Baudri Of Bourgueil Research Articles

Incipis in multis, in multis desinis: The Abbot of Bourgueil and the Monastic Ovidianism of Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Reg. Lat. 1351

This article analyses the collection of poems in the Vatican Manuscript Reginensis Latinus 1351. These poems were composed by Baudri of Bourgueil, also called Baldric of Dol, (ca. 1050 –1130) a Benedictine monk who served as abbot of the Abbey of St. Peter in Bourgueil from 1097–1106 (After that, he was archbishop of the Diocese of Dol from 1107 until his death in 1130). This article uses the lens of rhetorical ductus to examine the way that Baudri’s work, both as individual poems and as an anthology, explores both its subject matter and its own written status in a style that is at once Ovidian and monastic, contrary to its general reputation as an early expression of the secular spirit of the twelfth century. After a general introduction to the poems and their treatment by modern scholarship, it examines the opening poem of the collection, the poems in which Baudri writes in persona, as well as other poems. This article advances two theses: first, it argues that we need to think of Baudri as a monastic poet. Second, it shows how Baudri employs “exploratory ductus,” a type of writing that reflects and is rooted in monastic orthopraxis, even if it does not always neatly conform with a strict interpretation of monastic rules. It concludes with an appendix containing the translation of Poem 1.

Amar en tiempos monásticos: estrategias de representación en el intercambio epistolar entre Baudri de Bourgueil y Constancia de Le Ronceray

En este trabajo se contemplará qué tipo de dinámicas de construcción de identidad y de género se pueden extraer del intercambio de cartas elegíacas producido entre el que fue arzobispo de Dol, Baudri de Bourgueil, y la monja Constancia de Le Ronceray. El resultado del análisis revertirá en una propuesta interpretativa en la que se sugerirá entender dichas estrategias de representación como parte de las tensiones propias que los movimientos reformistas estaban causando en el tejido social y cultural de inicios del siglo XII

Loire Classics: Reviving Classicism in some Loire Poets

The term 'Loire poets' has come to refer to a rather undefinable group of poets that in the second half of the eleventh century distinguishes itself through its refined poetics. They are often characterized as medieval humanists thanks to their renewed interest in the classics. Sometimes their movement is labelled a 'classicist' one. But what does this 'classicism' mean? Is it even permitted to speak of medieval 'classicisms'? This contribution approaches the question of whether we can apply this modern label to pre-modern phenomena. Moreover, it explores the changes in attitude towards the classics that sets the Loire poets off from their predecessors and contemporaries. The article focuses on poems by Hildebert of Lavardin, Baudri of Bourgueil, Marbod of Rennes, and Geoffrey of Reims. They are compared with some contemporary poets, such as Reginald of Canterbury and Sigebert of Gembloux.

Serlo of Bayeux and England

After a short introduction highlighting Serlo’s ambiguous attitude to the English and its king in 1105-1106, I shall discuss three texts which link Serlo with England. First there is Serlo’s poem Defensio pro filiis presbyterorum of which the oldest copy is preserved (incompletely) in a manuscript of Exeter Cathedral c. 1100 (Cambridge CCC ms 190, p. 361). The first 59 lines, in a haphazard order, have survived and concentrate mainly on the sacrament of baptism, the fact that sons cannot be held responsible for the sins of their fathers and the legislators’ lack of attention for simony and homosexuality. Second, I will discuss Serlo’s poem ad Murielem, the versificatrix nun of Wilton (d. before 1113) which was written after Baudri of Bourgueil’s poem for her. Thirdly and briefly I will explore the implications of the suggestion, first raised by Edoardo D’Angelo, that the poem Septem maiores numeramus was written by Serlo for Queen Edith Matilda (d. 1118), perhaps as a contribution to one of her competitions organised for poets.

Loving Friendship in Baudri of Bourgueil's Poetic Correspondence with the Women of Le Ronceray

Let your special virtue always keep you near me May the law of living well make you immortal to me Whereas formerly, I had known only your reputation, Or rather, you are scarcely known for public discourse, Now you live not just as if you were any virgin, But like a maiden of distinguished title, Like a woman whom wisdom fosters with sweet honey So that now your nourishing milk flows forth. This fact has recently become clear to me while reading your poems, Which you so freely spiced with nectar. The swarm of your female pupils rallies around you, So that the bees might be replenished with the mother-bee’s honey. If your order allowed male students I myself would like to be one of your pupils. Now at least, virgin, keep me under your loving friendship; As I have held you under my loving friendship. 1

The Poem of Baudri for Countess Adèle: A Starting Point for a Reading of Medieval Latin Ekphrasis

The poem of Baudri of Bourgueil for Countess Adele may correspond to several different literary genres but it is mainly a definition of the link between writing and the creation of the work of art, in so far as the poesis seems to assume a pure genetic function able to handle the mutation of the idea to the ideal. In this poem, a complex interplay occurs between what is seen, what is described and what is created in the development of the poem. Probably more than any of Baudri’s other creations, the poem for the Countess Adele subordinates writing to image to create an imago that blurs the distinctions between written construction and visual construction, in an aesthetic principle of balance and harmony that stands more on the side of musical production than any ordinary historical or encyclopedic reality.

Tradición cesarista y tradición eneádica en la poesía de corte anglonormanda en la Baja Edad Media

main focus of the present article is de Caesarist and Eneadic tradition in the Latin poetry, composed at the Anglo-Norman Medieval courts during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. We will begin recalling some models from classic literature, such as laus imperatoris in Horace's poems and the Aeneas legend in The Aeneid by Virgil, in order to research these differents topics in the poems addressed to William the Conqueror and his family, in particular to his daugthers and daugthers-in-law. On the one hand and to support this argument, we will read a number of compositions by the most important European writters at the moment, such as Godfrey of Reims, Baudri of Bourgueil or Hilderbert of Lavardin, that will show us the comparison established between the king and the figure of Roman Caesar. On the other hand, we will study other poems that follow the Eneadic tradition and how they were used in the education of princes. In this regard, we will focus on the epic poem composed at Henry II's Plantagenet court by his tutor Peter of Saintes that describes the Fall of Troy and the erratic journeys of Aeneas until he reaches the Italian coast. To sum up, we will cover some aspects of both traditions and demonstrate how classic figures like Caesar or Aeneas were pointed out in these compositions as models of governor.

Chroniques et propagandistes: Introduction critique aux sources de la première croisade (review)

Reviewed by: Chroniques et propagandistes: Introduction critique aux sources de la première croisade Thomas Lecaque Jean Flori, Chroniques et propagandistes: Introduction critique aux sources de la première croisade (Geneva: Librairie Droz 2010) 353 pp. The First Crusade produced a wealth of sources in its immediate aftermath from both eyewitnesses and monastic chroniclers, explaining the triumphs of God through the men who fought and died en route to Jerusalem. This array of texts, with conflicting accounts and heroes, contested dates and degrees of importance, can be overwhelming for students and scholars alike, and for both groups Jean Flori’s Chroniques et propagandists is a welcome addition to the already full field of Crusade textual analysis. For the novice in the field (who is able to read French), Flori’s book lives up to its subtitle as a critical introduction to the [End Page 194] sources of the First Crusade, focusing on all of the traditional major works: the Gesta Francorum and its derivatives, Raymond d’Aguiliers, Fulcher of Chartres, and Albert of Aachen. It also serves as an introduction to the vast array of historiographical debate on the three major areas of analysis Flori works with: the date of the redaction of the sources, the eyewitness value of the sources, and the partiality of the sources. It has the added benefit of introducing a student to the idea of factionalism in historiography, as Flori makes no bones about where he stands on the various issues and who stands with or against him. For the Crusade historian, on the other hand, Flori’s text will be a touchstone text for both admirers and detractors, as he has attempted to substantially revise the way we approach our major sources. The initial segment of the book takes a quantitative approach to looking at biases within the chosen texts. The first chapter looks at the number of references to the names of the major actors in the First Crusade in the four major original texts to show who their most important figures are. This is then expanded in the second chapter to look at the number of favorable references to each actor to explore the direct biases of the text. What Flori finds is that despite traditional notions of importance based on name-references, the major texts have somewhat different level of valorization than is commonly assumed. This is of absolute importance given the unfortunate weight tradition tends to play in the analysis of primary sources. Raymond d’Aguiliers, for example, while mentioning Raymond de Saint-Gilles three times more than the three next most-mentioned figures, has only one directly laudatory reference to the count. Both chapters reinforce the idea of impartiality on the part of Albert of Aachen—a theme that recurs throughout the text as a whole, as Flori is a strong proponent of rehabilitating that source as one of highest importance. The third chapter moves the quantitative analysis to the derivative texts of the Gesta Francorum, focusing mainly on the three Benedictine revisions with a separate section for Peter Tudebode. The graph provided for positive references to figures in the Gesta and its derivatives (Graph 8; 53) is particularly interesting. The separate section on Tudebode builds Flori’s larger case about Tudebode’s relationship to the Gesta, namely that it is an earlier redaction of the version of the Gesta commonly seen today—the lessened amount of glorification for Bohemond is used as one building block in this case. The second part of the book examines the family of texts derived from the anonymous Norman author of the Gesta Francorum in greater detail, looking at the manuscript traditions and the internal structure of the Gesta, Peter Tudebode, Baudri of Bourgueil, Robert the Monk, and Guibert of Nogent. Chapter 4 is Flori’s preliminary exploration of the Gesta itself, its pro-Bohemond slant and Flori’s belief in an Ur-Gesta of which the Gesta Francorum known today is a later propagandistic redaction. The next chapter is one of the most useful parts of the book—it examines the complex relationship between the Gesta Francorum and the work of Peter Tudebode. Flori covers the debate on which text is earlier...

From Twelfth-Century Schools to Thirteenth-Century Universities: The Disappearance of Biographical and Autobiographical Representations of Scholars

Learned men of the twelfth century, especially the first half, frequently wrote about themselves and each other. Well-known examples of autobiographical writing include Guibert of Nogent's De vita sua or Monodiae, Rupert of Deutz's defense of his theological career in his Apologia attached to his commentary on the Benedictine rule, Peter Abelard's Historia calamitatum, and Gerald of Wales's De rebus a se gestis. Examples of biographical narrative are easily found: the life of St. Goswin included an account of Goswin defeating Abelard in disputation; Baudri of Bourgueil wrote a poem about famous schools and scholars; the anonymous Metamorphosis Goliae provided characterizations of many masters; John of Salisbury's Metalogicon described the teaching methods of Bernard of Chartres and, in an autobiographical account of his own education, offered sketches of many of the leading masters in northern France, while Otto of Freising's Gesta Friderici I Imperatoris recounted parts of the academic careers of Abelard...

Ovidian Persona and the Specter of Social Control in the Poetry of Baudri of Bourgueil

Ovidian Persona and the Specter of Social Control in the Poetry of Baudri of Bourgueil

Negotiating the Boundaries of Gender in Religious Life: Robert of Arbrissel and Hersende, Abelard and Heloise

This article explores a range of connections between the foundation of Fontevraud by Robert of Arbrissel and Hersende, its first prioress, and of the Paraclete by Abelard and Heloise, arguing that both communities were characterized by uncertainty and controversy about gender roles. It explores Abelard’s support for Robert, against the criticisms of Roscelin, yet distrust of the practice of an abbess having authority over both men and women, as happened when Petronilla became abbess in 1115. In particular it supports Robl’s hypothesis that Hersende of Fontevraud was the same person as Hersende, mother of Heloise. Fulbert’s willingness to have Heloise educated by Abelard reflects the same literary values as Baudri of Bourgueil, a great admirer of Robert of Arbrissel. Heloise’s assertion of her role as abbess of the Paraclete reflects her awareness, not shared by Abelard, that it was necessary for her to emulate Petronilla as abbess with authority of both men and women.