The discovery of Merlin’s spirit within the trinity of Robert de Boron’s Le Roman de L’estorie dou Graal

Before I wrote about Robert de Boron’s text, a purpose of this paper was to examine the literary background of Merlin’s character to search for his connection with any mystical powers, which would validate his commanding role as a facilitator in Robert’s Merlin section of his romance, a role in which I claim he has been given the powers of the Holy Trinity by God. I also wanted to explore the history of cauldrons and other ancient vessels to link determine if I could find any literary base to the Grail Robert assigns to Jesus Christ. I wanted to further investigate the life and times of Robert as well. Because he wrote at the end of the Twelfth Century, not much is known about the man, so I hoped to consider how his life and times may have impacted his work. With the text itself, I wanted to emphasize Merlin’s central role as narrator and facilitator assigned to provide a safe transition for the Grail from keeper to keeper to prove my claim about Merlin’s power. The results of my research proved beyond my expectations that Merlin’s literary ancestor, Myrddin from Celtic tales did, in fact, hold developing mystical talents such as levitation and invisibility, the exact type of precursor that would validate his service. Discovering how cauldrons and other containers were used in ancient religious rites of people from lands that extended far beyond Robert’s home in France proved to be rather surprising. These containers referenced in myths suggest life-giving forces of rebirth, some having agency to choose those who are worthy to eat or drink from the vessel. Finally, a study of Robert’s home brought the research to the time of the Crusades when many lives were lost, a time when his audience would be joyous to accept a holy relic like the Grail of Jesus as their own. With this human history providing background for the story of the Grail itself, its value to Christianity becomes palpable as Robert brings the story to England and to the lands of King Arthur under the guidance of Merlin who worked through the grace of God

Substance and Providence in the Old French Theological Romance

The doctrine of divine providence was considered fundamental to understanding the nature of reality in medieval Christian orthodoxy. One of our greatest modern impediments to proper understanding of this law are the radically different ontologies that flourished in the Latin West through the recuperation of Ancient thought, most notably in the divisions between the Platonists and the Aristotelians. Whereas Biblical exegesis owed more to Augustine\u27s Platonism, the rise of Aristotelian thought in the university curriculum entailed a serious threat to the doctrine of providence. The translation and dissemination of Islamic Aristotelians revealed an almost identical challenge to Islamic orthodoxy on the same matter. Philosophical, and especially ontological, speculation on the nature of substance (ontology) was therefore fertile ground for heresy. The main works under examination are the anonymous Queste del Saint Graal and the continuation of the Roman de la Rose by Jean de Meun. Deeply imbued with Augustinian figuralism and Biblical history, the Queste strongly distinguishes itself from the rest of the Lancelot en Prose, most notably La Mort le Roi Artu, in its theological purpose. It also shows a clever reworking of its source materials (Chrétien de Troyes and continuators, Robert de Boron, Perlesvaus) and an attempt to re-write the grail literature in its most sophisticated and orthodox formulation. By contrast, Jean de Meun\u27s Rose continuation is fraught with heresy and obscenity as he denounces the corrupt practices of the mendicant orders and marks his clear preference for the University of Paris\u27s secular masters (ca. 1270). Analyzing the question of ontology within the work, one notices heresies that originate in the Islamic reception of Aristotle, and which resulted in the large-scale condemnations within the decade of the continuation\u27s composition. While strikingly different in tone and purpose, the Queste and the Rose are theological romances that use the concept of providence to explain the special place of man. While the former offers an explanation based on church sacramental practices, the latter offers an extreme naturalism with an Arab-inflected Boethius as its principal source

Magistra Doctissima: Essays in Honor of Bonnie Wheeler

The editors of this volume use its title to honor Bonnie Wheeler for her many scholarly achievements and to celebrate her wide-ranging contributions to medieval studies in the United States. There are sections on Old and Middle English Literature, Arthuriana Then and Now, Joan of Arc Then and Now, Nuns and Spirituality, and Royal Women. As the editors note in the introduction, the volume confirms Bonnie\u27s commitment to the multidisciplinary study of the Middle Ages and affirms her conviction that the medieval and the modern are best viewed not as \u27the past\u27 and \u27the present\u27 but as interpenetrative categories.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_fopl/1000/thumbnail.jp

Different Attitudes to Esotericism in Peter Ackroyd's and Dan Brown's Novels

In this doctoral dissertation, two differing approaches to the fictional utilisation of esoteric motifs are compared in the selected novels by contemporary British writer Peter Ackroyd and American writer Dan Brown. They represent contemporary Anglophone literature and draw their inspiration from a similar pool of esoteric ideas. On the one hand, Peter Ackroyd’s profound obsession with Englishness and the English literary tradition positions him as a visionary literary figure among fiction writers. By employing anti-realist methods, he offers brand new looks through his transcendental interpretations of both existent and non-existent events and characters from English literary history and culture. In contrast, Dan Brown uses conspiratorial accounts of existing religio-cultural (hi)stories and presents them as alternative historical narrations. These variables underlie the authors’ unique ways of representing occult ideas in their literary endeavours. Being the products of the latest centuries, the novels under study can be categorised within the realms of postmodern literature, with realist elements in Dan Brown’s works. Contemporary literature significantly benefits from the diverse array of occult practices, presented in particularly intriguing manner. Therefore, the primary objective of this dissertation is to explore the use of such esoteric conventions in the contemporary literary contexts crafted by these two widely acclaimed authors. Through the analysis of selected novels by Peter Ackroyd and Dan Brown, my research postulates the questions of how and to what extent esoteric motifs affect the historiography in Peter Ackroyd’s novels and the factual aspects of Dan Brown’s fictions. Furthermore, I aim to identify the motivations that drive these authors to take resources in esotericism. I believe that the findings to these inquiries will help in filling the existing gap in the comparative study of Peter Ackroyd’s and Dan Brown’s novels and contribute to the broader exploration of contemporary literary representations of esotericism

Archaeology after the End of history

This paper offers a survey of the rapid changes observed in the field of archaeological theory in the last 20 years or so; in the midst of cataclysmic changes in the way scholars, and the public at large, attempt to comprehend the past, archaeologists have learnt to trust significantly less their valuable raw data and "facts", in favour of more nuanced accounts allowing for the complexity of the phenomena they study. More to the point, they slowly realise that, as historians, they are internal to the problems under their scrutiny

Christianity and Social Power in the Works of John Arden, British Dramatist.

This dissertation examines the subject of political and social power in the plays and prose of John Arden and selected works co-authored by Arden and his wife, Margaretta D\u27Arcy. Particular focus is given to the institution of Christianity and how it may either be used as a tool for the maintenance of established authority or as a vehicle for rebellion. Arden\u27s collected essays, along with a personal interview conducted in August of 1990, provide the starting point for a discussion of four specific works, pieces in which Arden most closely explores the political involvement of Christianity. These four works, The Business of Good Government (1963 by Arden and D\u27Arcy), The Island of the Mighty (1973 by Arden and D\u27Arcy), Whose is the Kingdom? (1973 by Arden and D\u27Arcy), and The Books of Bale (1988 by Arden), serve as the bases of this study\u27s individual chapters and are examined chronologically to reveal how Arden\u27s theory of history and social power has developed over the course of his literary career. John Arden has used Christian communities and their myths to explain a three-sided power struggle which he believes recurs throughout the history of Western society. Arden identifies different forces vying for power: established authorities, rebellious anti-authoritarian forces, and the victimized, indigenous underclasses. This historical model first appears in Serjeant Musgrave\u27s Dance (1960), develops throughout Arden\u27s partnership with Margaretta D\u27Arcy, and finally receives its fullest and most detailed expression in the historical novel, The Books of Bale. Throughout his career, Arden has attempted to balance his urge to criticize and censure the social process with his genuine faith in mankind\u27s redemptive and creative potential--a paradox that has led many critics to find his work difficult to categorize. In sum, Arden\u27s artistic development is marked by a nagging social conscience, one that severely indicts the institution of Western civilization. Nonetheless, Arden\u27s stridency is ultimately checked by a deep-rooted optimism in the perseverance and indomitable nature of the common man

The moral code of chivalry as reflected in Malory's Morte Darthur

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston Universityhttps://archive.org/details/moralcodeofchiva00gil

Spartan Daily, October 28, 1982

Volume 79, Issue 43https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/6955/thumbnail.jp