''Pontus and Sidonia'' (French: ''Ponthus et la belle Sidonie'' or just ''Ponthus et Sidoine'') is a medieval prose romance, originally composed in French in ca. 1400, possibly by Geoffroy IV de la Tour Landry (d. 1391) or by another member of the La Tour family. It is about Pontus, the son of the

king of Galicia Galicia is an autonomous community and historical nationality in modern-day northwestern Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, which was a major part of the Roman province known as Gallaecia prior to 409. It consists of the provinces of A Coruña, ...

, who falls in love with Sidonia, daughter of the king of Brittany. The text is associated with the lords of La Tour because it derives the ancestors of that family, whose ancestral possessions were in Brittany, from members of the train of prince Pontus. The story is based on an earlier work, the

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...

Horn et Rimenhild ''Romance of Horn'' is an Anglo-Norman literature ''romans d'aventure'' ("adventure story") tale written around 1170 by an author apparently named "Thomas".Judith Weiss, "Thomas and the Earl: Literary and Historical Contexts for the ''Romance of Ho ...

'' (ca. 1180). Several German translations were made during the 15th century (viz., in the period corresponding to the final phase of

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

or the formative phase of

Early New High German Early New High German (ENHG) is a term for the period in the history of the German language generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650. The term is the standard translation of the German (Fnhd., Frnhd.), introduce ...

). There is a surviving version in

Alemannic German Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (''Alemannisch'', ), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alamanni ("all men"). Distribution Alemannic dialects are spoken by approxim ...

, possibly written in the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ...

, dated to between 1440 and 1460, and another version in

Moselle Franconian __NOTOC__ Moselle Franconian (german: Moselfränkisch, lb, Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian dialects, Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish. It is spoken in the southe ...

, probably written in the region of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. Another translation of the French text was made by Eleanor, Archduchess of Austria (1433–1480). Two English translations appeared within a century: an anonymous one in 1450, and one by Henry Watson in 1501 and 1511. A late medieval Dutch translation ' survived in an edition printed by Niclaes vanden Wouwere in Antwerp in 1564.

References

*Danielle Buschinger, 'Das deutsche Mittelalter im Frankreich der Gegenwart ', in: Eva Dewes, Sandra Duhem (eds.), ''Kulturelles Gedächtnis und interkulturelle Rezeption im europäischen Kontext'', 2008, , p. 237. *Karin Schneider, (ed.), ''Pontus und Sidonia in der Verdeutschung eines Ungenannten aus dem 15. Jahrhundert'', Texte des späten Mittelalters 14, Berlin 1961. *Paul Wüst, ''Die deutschen Prosaromane von Pontus und Sidonia'', Marburg, 1903.

External links

{{commons category
Cod. Pal. germ. 142: "Pontus und Sidonia"

''Die historie van Ponthus ende die schoone Sidonie''

"Ponthus et la belle Sidoine"
1400 books Medieval French romances German literature of the Late Middle Ages Courtly love