‘This Rude Laboure’: Lord Berners' Translation Methods and Prose Style in Castell of Love

Abstract

In his prologue to Castell of Love, Lord Berners claims to have translated the romance ‘out of Spanyshe in to Englyshe’ (A2r).1 This declaration is echoed by the title pages to all three early printed editions (?1548, ?1552, and c. 1555), which advertise the volume as ‘The Castell of Love, translated out of Spanishe in to Englyshe by Johan Bowrchier Knyght, Lorde Bernis’ (A1r). Though Berners maintains that he translated Diego de San Pedro’s Carcel de amor directly from the Spanish, his assertion is not completely accurate, as his translation is marked by close verbal parallels to the French translation of San Pedro’s text. Moreover, the French prologue differs completely from the Spanish, and Berners’ prologue matches the French word for word, sharing no variant readings with the Spanish prologue. Part of Berners’ Castell, however, is definitely translated directly from Spanish: it includes the Spanish continuation written by Nicolas Nunez, which was not included in any French translation prior to 1533, the year of Berners’ death. The continuation is far from the only instance where Berners uses the Spanish original; traces of indebtedness to the Spanish text can be found throughout Castell. My comparison of the three versions (English, French, and Spanish) indicates that, in the English translation, many Spanish readings are retained and prioritized over the French variants, demonstrating a reliance on the Spanish text, and that equally many French additions, omissions, and alterations are