The Ms. Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, α.W.3.13 (Mod2): An alternative cyclical structure of Guiron le Courtois

Abstract

The present paper aims to examine in an analytical manner, for the first time, an alternative cyclical structure of Guiron le Courtois most faithfully transmitted by ms. Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, α.W.3.13 (Mod2), a XVth-century codex attributable to the Emilia region (Northern Italy). This contribution is divided in eight parts followed by a conclusion. After an introductive tools section about the contents of Guiron le Courtois (part 1) and a short status quaestionis on the cycle and Mod2’s position in it (part 2), we will focus on episodes Lath. 228-39, transmitted by Mod2 and two other mss. Firstly, we will discuss the textual tradition, in which our text sometimes plays the role of an interstitial narrative, sometimes that of a segment in a summa (part 3), summarise its contents (part 4), then point out its function in the economy of the whole cycle from a storytelling and philological perspective. Therefore, we will try to understand what should have followed (part 5) and preceded (part 7) Lath. 228-39. Recalling the stemma codicum we established elsewhere (part 6) will allow us to demonstrate that those episodes initially occupied the spot in which they are still found in Mod2, while their position in the other mss. is the result of a displacement. We will then discuss the relationships between this segment and the other two, already known, pieces of interstitial narrative in the Guiron cycle: Lath. 152-58 and Lath. 52-57 (part 8). Finally, we will provide a few conclusions on this cyclical structure’s fortune and its interest for the diachronic study of cyclical development in Guiron le Courtois’ case.