The King of Tars

Last updated

The King of Tars is a medieval English chivalric romance, an amplified version of the oldest variant found in the Reimchronik, which is found in three manuscripts including the Auchinleck manuscript. [1] It dates from c. 1330, or perhaps earlier. [2] It contains many specific religious phrases, and is consistently religious in intent. [1] In addition, The King of Tars exhibits attributes of other genres typical of the medieval period, including hagiography, political drama, and miracle tale. [2]

Contents

Synopsis

The king of Tars refuses the proposal from the pagan king of Damas (Damascus) to marry the princess of Tars, but after the king of Damas wages war on the land of Tars, slaughtering numerous Christian knights, the princess agrees to marry him to prevent further conflict. The couple does not wed directly after the princess reaches the Sultan's palace, however, since she has not yet converted to his pagan faith (and he refuses to convert to Christianity). On her very first night away from her family, the princess, lying alone in her bed, dreams of a hundred black hounds, each barking at her simultaneously. Afraid to push any of them away for fear of being bitten, the princess attempts to flee, only to approach three devils, each “brent as a drake” (burnt as a dragon). [3] Just as it seems all hope is lost, one of the black hounds transforms before her eyes into Jesus Christ, dressed in a white surcoat, and promises her that she need not dread anything of Ternagaunt (Saracen trinity's version of the Father) or Mahoun (Muhammad). In lines 452-453, Christ claims that “Thi Lord that suffered passioun / Schal help thee at thi nede.” [3] The princess arises from the dream, unclothed and vulnerable in her bed, but comforted by Christ's message. After being taken to the Sultan's temple—a room strewn with idols ranging from that of the Islamic prophet Muhammad to Jove, Jupiter, and Apollo (from Greco-Roman mythology)-- the princess is forced to convert to her husband's pagan religion, during which time she pays lip service to the king's gods and secretly continues to practise her own religion. Soon they conceive, and the princess gives birth to a formless child, and each blames the other's false religion. The king and the princess agree to pray to their respective deities to restore their child to beauty and health. The Sultan's prayers are fruitless, so the princess demands that a Christian priest be freed from the king's prison. With the priest's baptism, the child is transformed, and the king converts to Christianity and is himself physically transformed from black-skinned to white-skinned. He sends for the King of Tars to help him convert his kingdom to Christianity, and a violent conversion battle ensues. The final stanzas of the poem depict the king of Tars and the converted king of Damas fighting pagan kings side by side. [4]

Genre

"The King of Tars" defies simple classification to a single genre because it incorporates elements of many genres, namely romance and hagiography, though the text also includes accounts of politics and marvels that further complicate its categorization. [5]

Motifs

This romance appears to have influenced Le Bone Florence of Rome , where the heroine's kingdom is also attacked by a rebuffed suitor. [6] In that case, the reluctance springs from his age, and the work is less consistently religious. [7]

The deformed child is also in common with the romance Theseus of Cologne, where rivals use the child to accuse the queen of adultery, but the child is also restored by miracle. [8]

Race and Religion

Discussion on race in The King of Tars tends to focus on the Sultan's transformation from black to white as a result of his conversion from Islam to Christianity (lines 922-924). [9] According to editor John H. Chandler, this moment is one of the most commented-on passages of the poem. [10] Some critics interpret this moment as an implication of white superiority and blackness as sin, as the sultan's new white skin is described as "clere withouten blame" (line 924). [11] More recently, scholars have begun to discuss how race operates in the poem in less visible ways. For example, at the beginning of The King of Tars (lines 10-16), [9] the description of the princess seems to connect her to white European beauty standards; however, it is likely that the princess is actually of Mongol descent. [12] Scholars have pointed to the text's use of race as a means of discerning other forms of identity. Siobhain Bly Calkin argues that race and racial change in The King of Tars point to a desire for bodily determination of biological, social, and religious identity. [13] It is also important to note that the poet of The King of Tars, likely of Christian faith, is ambiguous about the Sultan's exact religion. [14] The term "Saracen" is used as a catch-all for all non-Christian religions, as the Sultan is shown praising both Greek and Roman gods (Jove, Apollo, and Jupiter), and Islamic figures (the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who is mistaken for a god throughout the text). [3] Other analyses of The King of Tars have posited that the text's racial conversion of the sultan, along with the bodily transformation of the formless child, ascribes spiritual superiority to Christianity, in that it has the spiritual power to affect the physical world in ways that other religions cannot. [15]

Religion and The Idea of The Other

One of the main ideas that can be discerned from The King of Tars is the idea of religious difference, [16] and really how the work shows how it would not be so clear cut to distinguish a Saracen from a Christian [13] based on physical appearance alone. One of the main concerns with Christians during this period was the mixing of religions, and especially that of the Saracens, which were dealt with rather violently. [17] The King of Tars also uses several tropes that are often associated with Christian men, and applies them to the Saracen Sultan, such as the Sultan having the desire to go to war over a princess. [16] The King of Tars also tries to point out the similar characteristics of Christians and Saracens, such as when the Sultan desires the princess to convert to his laws before they can be wed, which is a process that also becomes confusing, as the Princess visually converts and becomes a Saracen, but spiritually does not, which further complicates the dilemma of being able to tell a person's religion based on their physical actions and traits. [16] It is also important to note that the conversion of the Sultan, as previously mentioned, also changed his skin color, which is a further complication of the association of biological traits and religion. [16] It is important also to note that this work was composed during a time of crusading, and also a time in which non-Christians were often systematically targeted, and also it is important to note how relations between Christians and non-Christians were incredibly tense, [18] which can be seen in the story when the offspring of the Sultan and Princess is born as a formless blob, showing what the author thought would occur when Christians and Saracens had relationships [16]

Baptism

Baptism in The King of Tars has transformative powers. [2] Prior to baptism, the lump-child is described ambiguously using the word "it" (line 776) and appears to lack human-like features (lines 575-585). [4] Immediately following the conversion, the child is identified according to its male gender (using the word "he") and is transformed into a functional human being with defined characteristics (line 780). [4] Thus, it is only through baptism that the child is given identity, life and form. [4] While the Sultan's gods did not have the ability to provide the child with form, Christianity had the power to do so. [4] Baptism is also the mechanism through which the sultan transitions from "blac and lothely" (line 922) to "Al white bicom thurth Godes gras" (line 923). [19] [20] Modern scholarly works interpret the role of baptism in the text as a device through which to understand attitudes towards Christian superiority. [13]

Hagiography

Hagiography is the posthumous narration of events from the lives of saints and martyrs. According to The Online Reference Book for Medieval Christianity, this genre generally focuses on male saints as females were believed to be less likely to practice the saintly virtues; [21] however, in this poem we see the princess unusually portrayed as a saint and the protagonist when she protects the knights and subjects from a brutal slaughter at the hands of a non Christian sultan. [10]

Critical reception

Sierra Lomuto calls attention to the complicated role the princess's gender plays in The King of Tars. [22] She must call upon the priest to perform religious acts of baptism, but because of her knowledge and faithfulness she is still credited with the conversion of both her family and the kingdom, [23] and is therefore seen as a powerful figure in the text. [22]

Manuscripts

The King of Tars exists in three manuscripts: [24]

Auchinleck: Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Adv.MS.19.2.1, fols. 7ra–13vb.

Vernon: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Eng.poet.a.1, fols. 304vb–307ra.

Simeon: London, British Library, Additional 22283, fols. 126rc–128va.

The earliest of these three manuscripts, the Auchinleck manuscript, was composed in the 1330s. Scholars have concluded that this manuscript was likely created only a short time after the original version of The King of Tars. Although mostly complete, the Auchinleck manuscript is missing the final lines of the text; some editors choose to fill in these gaps with lines from the Vernon manuscript. [25]

The Vernon manuscript was most likely only worked on by two scribes as opposed to the six believed to have been involved with the Auchinleck manuscript. The Vernon and Simeon manuscripts share many of the same qualities, and scholar A. I. Doyle argues that the Simeon is a "defective copy of the Vernon." These defects are minor and most likely attributed to error on the part of the scribe copying the text. [26]

Editions and translations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merlin</span> Legendary Welsh wizard

Merlin is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a magician, with several other main roles. The familiar depiction of Merlin, based on an amalgamation of historic and legendary figures, was introduced by the 12th-century British pseudo-historical author Geoffrey of Monmouth and then built on by the French poet Robert de Boron and their prose successors in the 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saracen</span> Archaic term for various Arab peoples

Saracen was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Petraea and Arabia Deserta. The term's meaning evolved during its history of usage. During the Early Middle Ages, the term came to be associated with the tribes of Arabia.

<i>Song of Roland</i> 11th-century French epic poem

The Song of Roland is an 11th-century chanson de geste based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in Medieval and Renaissance literature from the 12th to 16th centuries.

<i>Sir Orfeo</i> Medieval story poem

Sir Orfeo is an anonymous Middle English Breton lai dating from the late 13th or early 14th century. It retells the story of Orpheus as a king who rescues his wife from the fairy king. The folk song Orfeo is based on this poem.

Floris and Blancheflour is the name of a popular romantic story that was told in the Middle Ages in many different vernacular languages and versions. It first appears in Europe around 1160 in "aristocratic" French. Roughly between the period 1200 and 1350 it was one of the most popular of all the romantic plots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaine of Astolat</span> Figure in Arthurian legend

Elaine of Astolat, also known as Elayne of Ascolat and other variants of the name, is a figure in Arthurian legend. She is a lady from the castle of Astolat who dies of her unrequited love for Sir Lancelot. Well-known versions of her story appear in Sir Thomas Malory's 1485 book Le Morte d'Arthur, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's mid-19th-century Idylls of the King, and Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott". She should not be confused with Elaine of Corbenic, the mother of Galahad by Lancelot.

<i>Perceval, the Story of the Grail</i> Unfinished romance by Chrétien de Troyes

Perceval, the Story of the Grail is the unfinished fifth verse romance by Chrétien de Troyes, written by him in Old French in the late 12th century. Later authors added 54,000 more lines to the original 9,000 in what are known collectively as the Four Continuations, as well as other related texts. Perceval is the earliest recorded account of what was to become the Quest for the Holy Grail but describes only a golden grail in the central scene, does not call it "holy" and treats a lance, appearing at the same time, as equally significant. Besides the eponymous tale of the grail and the young knight Perceval, the poem and its continuations also tell of the adventures of Gawain and some other knights of King Arthur.

<i>Sir Isumbras</i>

Sir Isumbras is a medieval metrical romance written in Middle English and found in no fewer than nine manuscripts dating to the fifteenth century. This popular romance must have been circulating in England before 1320, because William of Nassyngton, in his work Speculum Vitae, which dates from this time, mentions feats of arms and other 'vanities', such as those found in stories of Sir Guy of Warwick, Bevis of Hampton, Octavian and Sir Isumbras. Unlike the other three stories, the Middle English Sir Isumbras is not a translation of an Old French original.

<i>The Book of Margery Kempe</i> 15th-century autobiography of Margery Kempe

The Book of Margery Kempe is a medieval text attributed to Margery Kempe, an English Christian mystic and pilgrim who lived at the turn of the fifteenth century. It details Kempe's life, her travels, her accounts of divine revelation including her visions of interacting with the Trinity, particularly Jesus, as well as other biblical figures. These interactions take place through a strong, mental connection forged between Kempe and said biblical figures. The book is also notable for her claiming to be present at key biblical events such as the Nativity, shown in chapter six of Book I, and the Crucifixion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auchinleck manuscript</span>

The Auchinleck Manuscript, NLS Adv. MS 19.2.1, is an illuminated manuscript copied on parchment in the 14th century in London. The manuscript provides a glimpse of a time of political tension and social change in England. The English were continuing to reclaim their language and national identity, and to distance themselves from the Norman conquerors who had taken over the country after the Battle of Hastings 300 years before. It is currently in the collection of the National Library of Scotland.

King Horn is a Middle English chivalric romance dating back to the middle of the thirteenth century. It survives in three manuscripts: London, British Library, MS. Harley 2253; Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Laud. Misc 108; and Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, MS. Gg. iv. 27. 2. It is thought to be based on the Anglo-Norman Romance of Horn (1170). The story was retold in later romances and ballads, and is considered part of the Matter of England. The poem is currently believed to be the oldest extant romance in Middle English.

Siege of Jerusalem is the title commonly given to an anonymous Middle English epic poem created in the second half of the 14th century. The poem is composed in the alliterative manner popular in medieval English poetry, especially during the period known as the "alliterative revival", and is known from nine surviving manuscripts, an uncommonly high number for works of this time.

<i>Merlin</i> (Robert de Boron poem) French epic poem

Merlin is a partly lost French epic poem written by Robert de Boron in Old French and dating from either the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. The author reworked Geoffrey of Monmouth's material on the legendary Merlin, emphasising Merlin's power to prophesy and linking him to the Holy Grail. The poem tells of his origin and early life as a redeemed Antichrist, his role in the birth of Arthur, and how Arthur became King of Britain. Merlin's story relates to Robert's two other reputed Grail poems, Joseph d'Arimathie and Perceval. Its motifs became popular in medieval and later Arthuriana, notably the introduction of the sword in the stone, the redefinition of the Grail, and turning the previously peripheral Merlin into a key character in the legend of King Arthur.

The Tale of Ralph the Collier, also known as The Tale of Ralph Collier and The Taill of Rauf Coilyear, is a Scottish dialect Middle English poem composed in the late fifteenth century. It constituted a revival of Middle English alliterative verse, wherein the first and middle parts of each verse begin with the same sound.

The Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England was a process spanning the 7th century. It was essentially the result of the Gregorian mission of 597, which was joined by the efforts of the Hiberno-Scottish mission from the 630s. From the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxon mission was, in turn, instrumental in the conversion of the population of the Frankish Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Octavian (romance)</span>

Octavian is a 14th-century Middle English verse translation and abridgement of a mid-13th century Old French romance of the same name. This Middle English version exists in three manuscript copies and in two separate compositions, one of which may have been written by the 14th-century poet Thomas Chestre who also composed Libeaus Desconus and Sir Launfal. The other two copies are not by Chestre and preserve a version of the poem in regular twelve-line tail rhyme stanzas, a verse structure that was popular in the 14th century in England. Both poetic compositions condense the Old French romance to about 1800 lines, a third of its original length, and relate “incidents and motifs common in legend, romance and chanson de geste.” The story describes a trauma that unfolds in the household of Octavian, later the Roman Emperor Augustus, whose own mother deceives him into sending his wife and his two newborn sons into exile and likely death. After many adventures, the family are at last reunited and the guilty mother is appropriately punished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harley Lyrics</span> Manuscript

The Harley Lyrics is the usual name for a collection of lyrics in Middle English, Anglo Norman, and Latin found in Harley MS 2253, a manuscript dated ca. 1340 in the British Library's Harleian Collection. The lyrics contain "both religious and secular material, in prose and verse and in a wide variety of genres." The manuscript is written in three recognisable hands: scribe A, scribe B or the Ludlow scribe, and scribe C.

<i>Beves of Hamtoun</i> (poem)

Beves of Hamtoun, also known as Beves of Hampton, Bevis of Hampton or Sir Beues of Hamtoun, is an anonymous Middle English romance of 4620 lines, dating from around the year 1300, which relates the adventures of the English hero Beves in his own country and in the Near East. It is often classified as a Matter of England romance. It is a paraphrase or loose translation of the Anglo-Norman romance Boeuve de Haumton, and belongs to a large family of romances in many languages, including Welsh, Russian and even Yiddish versions, all dealing with the same hero.

<i>Richard Coer de Lyon</i>

Richard Coer de Lyon is a Middle English romance which gives a fictionalised account of the life of Richard I, King of England, concentrating on his crusading exploits. It influenced Shakespeare's King John and Walter Scott's The Talisman.

Sir Tristrem is a 13th-century Middle English romance of 3,344 lines, preserved in the Auchinleck manuscript in the National Library of Scotland. Based on the Tristan of Thomas of Britain, it is the only surviving verse version of the Tristan legend in Middle English.

References

  1. 1 2 Laura A. Hibbard, Medieval Romance in England p45 New York Burt Franklin,1963
  2. 1 2 3 "The King of Tars: Introduction | Robbins Library Digital Projects" . Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  3. 1 2 3 "The King of Tars | Robbins Library Digital Projects".
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "The King of Tars | Robbins Library Digital Projects" . Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  5. ↑ Chandler, John H., ed. (2015-09-01). The King of Tars. Medieval Institute Publications. doi:10.2307/j.ctvndv7sx. ISBN   9781580442381.
  6. ↑ Laura A. Hibbard, Medieval Romance in England p15 New York Burt Franklin,1963
  7. ↑ Carol Falvo Heffernan, Le Bone Florence of Rome, p 31-2 ISBN   0-7190-0647-3 OCLC   422642874
  8. ↑ Margaret Schlauch, Chaucer's Constance and Accused Queens, New York: Gordian Press 1969 p 125
  9. 1 2 "The King of Tars | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  10. 1 2 "The King of Tars Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  11. ↑ "The King of Tars | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  12. ↑ Lomuto, Sierra (2019-07-03). "The Mongol Princess of Tars: Global Relations and Racial Formation in The King of Tars (c. 1330)". Exemplaria. 31 (3): 171–192. doi:10.1080/10412573.2019.1642608. ISSN   1041-2573. S2CID   204473780.
  13. 1 2 3 Calkin, Siobhain Bly (2005). "Marking Religion on the Body: Saracens, Categorization, and "The King of Tars"". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 104 (2): 219–238. ISSN   0363-6941. JSTOR   27712494.
  14. ↑ "The King of Tars: Introduction | Robbins Library Digital Projects".
  15. ↑ Heng, Geraldine (2003). Empire of Magic: Medieval Romance and the Politics of Cultural Fantasy. Columbia University Press. JSTOR   10.7312/heng12526.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Calkin, Siobhain Bly (2005). "Marking Religion on the Body: Saracens, Categorization, and "The King of Tars"". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 104 (2): 219–238. ISSN   0363-6941. JSTOR   27712494.
  17. ↑ Gilchrist, John (1988). "The Papacy and War against the 'Saracens', 795-1216". The International History Review. 10 (2): 174–197. ISSN   0707-5332. JSTOR   40105866.
  18. ↑ Hornstein, Lilian Herlands (October 1941). "The Historical Background of the King of Tars". Speculum. 16 (4): 404–414. doi:10.2307/2852840. ISSN   0038-7134. JSTOR   2852840.
  19. ↑ "The King of Tars | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  20. ↑ Whitaker, Cord J. (2013). "Black Metaphors in the King of Tars". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 112 (2): 169–193. doi:10.5406/jenglgermphil.112.2.0169. ISSN   0363-6941. JSTOR   10.5406/jenglgermphil.112.2.0169. S2CID   162538984.
  21. ↑ Head, Thomas (1999). "Women and Hagiography in Medieval Christianity" (PDF). Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies.
  22. 1 2 Lomuto, Sierra (2019-07-03). "The Mongol Princess of Tars: Global Relations and Racial Formation in The King of Tars (c. 1330)". Exemplaria. 31 (3): 171–192. doi:10.1080/10412573.2019.1642608. ISSN   1041-2573. S2CID   204473780.
  23. ↑ "The King of Tars | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  24. ↑ "The King of Tars: Introduction | Robbins Library Digital Projects" . Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  25. ↑ "The King of Tars: Introduction | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  26. ↑ "The King of Tars: Introduction | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.