Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 14, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-52).

This dissertation investigates how the Greeks of the Trojan War and Alexander the Great are presented in Old French and Middle English literature. These ancient Greeks are depicted ambiguously: they share some of the characteristics of Jews and Saracens as they are portrayed in medieval literature. The thesis begins with an overview of the frameworks used to define ancient Greek identity. These include the philosophical heritage Greece left to the medieval West; the framework of Jewish identity, encompassing “variable characterization” and the hermeneutics of supersession; and the historical template, seen through the Orosian paradigm of translatio imperii and the Trojan foundation myth. The first chapter examines the Roman de Troie of Benoît de Sainte-Maure. The Greeks of the Trojan War are noble and valorous, but through their gift of the Trojan horse and sack of Troy, they display the treachery associated with post-Incarnation Jews and the cruelty and violence associated with Saracens. Due to the myth that the Trojans founded the Roman people, through their siege of Troy, the Greeks seem like the movers of imperium, the authority to rule, from Troy to Rome, which will eventually become a Christian empire. In the second chapter, I turn to the depiction of Alexander in Thomas of Kent’s Roman de toute chevalerie and the Middle English Wars of Alexander. In the Roman de toute chevalerie, Alexander is ambiguous: he is chivalrous, learned, and even a proto-Christian, though he himself assumes some typical Saracen characteristics. Alexander participates in translatio imperii, holding the right to rule in its Orosian succession and providing a model of empire to Rome. The Wars of Alexander witnesses the changes wrought to Alexander’s depiction in the fourteenth century due to revised views of chivalry, eschatology and crusade. The third chapter investigates the depiction of the Greek Diomede in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, a depiction informed by classical ideas and Chaucer’s depictions of Jews and Saracens in his other works. Diomede is both treacherous and cruel, seen in his seduction of Criseyde, rather than in battle. The ending of the tale posits a proto-Christian identity for Troilus and the Trojans, and suggests that Diomede participates in the supersession of the Greeks by the Trojans. Greeks function as movers of imperium, and are necessary for the beginnings of Christian empire.

This dissertation investigates how the Greeks of the Trojan War and Alexander the Great are presented in Old French and Middle English literature. These ancient Greeks are depicted ambiguously: they share some of the characteristics of Jews and Saracens as they are portrayed in medieval literature. The thesis begins with an overview of the frameworks used to define ancient Greek identity. These include the philosophical heritage Greece left to the medieval West; the framework of Jewish identity, encompassing “variable characterization” and the hermeneutics of supersession; and the historical template, seen through the Orosian paradigm of translatio imperii and the Trojan foundation myth. The first chapter examines the Roman de Troie of Benoît de Sainte-Maure. The Greeks of the Trojan War are noble and valorous, but through their gift of the Trojan horse and sack of Troy, they display the treachery associated with post-Incarnation Jews and the cruelty and violence associated with Saracens. Due to the myth that the Trojans founded the Roman people, through their siege of Troy, the Greeks seem like the movers of imperium, the authority to rule, from Troy to Rome, which will eventually become a Christian empire. In the second chapter, I turn to the depiction of Alexander in Thomas of Kent’s Roman de toute chevalerie and the Middle English Wars of Alexander. In the Roman de toute chevalerie, Alexander is ambiguous: he is chivalrous, learned, and even a proto-Christian, though he himself assumes some typical Saracen characteristics. Alexander participates in translatio imperii, holding the right to rule in its Orosian succession and providing a model of empire to Rome. The Wars of Alexander witnesses the changes wrought to Alexander’s depiction in the fourteenth century due to revised views of chivalry, eschatology and crusade. The third chapter investigates the depiction of the Greek Diomede in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, a depiction informed by classical ideas and Chaucer’s depictions of Jews and Saracens in his other works. Diomede is both treacherous and cruel, seen in his seduction of Criseyde, rather than in battle. The ending of the tale posits a proto-Christian identity for Troilus and the Trojans, and suggests that Diomede participates in the supersession of the Greeks by the Trojans. Greeks function as movers of imperium, and are necessary for the beginnings of Christian empire.

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Bodies, Saracen Giants, and the Medieval Romance: Transgression, Difference, and Assimilation explore le traitement des corps de trois géants Sarasins dans les romances de Roland and Vernagu (c. 1330), Sir Beues of Hamtoun (c. 1330), et The Taill of Rauf Coilyear (c. 1513-42).Grâce à une étude de la représentation de ces trois géants Sarasin, la signification du corps humain au Moyen Age, et des pratiques de la Chrétienté an accord avec les discours et idéologies envers le Proche-Orient qui existaient dans l’Occident médiéval, ce mémoire de maîtrise juxtapose le géant Sarasin et le héros de la romance pour indiquer une similarité apparente entre leur deux corps et leur religion respective. La romance démontre avec hésitation un désir d’assimiler le géants Sarasin dans le code héroïque ainsi que dans la religion chrétienne, mais souvent rejette avec suspicion le corps du géant par sa mort sur le champ de bataille. Malgré sa mort ou son assimilation dans le code héroïque et la Chrétienté, le corps du géant Sarasin demeure toujours important dans le contexte de la Romance, puisqu’il contribue à la construction de l’identité du héros, de sa foi, et de sa société. / Bodies, Saracen Giants, and the Medieval Romance: Transgression, Difference, and Assimilation explores the treatment of the bodies of three Saracen giants in the romances of Roland and Vernagu (c. 1330), Sir Beues of Hamtoun (c. 1330), and The Taill of Rauf Coilyear (c. 1513-42). Through a study of the characterization of the three Saracen giants, the significance of the human body in the Middle Ages, and the practices of Christianity in accordance with the discourses and ideologies regarding the near East that existed in the medieval West, this thesis addresses how and why the romance constructs the giant as a physical marker of excess, deviance and evil. Using theories and criticisms of subjectivity and embodiment, this thesis juxtaposes the Saracen giant with the romance hero to underline an obvious similarity between the two bodies and their respective religions. The romance hesitantly demonstrates a desire to assimilate Saracen giants into the heroic code as well as the Christian religion, but it often distrustfully chooses to remove the giant body through its death in battle. Regardless of its death or assimilation into the heroic code and Christianity, the Saracen giant's body forever remains meaningful for the romance, as it always contributes to the construction of the romance hero's identity, faith and society.

L’idée de la croisade reste présente toute au long du XIVe siècle comme bien le prouvent les projets écrits durant le siècle. Les théoriciens de la croisade décrivent minutieusement les mesures à suivre pour récupérer la Terre sainte. Deux éléments sont nécessaires pour pouvoir entreprendre une nouvelle expédition : la paix entre les princes chrétiens et l’union de l’Église. Au XIVe siècle, un transfert s’opère naturellement, et le mouvement de recuperatio de la Terre sainte se projette contre les ennemis les plus proches de la chrétienté, faisant de toute guerre contre le Turc une guerre sainte. À partir de la deuxième moitié du XIVe siècle, la diplomatie joue un rôle crucial dans la prédication de la croisade. Dans ce contexte idéologique, à l’appel du roi de Hongrie, Sigismond de Luxembourg, les puissances chrétiennes tentent de se coaliser pour arrêter l’avancée ottomane en Europe, mais elles sont défaites à Nicopolis, en 1396. Pour la chevalerie française, la campagne était une opportunité de montrer sa vaillance, mais pour elle la croisade prend une allure de chevauchée plutôt que de guerre sainte. / The idea of the crusade remains present throughout the course of the XIVth century as evidenced by the many projects written during the century. The authors describe in detail the steps to follow to recover the Holy Land. Two elements are needed to undertake a new expedition: peace between Christian princes and church union. In the fourteenth century, a transfer takes place naturally, and the movement of recuperatio of the Holy Land is projected against the closest enemies of the Christianity: the Turks. From the second half of the fourteenth century, diplomacy plays a crucial role in the preaching of the crusade. A new Crusade is preached, at urging of Sigismund of 4 Luxembourg the Hungarian king, and the Christian powers are trying to unite to stop the Ottoman advance in Europe, but they were defeated at Nicopolis in 1396. For the French chivalry, the campaign was an opportunity to show his courage but for them the crusade was a ride and a quest of personal glory rather than holy war.

This study investigates the representation of Saracens in Boiardo's Inamoramento de Orlando and Ariosto's Orlando furioso, a subject that has attracted growing scholarly interest in recent years. Chapter I assesses the degree of realism in Boiardo's and Ariosto's portrayal of Islam and Islamic culture and locates the two poems in their historical context. Bringing to light unpublished archival material and other little-known historical sources, I argue that Boiardo and Ariosto drew inspiration from contemporary courtly culture which was characterised by openness towards the figure of the foreign prince. Chapter II explores Boiardo's engagement with earlier chivalric literature. It examines Boiardo's use of names and characters from earlier texts and evaluates the Saracens' contribution to the ideology that underpins the poem. It is shown that Saracens play an important role in promoting the ‘Arthurian’ chivalric ideals. Chapters III and IV analyse Ariosto's indebtedness to and departures from his predecessor, suggesting that there is a much greater continuity between the two Orlandos than is allowed by Cavallo and other scholars who are anxious to stress Ariosto's 'conservatism'. While chapter III is devoted to a wide-ranging analysis of the Saracen world in Ariosto, chapter IV deals with a topic that has recently generated much heated debate, namely the climactic confrontation between Rodomonte and Ruggiero and the ending of the Orlando furioso and how it should be understood, and I propose a new interpretation of the final canto by highlighting the concept of honour, a fundamental value for both Boiardo and Ariosto as well as for their early readers and for many chivalric authors alike. In my view, Rodomonte is the true winner of the duel. The significance of his 'moral' victory is examined in the study's final conclusion, where it is argued that it undermines Ariosto’s encomiastic project.

L’idée de la croisade reste présente toute au long du XIVe siècle comme bien le prouvent les projets écrits durant le siècle. Les théoriciens de la croisade décrivent minutieusement les mesures à suivre pour récupérer la Terre sainte. Deux éléments sont nécessaires pour pouvoir entreprendre une nouvelle expédition : la paix entre les princes chrétiens et l’union de l’Église. Au XIVe siècle, un transfert s’opère naturellement, et le mouvement de recuperatio de la Terre sainte se projette contre les ennemis les plus proches de la chrétienté, faisant de toute guerre contre le Turc une guerre sainte. À partir de la deuxième moitié du XIVe siècle, la diplomatie joue un rôle crucial dans la prédication de la croisade. Dans ce contexte idéologique, à l’appel du roi de Hongrie, Sigismond de Luxembourg, les puissances chrétiennes tentent de se coaliser pour arrêter l’avancée ottomane en Europe, mais elles sont défaites à Nicopolis, en 1396. Pour la chevalerie française, la campagne était une opportunité de montrer sa vaillance, mais pour elle la croisade prend une allure de chevauchée plutôt que de guerre sainte. / The idea of the crusade remains present throughout the course of the XIVth century as evidenced by the many projects written during the century. The authors describe in detail the steps to follow to recover the Holy Land. Two elements are needed to undertake a new expedition: peace between Christian princes and church union. In the fourteenth century, a transfer takes place naturally, and the movement of recuperatio of the Holy Land is projected against the closest enemies of the Christianity: the Turks. From the second half of the fourteenth century, diplomacy plays a crucial role in the preaching of the crusade. A new Crusade is preached, at urging of Sigismund of 4 Luxembourg the Hungarian king, and the Christian powers are trying to unite to stop the Ottoman advance in Europe, but they were defeated at Nicopolis in 1396. For the French chivalry, the campaign was an opportunity to show his courage but for them the crusade was a ride and a quest of personal glory rather than holy war.

Bodies, Saracen Giants, and the Medieval Romance: Transgression, Difference, and Assimilation explore le traitement des corps de trois géants Sarasins dans les romances de Roland and Vernagu (c. 1330), Sir Beues of Hamtoun (c. 1330), et The Taill of Rauf Coilyear (c. 1513-42).Grâce à une étude de la représentation de ces trois géants Sarasin, la signification du corps humain au Moyen Age, et des pratiques de la Chrétienté an accord avec les discours et idéologies envers le Proche-Orient qui existaient dans l’Occident médiéval, ce mémoire de maîtrise juxtapose le géant Sarasin et le héros de la romance pour indiquer une similarité apparente entre leur deux corps et leur religion respective. La romance démontre avec hésitation un désir d’assimiler le géants Sarasin dans le code héroïque ainsi que dans la religion chrétienne, mais souvent rejette avec suspicion le corps du géant par sa mort sur le champ de bataille. Malgré sa mort ou son assimilation dans le code héroïque et la Chrétienté, le corps du géant Sarasin demeure toujours important dans le contexte de la Romance, puisqu’il contribue à la construction de l’identité du héros, de sa foi, et de sa société. / Bodies, Saracen Giants, and the Medieval Romance: Transgression, Difference, and Assimilation explores the treatment of the bodies of three Saracen giants in the romances of Roland and Vernagu (c. 1330), Sir Beues of Hamtoun (c. 1330), and The Taill of Rauf Coilyear (c. 1513-42). Through a study of the characterization of the three Saracen giants, the significance of the human body in the Middle Ages, and the practices of Christianity in accordance with the discourses and ideologies regarding the near East that existed in the medieval West, this thesis addresses how and why the romance constructs the giant as a physical marker of excess, deviance and evil. Using theories and criticisms of subjectivity and embodiment, this thesis juxtaposes the Saracen giant with the romance hero to underline an obvious similarity between the two bodies and their respective religions. The romance hesitantly demonstrates a desire to assimilate Saracen giants into the heroic code as well as the Christian religion, but it often distrustfully chooses to remove the giant body through its death in battle. Regardless of its death or assimilation into the heroic code and Christianity, the Saracen giant's body forever remains meaningful for the romance, as it always contributes to the construction of the romance hero's identity, faith and society.