Jean de Meun (or de Meung, ) () was a French author best known for his continuation of the ''
Roman de la Rose
''Le Roman de la Rose'' (''The Romance of the Rose'') is a medieval poem written in Old French and presented as an allegorical dream vision. As poetry, ''The Romance of the Rose'' is a notable instance of courtly literature, purporting to provid ...
''.
Life
He was born Jean Clopinel or Jean Chopinel at
Meung-sur-Loire
Meung-sur-Loire () is a commune in the Loiret department, north-central France.
It was the site of the Battle of Meung-sur-Loire in 1429.
Geography
Meung-sur-Loire lies 15 km to the west of Orléans on the north bank of the river Loire at ...
. Tradition asserts that he studied at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
. He was, like his contemporary,
Rutebeuf Rutebeuf (or Rustebuef) (fl. 1245 – 1285) was a French trouvère (poet-composers who worked in France's northern dialects).
Early life
He was born in the first half of the 13th century, possibly in Champagne (he describes conflicts in Troyes i ...
, a defender of
Guillaume de Saint-Amour
William of Saint-Amour was an early figure in thirteenth-century scholasticism, chiefly notable for his withering attacks on the friars.
Biography
William was born in Saint-Amour, Jura, then part of the Duchy of Burgundy, in c. 1200. Under the ...
and a bitter critic of the
mendicant orders. Jean de Meung says that in his youth he composed songs that were sung in every public place and school in France.
Most of his life seems to have been spent in Paris, where he possessed, in the Rue Saint-Jacques, a house with a tower, court and garden, which was described in 1305 as the house of the late Jean de Meun, and was then bestowed by a certain Adam d'Andely on the
Dominicans.
He was buried in the now-demolished church of Paris's
Dominican monastery, which was also on Rue Saint-Jacques.
''Roman de la Rose''
In the enumeration of his own works he places first his continuation of the ''Roman de la Rose'' of
Guillaume de Lorris
Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1200c. 1240) was a French scholar and poet from Lorris. He was the author of the first section of the ''Roman de la Rose''. Little is known about him, other than that he wrote the earlier section of the poem around 1230, ...
. The date of this second part (lines 4,089–21,780
) is generally fixed between 1268 and 1285 by a reference in the poem to the death of
Manfred
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
Byr ...
and
Conradin
Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke ...
, executed in 1268 by order of
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...
(d. 1285) who is described as the present king of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. M. F. Guillon (Jean Clopinel, 1903). However, considering the poem primarily as a
political satire
Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...
, places it in the last five years of the 13th century.
Jean de Meun doubtless edited the work of his predecessor, Guillaume de Lorris, before using it as the starting-point of his own vast poem, running to 19,000 lines. The continuation of Jean de Meun is a satire on the monastic orders, on celibacy, on the nobility, the
papal see
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
, the excessive pretensions of royalty, and especially on women and marriage. Guillaume had been the servant of love, and the exponent of the laws of "
courtoisie
Heraldic courtesy or courtoisie (French) is a practice typical of the heraldry of German heraldry, Germany (or more generally the former Holy Roman Empire), in which coats of arms are mirrored if necessary so that animate charge (heraldry), charg ...
"; Jean de Meun added an "art of love," describing with brutality the supposed vices of women and the means by which men may outwit them. Jean de Meun embodied the mocking, sceptical spirit of the
fabliau
A ''fabliau'' (; plural ''fabliaux'') is a comic, often anonymous tale written by jongleurs in northeast France between c. 1150 and 1400. They are generally characterized by sexual and scatological obscenity, and by a set of contrary attitudesâ ...
x. He did not share in current superstitions, he had no respect for established institutions, and he scorned the conventions of feudalism and romance. His poem shows in the highest degree, in spite of the looseness of its plan, the faculty of keen observation, of lucid reasoning and exposition, and it entitles him to be considered the greatest of French medieval poets. He handled the French language with an ease and precision unknown to his predecessors, and the length of his poem was no bar to its popularity in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Part of its vogue was no doubt because the author, who had mastered practically all the scientific and literary knowledge of his contemporaries in France, had found room in his poem for a great amount of useful information and for numerous citations from classical authors. The book was attacked by
Guillaume de Deguileville
Guillaume de Deguileville (1295 - before 1358) was a French Cistercian and writer. His authorship is shown by one acrostic in ''Le Pèlerinage de la Vie Humaine'', two in '' Le Pèlerinage de l'Âme'', and one in ''Le Pèlerinage de Jhesucrist''. ...
in his ''Pèlerinage de la vie humaine'' (), long a favorite work both in England and France, by
Jean Gerson
Jean Charlier de Gerson (13 December 1363 – 12 July 1429) was a 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 Co ...
, and by
Christine de Pisan
Christine de Pizan or Pisan (), born Cristina da Pizzano (September 1364 – c. 1430), was an Italian poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French dukes.
Christine de Pizan served as a court writer in medieval France ...
in her ''Épître au dieu d'amour''. It also found energetic defenders.
Part of Jean's poem was translated into Middle English verse by
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
as ''
The Romaunt of the Rose
''The Romaunt of the Rose'' (''The Romaunt'') is a partial translation into Middle English of the French allegorical poem, ''Le Roman de la Rose'' (''Le Roman''). Originally believed to be the work of Chaucer, ''the Romaunt'' inspired controvers ...
''. The whole poem was translated into Modern English verse by
F. S. Ellis and later by Charles Dahlberg.
Other works
Jean de Meun translated in 1284 the treatise ''
De re militari
''De re militari'' (Latin "Concerning Military Matters"), also ''Epitoma rei militaris'', is a treatise by the Late Latin writer Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus about Roman warfare and military principles as a presentation of the methods and pr ...
'' of
Vegetius
Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also re ...
into French as ''Le livre de Végèce de l'art de chevalerie''. He also produced a spirited version, the first in French, of the letters of
Abélard
Peter Abelard (; french: link=no, Pierre Abélard; la, Petrus Abaelardus or ''Abailardus''; 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, poet, composer and musician. This source has a detailed desc ...
and
Héloïse
Héloïse (; c. 1100–01? – 16 May 1163–64?), variously Héloïse d'ArgenteuilCharrier, Charlotte. Heloise Dans L'histoire Et Dans la Legende. Librairie Ancienne Honore Champion Quai Malaquais, VI, Paris, 1933 or Héloïse du Paraclet, wa ...
. A 14th-century manuscript of this translation in the
Bibliothèque Nationale
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
has annotations by
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
. His translation of the ''
De consolatione philosophiae
''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' ('' la, De consolatione philosophiae'')'','' often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation,'' is a philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius. Written in 523 while he ...
'' of
Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...
is preceded by a letter to
Philip IV Philip IV may refer to:
* Philip IV of Macedon (died 297 BC)
* Philip IV of France (1268–1314), Avignon Papacy
* Philip IV of Burgundy or Philip I of Castile (1478–1506)
* Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1542–1602)
* Philip IV of Spain ...
in which he enumerates his earlier works, two of which are lost: ''De spirituelle amitié'' from the ''De spirituali amicitia'' of
Aelred of Rievaulx
Aelred of Rievaulx ( la, Aelredus Riaevallensis); also Ailred, Ælred, and Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English Cistercian monk, abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death, and known as a writer. He is regarded by Anglicans a ...
(d. 1166), and the ''Livre des merveilles d'Hirlande'' from the ''
Topographia Hibernica
''Topographia Hibernica'' (Latin for ''Topography of Ireland''), also known as ''Topographia Hiberniae'', is an account of the landscape and people of Ireland written by Gerald of Wales around 1188, soon after the Norman invasion of Ireland. ...
'', or ''De Mirabilibus Hiberniae'' of
Giraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...
(Gerald de Barri). His last poems are doubtless his ''Testament'' and ''Codicille''. The ''Testament'' is written in
quatrain
A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.
Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...
s in
monorhyme Monorhyme is a passage, stanza, or entire poem in which all lines have the same end rhyme. The term "monorhyme" describes the use of one ( mono) type of repetitious sound (rhyme). This is common in Arabic, Latin and Welsh work, such as ''The Book of ...
, and contains advice to the different classes of the community.
Notes
References
* Comprehensive bibliography o
Arlima (Archives de littérature du Moyen Âge)* Fyler, John, ''Language and the Declining World in Chaucer, Dante, and Jean de Meun'' (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), Pp. cii, 306.
External links
*
*
*
*
Roman de la Rose Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meun, Jean de
1240 births
1305 deaths
People from Loiret
French fantasy writers
13th-century French writers
French male poets
French male novelists
13th-century French poets