Jean Gerson
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| - | The '''''Roman de la rose''''' is a [[medieval French poem]] styled as an [[allegory|allegorical]] [[dream vision]]. It is a notable instance of [[Courtly love#Literary convention|courtly literature]]. The work's stated purpose is to both entertain and to teach others about the Art of Love. At various times in the poem, the "Rose" of the title is seen as the name of the lady, and as a symbol of [[Human female sexuality|female sexuality]] in general. Likewise, the other characters' names function both as regular names and as abstractions illustrating the various factors that are involved in a [[love affair]]. | ||
| - | ==History== | + | '''Jean Charlier de Gerson''' ([[December 13]], [[1363]] – [[July 12]], [[1429]]), [[France|French]] scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, chancellor of the [[University of Paris]], a guiding light of the [[conciliar movement]] and one of the most prominent theologians at the [[Council of Constance]], was born at the village of [[Gerson]], in the [[bishopric of Reims]] in [[Champagne, France|Champagne]]. |
| - | The poem was written in two stages. The first 4058 lines, written by [[Guillaume de Lorris]] circa 1230, describe the attempts of a [[courtier]] to woo his beloved. This part of the story is set in a walled garden or ''[[locus amoenus]]'', one of the traditional ''[[Literary_topos|topoi]]'' of [[Epic poetry|epic]] and [[Chivalry|chivalric literature]]. In this walled garden, the interior represents romance, while the exterior stands for everyday life. It is unclear whether Lorris considered his version to be incomplete, but it was generally viewed as such. Around 1275, [[Jean de Meun]] composed an additional 17,724 lines. Jean's discussion of love is considered more [[Philosophy|philosophical]] and encyclopedic, but also more [[Misogyny|misogynistic]] and bawdy. The writer [[Denis de Rougemont]] felt that the first part of the poem portrayed Rose as an idealised figure, while the second part portrayed her as a more physical and sensual being. Still, much recent scholarship has argued for the essential unity of the work, which is how it was received by later medieval readers. | + | His parents, Arnulphe Charlier and Élisabeth de la Chardenière, "a second [[Monica of Hippo|Monica]]," were pious peasants, and seven of their twelve children, four daughters and three sons, devoted themselves to a religious life. Young Gerson was sent to [[Paris, France|Paris]] to the famous [[college of Navarre]] when fourteen years of age. After a five years' course he obtained the degree of licentiate of arts, and then began his theological studies under two very celebrated teachers, Gilles des Champs ([[Aegidius Campensis]]) and [[Pierre d'Ailly]] (''Petrus de Alliaco''), rector of the [[college of Navarre]], chancellor of the university, and afterwards [[bishop of Puy]], [[archbishop of Cambrai]] and [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]]. Pierre d'Ailly remained his life-long friend, and in later life the pupil seems to have become the teacher (see preface to ''Liber de vita Spir. Animae''). |
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| - | ==Reception== | + | |
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| - | The work was both very popular and very controversial — one of the most widely read works in France for three centuries, it survives in hundreds of [[illuminated manuscript|illuminated manuscripts]]. The popularity of the work is especially notable because it predated the [[Johannes Gutenberg|Gutenberg]] [[printing press]] by some two hundred years. Still, its emphasis on sensual language and imagery provoked attacks by [[Jean Gerson]], [[Christine de Pizan]] and many other writers and [[moralist]]s of the 14th and 15th centuries. | + | |
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| - | ==Translation and influence== | + | |
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| - | Part of the story was translated from its original [[Old French]] into [[Middle English]] as ''[[The Romaunt of the Rose]]'', which had a great influence on [[English literature]]. [[Chaucer]] was familiar with the original French text, and a portion of the Middle English translation is thought to be his work. [[C. S. Lewis]]'s 1936 study ''[[The Allegory of Love]]'' renewed interest in the poem. | + | |
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| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | * [[Romance (genre)]] | + | |
| - | * [[Courtly love]] | + | |
| - | * [[Courtly literature]] | + | |
| - | *[[Allegory in the Middle Ages]] | + | |
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Jean Charlier de Gerson (December 13, 1363 – July 12, 1429), French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Council of Constance, was born at the village of Gerson, in the bishopric of Reims in Champagne.
His parents, Arnulphe Charlier and Élisabeth de la Chardenière, "a second Monica," were pious peasants, and seven of their twelve children, four daughters and three sons, devoted themselves to a religious life. Young Gerson was sent to Paris to the famous college of Navarre when fourteen years of age. After a five years' course he obtained the degree of licentiate of arts, and then began his theological studies under two very celebrated teachers, Gilles des Champs (Aegidius Campensis) and Pierre d'Ailly (Petrus de Alliaco), rector of the college of Navarre, chancellor of the university, and afterwards bishop of Puy, archbishop of Cambrai and cardinal. Pierre d'Ailly remained his life-long friend, and in later life the pupil seems to have become the teacher (see preface to Liber de vita Spir. Animae).
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