Gualterus Anglicus

Last updated

Aesopus constructus etc., 1495 edition with metrical version of Fabulae Lib. I-IV by Anonymus Neveleti Aesopus - Aesopus constructus, 1495.tiff
Aesopus constructus etc., 1495 edition with metrical version of Fabulae Lib. I-IV by Anonymus Neveleti

Gualterus Anglicus (Medieval Latin for Walter the Englishman [1] ) was an Anglo-Norman poet and scribe who produced a seminal version of Aesop's Fables (in distichs) around the year 1175.

Contents

Identification of the author

This author was earlier called the Anonymus Neveleti, referring to attribution in the seventeenth-century Mythologia Aesopica of Isaac Nicholas Nevelet. The name Walter (Latin Gualterus) was produced by Léopold Hervieux, [2] on the basis of manuscript evidence, and he went on to identify the author as Walter of the Mill, archbishop of Palermo from 1168 onwards. Scholars have disputed this second step of identification; [3] it may no longer be supported. [4] The entire attribution is attacked. [5]

The collection and its influence

This collection of 62 fables is more accurately called the verse Romulus, [6] or elegiac Romulus (from its elegiac couplets). Given the uncertainty over the authorship, these terms are used in scholarly works.

There is an earlier prose version of Romulus , also; [7] [8] it has been dated as early as the tenth century, [9] or the sixth century. [10] It is adapted from Phaedrus; the initial fable "The Cock and the Jewel", supposedly the reply of Phaedrus to his critics, [10] marks out fable collections originating from this source. Walter changed the "jewel" from a pearl to jasper. [11] [12]

The verse Romulus formed the mainstream versions of medieval 'Aesop'. [13] It is thought to be the version used by Dante. [14] It with Ovid influenced the Doligamus of Adolphus of Vienna  [ de ]. [15]

When John Lydgate produced Isopes Fabules, the first fable collection written in English, the verse Romulus was a major source. [16] Particularly sophisticated use of this fable tradition is made later in the 15th century in Robert Henryson's Morall Fabillis , written in Scots. [17] [18] [19] [20]

Early printed editions appeared under the title Aesopus moralisatus, around 1500.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aesop's Fables</span> Collection of fables credited to Aesop

Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular as well as artistic media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Henryson</span> 15th-century Scottish makar (poet)

Robert Henryson was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460–1500. Counted among the Scots makars, he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the Northern Renaissance at a time when the culture was on a cusp between medieval and renaissance sensibilities. Little is known of his life, but evidence suggests that he was a teacher who had training in law and the humanities, that he had a connection with Dunfermline Abbey and that he may also have been associated for a period with Glasgow University. His poetry was composed in Middle Scots at a time when this was the state language. His writing consists mainly of narrative works. His surviving body of work amounts to almost 5000 lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fox and the Grapes</span> One of Aesops fables

The Fox and the Grapes is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 15 in the Perry Index. The narration is concise and subsequent retellings have often been equally so. The story concerns a fox that tries to eat grapes from a vine but cannot reach them. Rather than admit defeat, he states they are undesirable. The expression "sour grapes" originated from this fable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Frog and the Ox</span> Aesops fable about a frog

The Frog and the Ox appears among Aesop's Fables and is numbered 376 in the Perry Index. The story concerns a frog that tries to inflate itself to the size of an ox, but bursts in the attempt. It has usually been applied to socio-economic relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lion and the Mouse</span> Aesops fable

The Lion and the Mouse is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 150 in the Perry Index. There are also Eastern variants of the story, all of which demonstrate mutual dependence regardless of size or status. In the Renaissance the fable was provided with a sequel condemning social ambition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse</span> Fable by Aesop

"The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" is one of Aesop's Fables. It is number 352 in the Perry Index and type 112 in Aarne–Thompson's folk tale index. Like several other elements in Aesop's fables, "town mouse and country mouse" has become an English idiom.

Walter Ophamil or Offamil, italianised as Gualtiero Offamiglio or Offamilio from Latin Ophamilius, was the archdeacon of Cefalù, dean of Agrigento, and archbishop of Palermo (1168–1191), called "il primo ministro", the first minister of the crown. He came to Sicily with Peter of Blois and Stephen du Perche at the direction of Rotrou, Archbishop of Rouen, cousin of Queen Margaret of Navarre, originally as a tutor to the royal children of William I of Sicily and Margaret. His mother was Bona, a patron of the Abbey of Cluny and a devota et fidelis nostra of the king in 1172. His father is unknown. From his name he was long thought to be an Englishman but this interpretation is now rejected in favour of ophamilius referring to Walter as William II's protofamiliaris, the senior confidant of the king in his royal household, the familiaris regis.

The Auctores octo morales was a collection of Latin textbooks, of an elementary standard, that was used for pedagogy in the Middle Ages in Europe. It was printed in many editions, from the end of the fifteenth century. At that time it became standardised as:

  1. Distichs of Cato
  2. Eclogue of Theodulus
  3. Facetus: Liber Faceti docens mores iuvenum
  4. De contemptu mundi
  5. Liber Floretus
  6. Matthew of Vendôme, Tobias
  7. Alan of Lille, Doctrinale altum parabolarum
  8. Aesop, version attributed to Gualterus Anglicus.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tortoise and the Birds</span> Fable of probable folk origin

The Tortoise and the Birds is a fable of probable folk origin, early versions of which are found in both India and Greece. There are also African variants. The moral lessons to be learned from these differ and depend on the context in which they are told.

Romulus is the author, now considered a legendary figure, of versions of Aesop's Fables in Latin. These were passed down in Western Europe, and became important school texts, for early education. Romulus is supposed to have lived in the 5th century.

<i>The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian</i> Fables by fifteenth century Scottish poet, Robert Henryson

The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian is a work of Northern Renaissance literature composed in Middle Scots by the fifteenth century Scottish makar, Robert Henryson. It is a cycle of thirteen connected narrative poems based on fables from the European tradition. The drama of the cycle exploits a set of complex moral dilemmas through the figure of animals representing a full range of human psychology. As the work progresses, the stories and situations become increasingly dark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aesop</span> Ancient Greek storyteller

Aesop was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. Many of the tales associated with him are characterized by anthropomorphic animal characters.

<i>The Cock and the Jasp</i>

"The Taill of the Cok and the Jasp" is a Middle Scots version of Aesop's Fable The Cock and the Jewel by the 15th-century Scottish poet Robert Henryson. It is the first in Henryson's collection known as the Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian. The Cok and the Jasp is framed by a prologue and a moralitas, and as the first poem in the collection it operates on a number of levels, and in all its parts, to introduce the larger cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cock and the Jewel</span> Aesops fable

The Cock and the Jewel is a fable attributed to Aesop and is numbered 503 in the Perry Index. As a trope in literature, the fable is reminiscent of stories used in Zen such as the kōan. It presents, in effect, a riddle on relative values and is capable of different interpretations, depending on the point of view from which it is regarded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fox, the Wolf and the Husbandman</span> Poem by the 15th-century Scottish Robert Henryson

The Fox, the Wolf and the Husbandman is a poem by the 15th-century Scottish poet Robert Henryson and part of his collection of moral fables known as the Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian. It is written in Middle Scots. As with the other tales in the collection, appended to it is a moralitas which elaborates on the moral that the fable is supposed to contain. However, the appropriateness of the moralitas for the tale itself has been questioned.

"The Paddock and the Mouse" is a poem by the 15th-century Scottish poet Robert Henryson and part of his collection of moral fables known as the Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian. It is written in Middle Scots. As with the other tales in the collection, appended to it is a moralitas which elaborates on the moral that the fable is supposed to contain.

<i>The Frog and the Mouse</i> Aesops fable

The Frog and the Mouse is one of Aesop's Fables and exists in several versions. It is numbered 384 in the Perry Index. There are also Eastern versions of uncertain origin which are classified as Aarne-Thompson type 278, concerning unnatural relationships. The stories make the point that the treacherous are destroyed by their own actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dog and the Sheep</span> Aesops fable

The Dog and the Sheep is one of Aesop’s Fables and is numbered 478 in the Perry Index. Originally its subject was the consequence of bearing false witness. However, longer treatments of the story during the Middle Ages change the focus to deal with perversions of justice by the powerful at the expense of the poor. It has sometimes been alternatively titled The Wolf, the Dog and the Sheep in order to distinguish it from the fable of the dispute between the sheep and the dog that guards them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Kite and the Doves</span> Aesops fable

The Kite and the Doves is a political fable ascribed to Aesop that is numbered 486 in the Perry Index. During the Middle Ages the fable was modified by the introduction of a hawk as an additional character, followed by a change in the moral drawn from it.

References

Notes

  1. Galterus, Gualtherus Anglicus, Waltarius; Walter the Englishman, Walter of England, Walther; Gauthier or Gautier l'Anglais; Anonyme de Nevelet.
  2. In Les fabulistes latins depuis le siècle d'Auguste jusqu'à la fin du Moyen-Age, 1893-4.
  3. L. J. A. Loewenthal, For the Biography of Walter Ophamil, Archhishop of Palermo, The English Historical Review, Vol. 87, No. 342 (Jan., 1972), pp. 75-82.
  4. Bruno W. Häuptli (2005). "Walter von Palermo (Gualtiero di Palermo, Gautier de Palerme, Gualterius Palermitanus; angeblich auch: Waltherus Anglicus, Gualtiero Anglico, Gualterus Ophamilius, Walter of Mill, Gualtiero Offamilio)". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 25. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 1447–1453. ISBN   3-88309-332-7.
  5. Cataldo Roccaro, Sull'autore dell'Aesopus comunemente attribuito a Gualtiero Anglico, Pan: studi dell'Istituto di Filologia Latina, Università degli Studi, Palermo 17 (1999).
  6. "Ph. Renault - Fable et tradition ésopique". Bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be. 14 June 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  7. Laura Gibbs (29 December 2002). "Medieval Latin Online (University of Oklahoma)". Mythfolklore.net. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  8. A. G. Rigg, History of Anglo-Latin Literature, 1066-1422 (1992) states that 58 of the 62 tales were from Phaedrus, via the prose Latin of 'Romulus'.
  9. John MacQueen, Complete and Full with Numbers: The Narrative Poetry of Robert Henryson (2006), p. 15.
  10. 1 2 "Illinois Medieval Association". Luc.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  11. "Notes". Luc.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  12. Fabulae (Aesopus) - 1. De gallo et iaspide
  13. R. Howard Bloch, The Anonymous Marie de France (2006), p. 122.
  14. Ronald L. Durling, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno (1997), notes to Canto 23.4-6, p. 354.
  15. "Thesaurus Exemplorum Medii Aevi - Doligamus". Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  16. Edward Wheatley, Mastering Aesop: Medieval Education, Chaucer, and His Followers, p. 125.
  17. Annabel M. Patterson, Fables of Power: Aesopian Writing and Political History (1991), p. 31.
  18. "The Morall Fabillis, Notes". Lib.rochester.edu. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  19. "note 14". Luc.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  20. "The Morall Fabillis: Introduction". Lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2014.