation first surveys the nature and function of the Franco-Italian “language” and then presents a critical historiography of the scholarship surrounding the most important manuscript collection of French and Franco-Italian works in Italy, that of the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice. This includes a discussion of all known catalogues and inventories of the corpus dating back to 1407 and an analysis of two others, until now largely unstudied, that shed new light on the history of the collection. What follows is an investigation into one little-known manuscript in the collection, Codex XIV, which recounts the adventures of Beuve de Hanstone. Codex XIV is unique in the collection insofar as it was not written in the hybrid Franco-Italian idiom, rather a pure Old French; consequently, it has received little attention from scholars. This dissertation revisits the text and its importance in the study of the influence of French literature in medieval Italy. The dissertation concludes with a series of appendices that display and compare unpublished inventories of the collection that support the arguments advanced herein.

This dissertation regards the medieval French literary tradition’s presence in Northern Italy in the late Middle Ages. This phenomenon produced a corpus of texts copied or composed by Northern Italian scribes and authors in the French language. The Italian authors’ command of French verse was, in some cases, imperfect; in others, they consciously manipulated the French language for creative purposes. Whatever the case, what resulted was a body of work ostensibly written in French but with a distinctly Northern Italian flavour. Every work within this corpus presents unique linguistic features and a distinct blend of French and Northern Italian vernaculars. This cultural phenomenon, which is commonly referred to as “Franco-Italian,” was no doubt born from the linguistic proximity of the Northern Italian vernaculars to the languages of France in the late Middle Ages: absent an autochthonous Italian literary tradition, Northern Italian literati adapted the languages of France, which had already developed vernacular literary traditions, as a means for their own literary expression. Northern Italy constituted, in this sense, a peripheral region of a medieval “Francophonie.” This dissertation first surveys the nature and function of the Franco-Italian “language” and then presents a critical historiography of the scholarship surrounding the most important manuscript collection of French and Franco-Italian works in Italy, that of the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice. This includes a discussion of all known catalogues and inventories of the corpus dating back to 1407 and an analysis of two others, until now largely unstudied, that shed new light on the history of the collection. What follows is an investigation into one little-known manuscript in the collection, Codex XIV, which recounts the adventures of Beuve de Hanstone. Codex XIV is unique in the collection insofar as it was not written in the hybrid Franco-Italian idiom, rather a pure Old French; consequently, it has received little attention from scholars. This dissertation revisits the text and its importance in the study of the influence of French literature in medieval Italy. The dissertation concludes with a series of appendices that display and compare unpublished inventories of the collection that support the arguments advanced herein.

L’objet de cette thèse porte sur les liens artistiques qui unissent la France et Venise au début du XVIIIe siècle. Sont interrogés tout d’abord les voyages d’artiste et d’amateurs dans une perspective historique et sociale. Nous analyserons ainsi leur réciprocité inhérente, tout en montrant l’importance de l’apprentissage dans la transmission de modèles. La deuxième partie propose un regard sur certaines expériences artistiques en les replaçant dans leur contexte de création et le lieu qui les accueille. Enfin, nous nous intéressons aux transferts de modèles et de techniques qui bouleversent les pratiques et engendrent un nouveau discours sur l’art. Dans une approche historique, iconographique et théorique, cette thèse propose d’assister à la rencontre de deux nations artistiques, de leurs moments d’éclat communs à la prise de conscience de leurs divergences. / The purpose of this thesis focuses on the artistic links between France and Venice in the early eighteenth century. Questioned first travel of artists and amateurs in historical and social method. We analyze their inherent reciprocity, while showing the importance of learning in the transmission pattern. The second section provides a look at some artistic experiences by placing them in context of creation and the place that welcomes them. Finally, we focus on the transfer of patterns and technics that disrupt the pratices and create a new discourse on art. In a historical, iconographic and theoretical, this thesis proposes to attend the meeting of two artistic nations, their moments of brilliance to theirs differences.