Table Of ContentThis dissertation has been
microfilmed exactly as received 6 8-11,836
BROWN, Jr., Edward Guillen, 1933-
THE TOURS MANUSCRIPT OF GUI DE BOURGOGNE.
AN ANNOTATED EDITION. [French Text with EngUsh
Introduction and Notes],
University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1968
Language and Literature, general
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
THE TOURS MANUSCRIPT OF GUI DE BOURGOGNE.
AN ANNOTATED EDITION
*>y
Edward Guillen Brown, Jr.
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the
DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES
WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
In the Graduate College
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
1 9 6 8
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
GRADUATE COLLEGE
I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my
direction by Edward Guillen Brown, Jr.
entitled The Tours Manuscript of Gui de Bourgognc.
an Annotated Edition
be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Urt_.g-ir
tatxon Director
After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the
following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in
its approval and recommend its acceptance:"
February 1, 1968
February 7. 1968
February 1, 1968
February 7, 1968
This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's
adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the
final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into
the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory
performance at the final examination.
STATEMENT BY AUTHOR
This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment
of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona
and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to
borrowers under rules of the Library.
Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without
special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source
is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or re
production of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by
the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College
when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the
interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission
must be obtained from the author.
SIGNED
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to a number of people
whose cooperation and assistance made this study a reality. My largest
debt of gratitude goes to Dr. Loyal A. T. Gryting, under whose direction
the research and redaction of this edition was carried out. His constant
guidance and encouragement greatly facilitated the completion of this
study.
To Dr. Charles L. Janssens I would like to express my apprecia
tion for his most gracious assistance as a "temporary" advisor during
Dr. Gryting's absence in the summer of 19&7* The many hours he devoted
to examination and judicious criticism of the first draft of this study
will forever be appreciated.
A large measure of appreciation goes to the personnel of the
Department of Romance Languages. The assistance of Dr. Renato Rosaldo,
Mrs. Betty Williams, and Mrs. Helen Sigmund in putting at my disposal
the facilities of the department greatly eased my task.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to Miss Zada
Edgar and Mrs. Toni Woodman for their help in the preparation of the
first draft of my study, and Miss Patricia Abbott for her assistance in
my researcho
This dissertation is gratefully dedicated to my parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Edward G. Brown, of Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT V
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. SYNOPSIS OF THE PLOT 8
III. HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS
IV. LITERARY CONSIDERATIONS 59
Sources 6l
Dissemination of the Poem 66
Composition of the Poem 70
Conclusion . . . . . . . . .. 91
V. THE LANGUAGE OF THE TOURS MANUSCRIPT OF GUI DE
BOURGOGNE 93
Phonology 96
Morphology 103
Syntax Ill
Conclusions 11^
VI. THE TEXT OF THE TOURS MANUSCRIPT OF GUI DE BOURGOGNE . . 116
Treatment of the Text 116
VII. TEXTUAL NOTES 292
VIII. REJECTED READINGS 335
APPENDIX A. TABLE AND INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 339
APPENDIX B.' CORRECTIONS OF GUESSARD-MICHELANT EDITION 350
APPENDIX C. GLOSSARY 36l
LIST OF REFERENCES 375
iv
ABSTRACT
Gui de Bourgogne is an epic poem which has been lamentably
noglected during the twentieth century. In the years following its
publication by F. Guessard and H. Michelant, in the collection Les
Anciens poetes de la France (Vol. I, Paris, 1859)» this entertaining
chanson earned the consideration of critics and students alike. A
total of five doctoral studies on various aspects of the poem were
undertaken between 187^ and 1898.
Despite this early flurry of activity, Gui de Bourgogne, like
many other epics, has received little attention in the past seventy
years. My study attempts to apply the advances made in literary,
historical, and linguistic criticism in the present century to the re
examination of this work. The Tours manuscript, generally considered
the best of the" three extant versions, has been selected as the textual
basis for the study. Since it was largely this same manuscript that
figured in the Guessard-Michelant edition, various aspects of that
publication have been closely scrutinized and corrected.
A precise reproduction of the original manuscript, based upon
current editing standards, constitutes the central part of this edition.
Ample textual notes have been provided in order to explain irregularities
or unusual features of the text.
Separate chapters have been devoted to the exploration of the
historical, literary, and linguistic significance of the Tours manu
script of Gui de Bourgogne. The strong political ties between Burgundy
v
vi
and Christian Spain, along with the crusade spirit of the early-
thirteenth century point to possible influences exercised upon the
anonymous author of the epic. The literary section corrects previous
misconceptions as to the dissemination of the poem, and, in addition,
discusses in depth the poet's skillful stylistic use of dialogue and
structure. The linguistic study has proved fruitful in establishing an
approximate date (1215-1220) for the Tours manuscript. Moreover,
examination of dialectical characteristics has revealed the strong
influence of Northeastern forms, particularly Picard, in an otherwise
predominantly Francien text.
Additional sections (synopsis of plot, appendices) form a
comprehensive edition designed primarily for the specialist in romance
philology, but also of value to more casual students of mediaeval
French literature.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The Old French epic poem entitled Gui de Bourgogne, generally-
acknowledged by nineteenth-century critics to be an interesting and
entertaining work, has been lamentably neglected by twentieth-century
specialists in mediaeval French literature. The publication of this
epic in 1859 by F. Guessard and H. Michelant"'" first opened the door to
further investigation and evaluation by some of the foremost romance
scholars of that era, among them Paulin and Gaston Paris, Kr. Nyrop,
and Leon Gautier.
2
Subsequent studies on the Gui were undertaken as doctoral
dissertations during the latter half of the past century. Since the
turn of the twentieth century, however, only Joseph Bedier, in his
celebrated Legendes epiques, and Ernst Robert Curtius, in a brief
3
article, have published anything more than a passing reference to our
poem.
The plot of Gui de Bourgogne centers upon the activities of
Charlemagne in Spain just prior to the disaster at Roncevaux and thus
1. This edition appears in Volume One of the collection
Anciens poetes de la France, Paris, 1859•
2. The word Gui will be used often in this study as an
abbreviated reference to the epic poem Gui de Bourgogne.
3. Ernst Robert Curtius, "Gui de Bourgogne" in Romanische
Forshungen, Vol. LXI (l9*+3) t pp« .
1
2
forms a part of the cycle du roi. This particular cycle of epics
narrates the great events in the life of Charlemagne. The lively pace
of this early thirteenth-century work and its appealing main theme, the
exploits of the young knights of France on behalf of their beleaguered
fathers in Spain, earned the poem a fine reputation in its own time and
the consideration of specialists on the Middle Ages in the years
following its publication.
The edition of Gui de Bourgogne published by Guessard and
Michelant over one hundred years ago was based primarily upon the
manuscript conserved in the municipal library of the city of Tours in
France. Little is known of the history of the manuscript itself, aside
from the fact that it was conserved in the monastery of Marmoutiers,
near Tours, before becoming part of the collection of the Tours Library.
Marmoutiers was noted for its extensive holdings during the Middle
5
Ages, and thus it is quite possible that the manuscript was conserved
there for centuries prior to its present disposition.
In addition to the "Tours" manuscript, there exists one other
complete manuscript of this chanson, the "London" manuscript, which is
found in the Harley Collection of the British Museum. This manuscript
was the subject for an unpublished doctoral thesis by I. Hall (1962)
at the University of Hull (England) entitled: "Gui de Bourgogne,
chanson de geste. First Critical Edition of the Manuscript Harley 527
b. Of the ^30^ verses in the Guessard-Michelant edition, ^295
are taken from the Tours manuscript and only nine from the London
version.
5. James W. Thompson, The Medieval Library, University of
Chicago Press, 19391 P» 250.
