Considerations on Huon d'Auvergne / Ugo d'Alvernia

Abstract

"Considerations on Huon d'Auvergne / Ugo d'Alvernia." This study examines an epic romance which probably originated in the twelfth century. Its complex textual tradition is represented by extant Franco-Italian manuscripts, by a striking reworking in Tuscan prose, by a later version in octaves, and by two early print editions. Scattered historical references and literary analogues provide evidence for its evolution and dating. The three-part narrative includes the protagonist's voyage to the underworld, a debt to Virgil's Aeneid that has echoes in later medieval texts such as Dante's Comedy. This study concludes by focusing on the note-worthy classicism of Andrea da Barberino's Florentine prose reworking. Unlike his French chanson de geste or Italian cantari models, Maestro Andrea cites a remarkable number of classical authors and personages and also includes unusual names and similes not normally found in Carolingian epic cycle texts. The reason for this must be sought in the literate populace of fifteenth-century Florence: religious piety and feudal devotion are now joined by a pragmatic humanism that must have appealed to Andrea's vernacular readers.