Revisiting Urban Encomia in Fourteenth-Century Paris: Poetics of Translation, Universalism, and the Pilgrim City

Abstract

The translation of the relics of the Passion of Christ from Constantinople to Paris around 1241 inspired urban encomia of the French Capital. In the fourteenth century, Paris was celebrated as the universal city of election in the West. Meanwhile, the city experienced unprecedented growth, attracting a diverse body of migrants, from pilgrims to scholars, to artists, merchants, and paupers: all of them contributed to modify the topography and culture of the city. This situation generated a wide array of urban images that both challenged and redefined those of translation and universalism as well as the view of the French capital as a pilgrim city. Overall, this study shows how Paris emerged during this period as a potent and complex source of poetic inspiration and a Parisian identity was being shaped.