A Gersonian Text in Defense of Poetry: De laudibus elegie spiritualis (ca. 1422–1425)

Abstract

During the troubled period of the Great Schism, the Hundred Years War, and the civil war in France, Jean Gerson (1363–1429), chancellor of the University of Paris, played an important part. However, his primary importance lies in the considerable corpus of writings that he left, rather than his role in political and ecclesiastical affairs. His theological writings are well known, and the literary aspects of his works have been pointed out, especially in relation to French humanism of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In particular, his Latin poems are important evidence of the cultural climate of these years and still survive in great number — we actually know of nearly six thousand verses. Unfortunately, there is currently no complete edition that satisfies modern critical criteria. In these circumstances, any critical work on these texts must begin with a study of the manuscripts.