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Cette thèse analyse l’évolution du pouvoir des abbés de onze abbayes bénédictines masculines du diocèse de Rouen entre la fin du XIIe siècle et le milieu du XVe siècle, mettant l’accent sur les plus grandes d’entre elles (Le Bec, Fécamp, Saint-Ouen, Saint-Wandrille…) mais prenant aussi en charge des maisons plus modestes et méconnues. Au cœur du raisonnement figurent la relation des abbés avec les pouvoirs royaux français et anglais. Après l’intégration de la Normandie au domaine royal capétien en 1204, les abbés devinrent royaux : en étudiant en particulier les actes de la pratique, cette thèse propose une définition de cette catégorie. Le rôle de Philippe Auguste dans la définition des rapports entre les crosses et les couronnes est mis en valeur. La suite du XIIIe siècle et le début du XIVe siècle sont marquées par une continuité politique assez remarquable, doublée d’une prospérité économique ; cela se traduisit par une réelle liberté des élections dans les monastères normands et l’avènement des abbés gestionnaires, qui parvinrent même à conserver les biens de leurs abbayes situées dans les terres du roi d’Angleterre. Les débuts de la Guerre de Cent ans furent un véritable tournant : à partir de ce moment-là, les abbés durent s’engager dans les affaires politiques et la guerre (notamment dans le conflit entre le roi de France et le roi de Navarre puis au moment de la conquête de la Normandie par Henri V, après sa victoire à Azincourt en 1415). S’appuyant sur une prosopographie de cent-quatre-vingt-huit abbés, la thèse étudie par ailleurs le profil de ces supérieurs (origines sociales et géographiques, formation, etc.) et l’évolution de la figure abbatiale au fil de ces trois siècles : de plus en plus de supérieurs furent formés à l’université ou gravitaient dans les cercles de pouvoir de l’Église ou de la royauté. En conséquence, ils fréquentaient de moins en moins leurs cloîtres, habituant les moines à leur absence, tandis que la liberté des élections était progressivement rognée sous l’influence du pape et des rois. L’étude, notamment, des sources narratives et figurées montre que les représentations de leur pouvoir évoluèrent en parallèle : de plus en plus attentifs à leur prestige extérieur, marqué notamment par le port des insignes pontificaux, ils ressemblèrent de moins en moins aux moines qu’ils dirigeaient. Cette thèse propose de lire la mise en place de la commende dans la continuité de ces évolutions du pouvoir abbatial, qui apparaissent moins comme une crise que comme une mutation. / This thesis analyzes the evolution of the power of the abbots of eleven male Benedictine abbeys of the diocese of Rouen between the end of the 12th century and the middle of the 15th century, focusing on the largest of them (Le Bec, Fécamp, Saint-Ouen, Saint-Wandrille...) but also on more modest and unknown monasteries. At the heart of the reasoning lie the relationship of the abbots with the French and English royal powers. After the integration of Normandy in the Capetian royal domain in 1204, the abbots became royal: studying in particular the acts of the practice, this thesis proposes a definition of this category. The role of Philip Augustus in the building of these relationships between crosiers and crowns is underlined. The political continuation of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century, coupled with economic prosperity, resulted on the one hand in a real freedom of elections in the Norman monasteries and on the other hand in the advent of abbots managers, who even managed to preserve the property of their abbeys located in the lands of the King of England. The beginnings of the Hundred Years’ War were a real turning point: from then on, the abbots had to engage in political affairs and war (especially in the conflict between the King of France and the King of Navarre, then at the time of the conquest of Normandy by Henry V, after his victory at Azincourt in 1415). Based on a prosopography of one hundred and eighty-eight abbots, the thesis also studies the profile of these superiors (their social and geographical origins, their formartion and career, etc.) and the evolution of the abbatial figure over these three centuries: more and more superiors studied at the university and/or gravitated in the circles of power of the Church or of the kings. As a result, they were less and less physically present in their cloisters, accustoming the monks to their absence, while the freedom of the elections was gradually cut off under the influence of the pope and kings. Besides, the study, in particular, of the narrative and figurative sources shows that the representations of their power evolved in parallel: more and more attentive to their external prestige, marked in particular by the wearing of the pontifical insignia, they looked less and less like to the monks who they were ruling. This thesis proposes to read the setting up of the commendatory system in the continuity of these evolutions of the abbatial power, which appear less as a crisis than as a mutation.

À partir de 1422 l’Anglais Jean de Lancastre (1389-1435), duc de Bedford, fut le régent du royaume français de son jeune neveu Henri VI. Le traité de Troyes (1420) prévoyant une présence anglaise pérenne en France, le régent dut mettre en place une structure de domination sociale consentie plutôt qu’entretenue par la coercition. C’est dans cette optique que le duc de Bedford instaura une politique culturelle et linguistique, fortement inspirée de celle des grands Valois, lui permettant de cultiver l’assentiment à son régime et de légitimer sa propre autorité. Cette politique est l’objet principal de notre recherche. Nous proposons en un premier temps d’analyser dans le détail les éléments constitutifs de la politique culturelle du régent Bedford, dont les somptueuses résidences, les riches manuscrits et le généreux patronage étaient autant de manifestations de la puissance anglaise en France. Ces dernières lui permettaient de s’insérer dans une société courtoise continentale, notamment auprès de son beau-frère et plus important allié, Philippe de Bourgogne. Parallèlement sa politique lui permettait aussi, notamment à travers l’imitation des rois de France, le déploiement de ce qu’on pourrait appeler des éléments de propagande. L’analyse de ces divers éléments révèle cependant qu’ils étaient peut-être moins destinés à convaincre les gouvernés qu’à consolider les convictions des gouvernants. Nous consacrons ensuite un chapitre dédié à l’exercice du pouvoir par l’écriture. Nous y analysons la production d’actes du duc de Bedford, autant en France qu’en Angleterre, sous le prisme de sa conformité ou de sa divergence d’avec les normes françaises. Le respect des traditions diplomatiques locales et de la langue des actes constituait, en soi, une affirmation des principes du traité de Troyes et un symbole de la continuité du pouvoir entre Valois et Lancastre. Parallèlement, la présence de certains éléments typiquement anglais dans l’administration militaire de la France de Bedford trahit une intégration imparfaite des pratiques locales. Nous y soulignons également l’importance du rôle des secrétaires français dans la coordination avec le royaume anglais d’Henri VI, certains se trouvant même à en intégrer l’appareil étatique. Si au final l’administration anglaise s’avère avoir été peu encline à l’adoption de pratiques étrangères, elle fut le théâtre d’importants changements linguistiques qui n’étaient pas étrangers à l’expérience de la France lancastrienne. En troisième lieu, nous soulignons la contribution d’autres figures importantes de la vie culturelle en France anglo-bourguignonne. La participation de personnages comme Richard Beauchamp et John Talbot à la vie de cour instaurée par le régent témoigne de l’intégration, par les Anglais en séjour sur le continent, de nombreux éléments de culture française. Une telle activité culturelle persista d’ailleurs longtemps après la mort de Jean de Lancastre. Le patronage, la circulation des idées, des artistes et, surtout, l’intériorisation du récit lancastrien en France y résulta en une certaine acculturation des élites, entraînant subséquemment une transformation de la culture anglaise outre-Manche. Cette appropriation culturelle participa à la pérennité de la langue et de la littérature française dans l’Angleterre du XVe siècle, tout en contribuant paradoxalement à la promotion d’une identité proprement anglaise. / From 1422 the Englishman John of Lancaster (1389-1435), duke of Bedford, was regent of his young nephew’s French kingdom. Because the treaty of Troyes (1420) provided for a long-lasting English presence in France, the regent had to put in place a social domination structure based on consent rather than coercion. In this context, the duke of Bedford devised a cultural and language policy inspired by the attitudes of the most prominent members of the Valois family. It allowed him to bolster support for his regime and legitimize his power. This policy is the main object of our research. We first propose to examine each element of Bedford’s cultural policy. His magnificent households, precious manuscripts and generous patronage were outward symbols of the might and stability of English rule in France. These possessions also allowed their owner to present himself as a legitimate member of continental courtly society. As such, they were a mean to strengthen the bond with his most important ally, his brother-in-law Philip, duke of Burgundy. At the same time the regent depicted himself, and by extension Henry VI, as the legitimate ruler of France by actively imitating past French kings. Some of his cultural enterprises can be conceived as propaganda. However under careful scrutiny these representations of power appear to have been intended not only for the conquered, but also for the conquerors themselves. We devote a second chapter to the exercise of power through writing. We analyze the duke’s production of written documents, both sides of the Channel, in light of its compliance to or defiance of French diplomatic tradition. In itself, the adoption of local practices and language was both respectful of the spirit of the treaty of Troyes and a convenient way to conceal the dynastic rift between Valois and Lancaster. On the other hand, the continued use of typical English documents in Bedford’s organization of the military reveals the limited extent of his acculturation. We also consider the important role of the French secretaries in the coordination between the two kingdoms, which in theory were supposed to be kept separate. Some of them were so involved in English affairs that they moved to England to serve Henry VI. In the end however the English bureaucracy remained mostly unaffected by extraneous innovations. Nonetheless, the very significant linguistic shift it underwent was contemporary, and linked, to the demise of Lancastrian France. The last chapter examines the contribution of other important figures of the anglo-burgundian cultural environment. The continental activity of magnates like Richard Beauchamp and soldiers like John Talbot exemplifies the relative vitality of courtly life in Lancastrian France and highlights the adoption of some elements of French culture by the English there. The subsequent patronage, circulation of texts and artists and, ultimately, the internalization of the Lancastrian French narrative, led to the transformation of English culture. This cultural appropriation contributed to the perpetuation of French language and literature in fifteenth-century England. Paradoxically, it also reinforced a properly English identity.

Satire and counsel recur together in the secular literature of the High and Late Middle Ages. I analyze their collocation in Latin, Old Occitan, and Middle English texts from the twelfth to the fifteenth century in works by Walter Map, Alan of Lille, John of Salisbury, Daniel of Beccles, John Gower, William of Poitiers, Thomas Hoccleve, and John Skelton. As types of discourse, satire and counsel resemble each other in the way they reproduce scenarios of social interaction. Authors combine satire and counsel to reproduce these scenarios according to the protocols of real-life social interaction. Informed by linguistic pragmatics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and cultural anthropology, I examine the relational rhetoric of these texts to uncover a sometimes complex and reflective ethical discourse on power which sometimes implicates itself in the practices it condemns. The dissertation draws throughout on sociolinguistic methods for examining verbal interaction between unequals, and assesses what this focus can contribute to recent scholarly debates on the interrelation of social and literary practices in the later Middle Ages. In the first chapter I introduce the concepts and methodologies that inform this dissertation through a detailed consideration of Distinction One of Walter Map’s De nugis curialium . While looking at how Walter Map combines discourses of satire and counsel to negotiate a new social role for the learned cleric at court, I advocate treating satire as a mode of expression more general than ‘literary’ genre and introduce the iii theories and methods that inform my treatment of literary texts as social interaction, considering also how these approaches can complement new historicist interpretation. Chapter two looks at how twelfth-century authors of didactic poetry appropriate relational discourses from school and household to claim the authoritative roles of teacher and father. In the third chapter, I focus on texts that depict relations between princes and courtiers, especially the Prologue of the Confessio Amantis which idealizes its author John Gower as an honest counselor and depicts King Richard II (in its first recension) as receptive to honest counsel. The fourth chapter turns to poets with the uncertain social identities of literate functionaries at court. Articulating their alienation and satirizing the ploys of courtiers—including even satire itself—Thomas Hoccleve in the Regement of Princes and John Skelton in The Bowge of Court undermine the satirist-counselor’s claim to authenticity. In concluding, I consider how this study revises understanding of the genre of satire in the Middle Ages and what such an approach might contribute to the study of Jean de Meun and Geoffrey Chaucer.

Satire and counsel recur together in the secular literature of the High and Late Middle Ages. I analyze their collocation in Latin, Old Occitan, and Middle English texts from the twelfth to the fifteenth century in works by Walter Map, Alan of Lille, John of Salisbury, Daniel of Beccles, John Gower, William of Poitiers, Thomas Hoccleve, and John Skelton. As types of discourse, satire and counsel resemble each other in the way they reproduce scenarios of social interaction. Authors combine satire and counsel to reproduce these scenarios according to the protocols of real-life social interaction. Informed by linguistic pragmatics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and cultural anthropology, I examine the relational rhetoric of these texts to uncover a sometimes complex and reflective ethical discourse on power which sometimes implicates itself in the practices it condemns. The dissertation draws throughout on sociolinguistic methods for examining verbal interaction between unequals, and assesses what this focus can contribute to recent scholarly debates on the interrelation of social and literary practices in the later Middle Ages. In the first chapter I introduce the concepts and methodologies that inform this dissertation through a detailed consideration of Distinction One of Walter Map’s De nugis curialium . While looking at how Walter Map combines discourses of satire and counsel to negotiate a new social role for the learned cleric at court, I advocate treating satire as a mode of expression more general than ‘literary’ genre and introduce the iii theories and methods that inform my treatment of literary texts as social interaction, considering also how these approaches can complement new historicist interpretation. Chapter two looks at how twelfth-century authors of didactic poetry appropriate relational discourses from school and household to claim the authoritative roles of teacher and father. In the third chapter, I focus on texts that depict relations between princes and courtiers, especially the Prologue of the Confessio Amantis which idealizes its author John Gower as an honest counselor and depicts King Richard II (in its first recension) as receptive to honest counsel. The fourth chapter turns to poets with the uncertain social identities of literate functionaries at court. Articulating their alienation and satirizing the ploys of courtiers—including even satire itself—Thomas Hoccleve in the Regement of Princes and John Skelton in The Bowge of Court undermine the satirist-counselor’s claim to authenticity. In concluding, I consider how this study revises understanding of the genre of satire in the Middle Ages and what such an approach might contribute to the study of Jean de Meun and Geoffrey Chaucer.