The Medieval French Alexander

by Maddox, Donald; Sturm-Maddox, Sara

• ISBN13: 9780791454435
• ISBN10: 0791454436
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Alexander the Great was one of the legendary Nine Worthies in the medieval canon of ancient and modern heroes, and medieval writers exploited his legend in a wide variety of literary and didactic texts. Addressing the classical legacy to the Middle Ages as expressed in four centuries of vernacular narratives, this volume offers the first systematic collective study of Alexander the Great's thematic prominence in medieval culture. Contributors from Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States combine sensitive textual analyses with perspectives from such diverse fields as art history, codicology, anthropology, sociology, the history of mentalities, and postcolonial theory.

Author Biography

Donald Maddox is Professor of French and Italian Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
List of Abbreviations	ix
Introduction: Alexander the Great in the French Middle Ages	1	(16)
Donald Maddox
Sara Sturm-Maddox
Chronology	17	(4)
The Prologue to the Historia de Preliis: A Pagan Model of Spiritual Struggle	21	(8)
Michel Zink
The Raid on Gaza in Alexandre de Paris's Romance	29	(10)
Emmanuele Baumgartner
Alexander's Clergie	39	(18)
Douglas Kelly
Alexander and Aristotle in the French Alexander Romances	57	(18)
Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas
Alexander's Gabs	75	(14)
Francois Suard
``Mout est proz e vassaus'' / ``Mout es corteis'': Vasselage and Courtesy in the Roman d'Alexandre	89	(22)
Rupert T. Pickens
``A paine a on bon arbre de malvaise rais'': Counsel for Kings in the Roman d'Alexandre	111	(16)
William W. Kibler
Giving Fiefs and Honor: Largesse, Avarice, and the Problem of ``Feudalism'' in Alexander's Testament	127	(16)
Stephen D. White
Take the World by Prose: Modes of Possession in the Roman d'Alexandre	143	(18)
Michelle R. Warren
Alexander and Caesar in the Faits des Romains	161	(14)
Catherine Croizy-Naquet
Alexander the Great as the Icon of Perfection in the Epigones of the Roman d'Alexandre (1250-1450): The Utilitas of the Ideal Prince	175	(18)
Martin Gosman
Ekphrasis and Memory in the Fourteenth-Century Parfait du Paon	193	(10)
Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski
Conquering Alexander: Perceforest and the Alexandrian Tradition	203	(16)
Michelle Szkilnik
Alexander Amoroso: Rethinking Alexander in the Roman de Perceforest	219	(16)
Jane H. M. Taylor
From Alexander to Marco Polo, from Text to Image: The Marvels of India	235	(24)
Laurence Harf-Lancner
``Codices manuscriptos nudos tenemus'': Alexander and the New Codicology	259	(16)
Keith Busby
List of Contributors	275	(4)
Index	279