Jacques Bretel, The Tournament at Chauvency
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2020
Summary
Love is a fine beginning: God grant that the ending and conclusion prove as happy as the outset and the start! Say ‘Amen to that – God grant that it be so!’ The matter of my poem is love and arms and joy, and good and fair and noble people with glad, exuberant hearts and spirits, renowned in many lands far and wide; so worthy is my matter that I must approach it with a clear, unsullied mind. So bear with me and don't worry: I’ll do my best to ensure that neither today nor tonight nor at any time will I say anything to displease you! God forbid! And may He guide me to bring this work to fine fruition for you, that word may go round among the good that Jacques Bretel has done a grand job!
Twelve hundred and eighty-five years after the birth of the Virgin's son, who knows and sees all worthy deeds, on the holy feast of the birth of the Virgin, mother of the almighty king (and I’m not guessing the date but know it exactly), eight days after the end of August, I began to compose my book. It was at Salm in Alsace, in the castle of noble Count Henry; and may God protect him from shame and grant him long life, for he surpasses all others in courtesy and largesse, sincerity and gentility: he is the embodiment of true nobility, and it gives me joy to recall his virtues and qualities, for I love worthy lords with all my heart. [42]
On the feast day of Our Lady who can save both body and soul, when the watch had sounded the dawn, I rose just as the sun came up and went out to enjoy the wood and seek inspiration, composing some little couplets about love. So beguiling was the scenery that I became quite lost in thought and fell silent. In the middle of my pondering I saw a knight approaching, holding in his hand the stump of a great, broken lance. I knew him by his distinctive manner and speech: his name is Conrad Warnier.
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- Information
- The Tournaments at Le Hem and ChauvencySarrasin: Le Roman du Hem; Jacques Bretel: Le tournoi de Chauvency, pp. 61 - 122Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2020