Suspended Endings: The Mechanics of Medieval Continuation in the Perceval Continuations

The notion of ‘Continuation’ in medieval literature is a familiar one – but it is one which does not know any precise definition. Despite the existence of important texts which take the form of what we nominally call ‘Continuation’, such as Le Roman de la Rose, Le Chevalier de la Charrette and of course the Perceval Continuations, to date no work exists which specifically examines the mechanics and processes involved in actually producing a ‘Continuation’. The existence and importance of ‘Continuation’ as a genre of medieval literature are undeniable, and yet we cannot begin to claim that we fully understand it. This thesis therefore seeks to make the first tentative movements in creating a working model for understanding what some call the Poetics of Continuation, and it does so by means of close and meticulous analysis of the manuscript tradition and content of the Perceval Continuations. The Perceval Continuations (composed c.1200-1230) constitute a vast body of material which incorporates four separately authored Continuations, each of which seeks to further, in some way, the unfinished Perceval of Chrétien de Troyes – though they are not merely responses to his work. Chronologically, they were composed one after the other, and the next in line picks up where the previous left off, thus they respond intertextually to each other as well as to Chrétien, and only one actually furnishes the story as a whole with an ending. As such the Continuations offer an interesting and varied patchwork from whence to begin a study of this kind. By means of a framework of careful methodological design, incorporating theories on what constitutes an ‘end’ and what is ‘unfinished’, alongside scrutiny of other, selected, medieval ‘ends’ and ‘Continuations’, this thesis examines, first, what the manuscript tradition can tell us about the medieval view of ‘Continuation’ in terms of whether the Perceval Continuations seem to have been considered as one homogenous whole, or as several separate œuvres, and second, in terms of content and construction, what kind of ‘Continuation’ each individual text proposes, and how, mechanically, it does so. This analysis culminates in the creation of an efficient working model that aims to facilitate the further study and investigation of other medieval ‘continuatory’ texts

Beyond the Grail:: the roles of objects as psychological markers in Chretien deTroyes's Conte du Graal

Chretien de Troyes's Conte du Graal has long been considered a Bildungsroman. This thesis considers precisely what processes it is that bring about the maturation of Perceval, the hero. It firstly studies Perceval's initial innocence in the first episode of the romance, his meeting with the five knights. Perceval appears to be preoccupied with surface appearance only, being unable to see beyond it and understand true significances. Medieval theories on childhood development and faculty psychology, derived from sources such as Aristotle and Boethius, help to elucidate this seemingly odd behaviour, for a correlation does indeed emerge between these and Perceval's initial fixation on the superficialities of objects. Perceval begins, it seems, at a developmental stage which, for medieval authorities, would correspond to early childhood. That a key to Perceval's development is indeed signalled via the perception of objects, is then shown via an analysis of three further scenes. In the Tent scene, Perceval progresses such that he can now not only perceive objects, he can also recall them and identify familiar objects, such as food. In the Grail Procession, he suddenly becomes able to judge the quality of objects within their universal class, though his preoccupation still remains with surface appearance. However, in the Blood Drops scene, Perceval learns to look beyond superficiality and recognise significance. Thus, Perceval's turning point, we learn, does not occur, as so often suggested, at the Grail Casfie. Rather, medieval developmental theories suggest that ultimate maturity must occur when he, for the first time, acknowledges more than mere superficiality: when he sees the blood drops and understands their higher significance. This equips Perceval with the perceptual tools he requires to understand the Hermit's lesson and presumably, had Chretien finished the romance, look beyond the Grail, understand its meaning and achieve the task

Books Fit for a King: The Presentation Copies of Martin Bucer's De regno Christi (London, British Library, Royal MS. 8 B. VII) and Johannes Sturm's De periodis (Cambridge, Trinity College, II.12.21 and London, British Library, C.24.e.5)

This article discusses the presentation copies of two sixteenth-century works, Martin Bucer’s De regno Christi and Johannes Sturm’s De periodis, both of which were sent in fine copies by Bucer to John Cheke in 1550. The covering letter that accompanied these books survives today at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, whilst the presentation copy of De regno Christi intended for King Edward VI is British Library, Royal MS. 8 B. VII. The circumstances surrounding these books, their production and transmission can be reconstructed in unusual and intriguing detail. This article presents several new and important discoveries, including the identification of the two presentation copies of Sturm’s De periodis mentioned by Bucer in his letter (today London, British Library, C.24.e.5 and Cambridge, Trinity College, II.12.21), as well as the tentative attribution of the binding of Royal MS. 8 B. VII to Bucer’s collaborator, the Strasbourg-based printer Remigius Guidon. An in-depth analysis of these artefacts and their codicological features confirms that TCC II.12.21 was intended for Edward VI, whereas BL C.24.e.5 can be identified, for the first time, as a book designed for and received by Princess Elizabeth. The dynamics governing the production and exchange of presentation copies between the Edwardian court and the Protestant reformers serve to paint a sharply focused picture of Bucer’s activities around 1550, that is, at a key moment of religious change in England

A digital manuscript case study: How publishing theory can advance the practice of manuscript digitization

Using Gérard Genette’’s seminal work on ‘paratexts’ (defined by Genette (1997) as extratextual items which fundamentally influence a reader’s reception of a text, such as, for example, blurbs, jacket designs, prefaces, etc.), this article undertakes a practical enquiry into the ways in which digital media have been used to render the paratexts of medieval manuscripts. Reference to an existing project, Christine de Pizan: the Making of the Queen’s Manuscript, is made so as to form a case study on this area, one that acts representatively, due to its use of software features, methods and tools that have been applied in a number of digital/medieval projects. This case study will constitute a lens for exploring how successfully manuscriptural paratexts are represented by completed digitization projects by applying Genette’s theory of paratextual spaces. The article will then consider some of the latest developments in digital tools for medievalists under the same light so as to see how differently such projects can now be approached. Ultimately, the article will explore how the broader application of publishing theory could move manuscript digitization projects forward because, just as book publishing actually constitutes an exercise in content packaging – which is traditionally the realm of publishing professionals – the process of creating digital manuscripts, and digital editions of medieval texts, represents a closely related undertaking