Bart Besamusca | Utrecht University (original) (raw)

Papers by Bart Besamusca

Boydell and Brewer eBooks, Dec 31, 2024

De Gruyter eBooks, Oct 1, 1999

Journal of the International Arthurian Society, Sep 1, 2022

Met minen peerde gereden quam Een vrouwe dat ic daer vernam Die vtermaten was alte scone Jc boot ... more Met minen peerde gereden quam Een vrouwe dat ic daer vernam Die vtermaten was alte scone Jc boot haer mine minne te lone 5 Si seide dat sijs niet en dade Doen leidicse buten pade Met mi en wilde si niet gaen Maer si dede mi daer verstaen Dat si was .i. coninginne 10 Dit wo[ndert] mi in minen zinne En[de ...]jn va[n] vra[nckerike] Oec wond[er]t mi dat sekerlike Dat ghi segt het es v nichte Ghi mocht saken seggen lichte 15 Die v souden iegen gaen Maer her weert doet mi verstaen Claerlec wie die vrouwe si Ende hoe si heet dat seget mi Ghi moetet mi te wetene doen 20 Doen antwerde de weert symoen Here mi es claere becant Dat si beerte es genant Dies es leden .xv. iaer Dat icse vant dats seker waer 25 Jnt wout niet alte verre van hier Jc ben tsconinx foreestier Ende heb langen tijt gewesen Karle marteel den coninc vor desen Die hadde mi lief in ware dinc 30 Maer niet en kinnic desen coninc Jc en sachem noit met ogen Daer ict weet den prince vermogen Nu wilt horen ende verstaen Eens morgens vroe sonder waen 35 Wasic geseten op mijn paert Ende soude varen te mans waert Tileec vor der sonne op ganc Daer gemoettic sonder wanc Jegen mi comende dese jonfrouwe 40 Makende wel den meesten rouwe Die ic sach van minen iaren Een deel reedic haer bet nare Si dochte mi so ouerscone Al waert om te dragen crone 45 Van algader vranckerike Noit en sagic hars gelike Waer ic quam te enegen stonden Aldus was de scone vonden Wel na was si van couden doot 50 Jc brochse hier met haesten groot Beerte metten breden voeten

The popular genre of the chansons de geste came to the Low Countries from France at an early stag... more The popular genre of the chansons de geste came to the Low Countries from France at an early stage. The oldest Middle Dutch texts, like the Roelantslied, the Renout van Montalbaen, and the Limburg Aiol, probably date back as far as the twelfth century. About twenty of the more than one hundred known chansons de geste have come down to us in Dutch. These were composed not in laisses but in rhyming couplets and do not, therefore, correspond to the French poems in form. Independent of the French epic tradition at the same time that it relies heavily upon it, Dutch chivalric literature is a striking example of the powerful way in which French culture radiated to the north. In most cases the Middle Dutch texts can be regarded as versions, though not literal translations, of their French counterparts. The inquiry into the true nature of the relations between the French and Dutch texts has been occupying Dutch specialists for more than a century and a half now. This research is greatly hampered by the poor state of the Dutch tradition. Except for Karel ende Elegast, all Middle Dutch texts have been preserved in fragments only. Those fragments are often small, transmitted on accidentally preserved remnants of parchment which were used to strengthen old bindings. Examples of these are Beerte metten breden voeten (Berte aux grans piés), Flovent, Gheraert van Viane, Ogier van Denemerken, and Willem van Oringen (Moniage Guillaume). Slightly longer fragments have been preserved of Aiol, Huge van Bordeeus, Madelgijs (Maugis), Renout van Montalbaen, Roelantslied, and the Roman der Lorreinen (Cycle des Lorrains). In all of these cases, the contents of the stories have to be reconstructed with great difficulty by

Ironically, the currently flourishing study of Arthurian literature in the Low Countries had a fa... more Ironically, the currently flourishing study of Arthurian literature in the Low Countries had a false start, as L.G. Visscher’s 1838 publication of Ferguut, the thirteenth-century Middle Dutch rendition of Guillaume le Clerc’s Fergus, was full of flaws.1 The many inaccuracies in this first complete edition of a Middle Dutch chivalric romance not only confirmed the editor’s self-characterization as an autodidact, they served unintentionally as a teething ring (to borrow Willem Kuiper’s expression) for young philologists.2 One of these critics, W.J.A. Jonckbloet, gaveMiddle Dutch literature the status of a scholarly discipline, by – among other things – writing a three-volume history of Middle Dutch literature and by publishing two groundbreaking editions of Arthurian texts.3

Neophilologus, Jan 9, 2010

This article discusses a number of fidelity-testing tales and episodes, focusing on the function ... more This article discusses a number of fidelity-testing tales and episodes, focusing on the function of characters and narrators who provide interpretations of the outcome of the tests. The testing of a series of characters takes place during a social gathering, involves a testing device, most often a mantle or a drinking horn, and discloses infidelity or other shortcomings. In most tales, ethical interpreters confront the spectators with social criticism and moral lessons, either seriously, as in Ulrich's Lanzelet and Albrecht's Ju¨ngerer Titurel, or humorously, as in the Manteau mal taille´. In Heinrich von dem Türlin's Diu Crône, however, the interpreters are innocuous. Kei the seneschal and the narrator participate in an intratextual as well as literary game. Their comments are meant to amuse other characters, and to challenge the literary expertise of the listeners to Heinrich's romance.

De Gruyter eBooks, Sep 24, 2002

BRILL eBooks, Jul 18, 2023

V&R unipress eBooks, Jul 16, 2017

In this essay,The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MS 76 E5,isstudied in ordertoillustrate central... more In this essay,The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MS 76 E5,isstudied in ordertoillustrate central research problemsrelated to multi-text codices. It considers the supposed patron of the manuscript, noting that the individual who commissions acodex is not necessarily to be identified with its users. Assumingt hat the implied readers of ac ompilation of texts were the decisivefactor in shaping its composition, Iargue that audience-related features of all the assembled texts should be taken into account. Iconclude that the contents of KB, 76 E5suggestthat this text collection addresses youthful members of the civic elite, both male and female. 1 Amidst dozens of modest multi-text manuscripts preserving Middle Dutch literature,asingle de luxe copy catches the eye. This splendid book, kept in The Hague'sKoninklijke Bibliotheek under the shelfmark 76 E5,isoften calledthe 'Beatrijs codex' by specialists in Dutch Studies. It contains the unique textual witness of this short verse narrative, which is as famous in The Netherlandsand Flanders as canonical medieval Dutch texts such as Va nden vosReynaerde and Karel ende Elegast. However, as will soon become clear, 'Beatrijs codex' is a misleadingn ame, because what KB, 76 E5preserves is, in fact, ac ollectiono f works, in which Beatrijs does not figure as the core text. In the past, and more prominently in recenttimes, scholarshavediscussed the patron and the audience of this multi-text codex, pointing to differentsocial groups and even individuals. Owing to thesedivergent views on the supposedpatron and readers of KB, 76 E5, the codex and its contentsmakeiteminently suitable as acase studyillustrating central researchproblems related to medieval multi-text manuscripts. On what grounds haveparticular patrons and audiences been identified?Isitessential to 1T his publication has resulted from the project 'TheDynamicsofthe Medieval Manuscript: Text Collections from aE uropean Perspective' (www.dynamicsofthemedievalmanuscript.eu), which wasfinancially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme (www.heranet.info) and the European Community FP7 2007-2013. Is hould like to thank Jos Biemans, Gerard Bouwmeester, Frank Brandsma, Daniël Ermens, and Paul Wa ckers for their comments on an earlier draftoft his essay. Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-ND 4.0

De Gruyter eBooks, Jun 26, 2017

Boydell and Brewer eBooks, Dec 31, 2024

De Gruyter eBooks, Oct 1, 1999

Journal of the International Arthurian Society, Sep 1, 2022

Met minen peerde gereden quam Een vrouwe dat ic daer vernam Die vtermaten was alte scone Jc boot ... more Met minen peerde gereden quam Een vrouwe dat ic daer vernam Die vtermaten was alte scone Jc boot haer mine minne te lone 5 Si seide dat sijs niet en dade Doen leidicse buten pade Met mi en wilde si niet gaen Maer si dede mi daer verstaen Dat si was .i. coninginne 10 Dit wo[ndert] mi in minen zinne En[de ...]jn va[n] vra[nckerike] Oec wond[er]t mi dat sekerlike Dat ghi segt het es v nichte Ghi mocht saken seggen lichte 15 Die v souden iegen gaen Maer her weert doet mi verstaen Claerlec wie die vrouwe si Ende hoe si heet dat seget mi Ghi moetet mi te wetene doen 20 Doen antwerde de weert symoen Here mi es claere becant Dat si beerte es genant Dies es leden .xv. iaer Dat icse vant dats seker waer 25 Jnt wout niet alte verre van hier Jc ben tsconinx foreestier Ende heb langen tijt gewesen Karle marteel den coninc vor desen Die hadde mi lief in ware dinc 30 Maer niet en kinnic desen coninc Jc en sachem noit met ogen Daer ict weet den prince vermogen Nu wilt horen ende verstaen Eens morgens vroe sonder waen 35 Wasic geseten op mijn paert Ende soude varen te mans waert Tileec vor der sonne op ganc Daer gemoettic sonder wanc Jegen mi comende dese jonfrouwe 40 Makende wel den meesten rouwe Die ic sach van minen iaren Een deel reedic haer bet nare Si dochte mi so ouerscone Al waert om te dragen crone 45 Van algader vranckerike Noit en sagic hars gelike Waer ic quam te enegen stonden Aldus was de scone vonden Wel na was si van couden doot 50 Jc brochse hier met haesten groot Beerte metten breden voeten

The popular genre of the chansons de geste came to the Low Countries from France at an early stag... more The popular genre of the chansons de geste came to the Low Countries from France at an early stage. The oldest Middle Dutch texts, like the Roelantslied, the Renout van Montalbaen, and the Limburg Aiol, probably date back as far as the twelfth century. About twenty of the more than one hundred known chansons de geste have come down to us in Dutch. These were composed not in laisses but in rhyming couplets and do not, therefore, correspond to the French poems in form. Independent of the French epic tradition at the same time that it relies heavily upon it, Dutch chivalric literature is a striking example of the powerful way in which French culture radiated to the north. In most cases the Middle Dutch texts can be regarded as versions, though not literal translations, of their French counterparts. The inquiry into the true nature of the relations between the French and Dutch texts has been occupying Dutch specialists for more than a century and a half now. This research is greatly hampered by the poor state of the Dutch tradition. Except for Karel ende Elegast, all Middle Dutch texts have been preserved in fragments only. Those fragments are often small, transmitted on accidentally preserved remnants of parchment which were used to strengthen old bindings. Examples of these are Beerte metten breden voeten (Berte aux grans piés), Flovent, Gheraert van Viane, Ogier van Denemerken, and Willem van Oringen (Moniage Guillaume). Slightly longer fragments have been preserved of Aiol, Huge van Bordeeus, Madelgijs (Maugis), Renout van Montalbaen, Roelantslied, and the Roman der Lorreinen (Cycle des Lorrains). In all of these cases, the contents of the stories have to be reconstructed with great difficulty by

Ironically, the currently flourishing study of Arthurian literature in the Low Countries had a fa... more Ironically, the currently flourishing study of Arthurian literature in the Low Countries had a false start, as L.G. Visscher’s 1838 publication of Ferguut, the thirteenth-century Middle Dutch rendition of Guillaume le Clerc’s Fergus, was full of flaws.1 The many inaccuracies in this first complete edition of a Middle Dutch chivalric romance not only confirmed the editor’s self-characterization as an autodidact, they served unintentionally as a teething ring (to borrow Willem Kuiper’s expression) for young philologists.2 One of these critics, W.J.A. Jonckbloet, gaveMiddle Dutch literature the status of a scholarly discipline, by – among other things – writing a three-volume history of Middle Dutch literature and by publishing two groundbreaking editions of Arthurian texts.3

Neophilologus, Jan 9, 2010

This article discusses a number of fidelity-testing tales and episodes, focusing on the function ... more This article discusses a number of fidelity-testing tales and episodes, focusing on the function of characters and narrators who provide interpretations of the outcome of the tests. The testing of a series of characters takes place during a social gathering, involves a testing device, most often a mantle or a drinking horn, and discloses infidelity or other shortcomings. In most tales, ethical interpreters confront the spectators with social criticism and moral lessons, either seriously, as in Ulrich's Lanzelet and Albrecht's Ju¨ngerer Titurel, or humorously, as in the Manteau mal taille´. In Heinrich von dem Türlin's Diu Crône, however, the interpreters are innocuous. Kei the seneschal and the narrator participate in an intratextual as well as literary game. Their comments are meant to amuse other characters, and to challenge the literary expertise of the listeners to Heinrich's romance.

De Gruyter eBooks, Sep 24, 2002

BRILL eBooks, Jul 18, 2023

V&R unipress eBooks, Jul 16, 2017

In this essay,The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MS 76 E5,isstudied in ordertoillustrate central... more In this essay,The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, MS 76 E5,isstudied in ordertoillustrate central research problemsrelated to multi-text codices. It considers the supposed patron of the manuscript, noting that the individual who commissions acodex is not necessarily to be identified with its users. Assumingt hat the implied readers of ac ompilation of texts were the decisivefactor in shaping its composition, Iargue that audience-related features of all the assembled texts should be taken into account. Iconclude that the contents of KB, 76 E5suggestthat this text collection addresses youthful members of the civic elite, both male and female. 1 Amidst dozens of modest multi-text manuscripts preserving Middle Dutch literature,asingle de luxe copy catches the eye. This splendid book, kept in The Hague'sKoninklijke Bibliotheek under the shelfmark 76 E5,isoften calledthe 'Beatrijs codex' by specialists in Dutch Studies. It contains the unique textual witness of this short verse narrative, which is as famous in The Netherlandsand Flanders as canonical medieval Dutch texts such as Va nden vosReynaerde and Karel ende Elegast. However, as will soon become clear, 'Beatrijs codex' is a misleadingn ame, because what KB, 76 E5preserves is, in fact, ac ollectiono f works, in which Beatrijs does not figure as the core text. In the past, and more prominently in recenttimes, scholarshavediscussed the patron and the audience of this multi-text codex, pointing to differentsocial groups and even individuals. Owing to thesedivergent views on the supposedpatron and readers of KB, 76 E5, the codex and its contentsmakeiteminently suitable as acase studyillustrating central researchproblems related to medieval multi-text manuscripts. On what grounds haveparticular patrons and audiences been identified?Isitessential to 1T his publication has resulted from the project 'TheDynamicsofthe Medieval Manuscript: Text Collections from aE uropean Perspective' (www.dynamicsofthemedievalmanuscript.eu), which wasfinancially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme (www.heranet.info) and the European Community FP7 2007-2013. Is hould like to thank Jos Biemans, Gerard Bouwmeester, Frank Brandsma, Daniël Ermens, and Paul Wa ckers for their comments on an earlier draftoft his essay. Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY-NC-ND 4.0

De Gruyter eBooks, Jun 26, 2017

The NWO-funded research project ‘The Multilingual Dynamics of the Literary Culture of Medieval Fl... more The NWO-funded research project ‘The Multilingual Dynamics of the Literary Culture of Medieval Flanders, c. 1200- c. 1500’ is hosting a series of e-workshops on the topic of ‘Multilingual Literary Cultures in the Middle Ages’. Each meeting will be devoted to a theme in multilingualism, approached from a particular disciplinary perspective. They will take place on Zoom every two weeks and will consist of a short, informal presentation (max. 20 minutes), an invited response (max. 10 minutes), and a general discussion designed to invite multidisciplinary perspectives (max. 20 minutes). The sessions will be scheduled on Thursdays, starting at 4 p.m. (CET).

Register for these e-workshops by sending an email to multilingualdynamics@gmail.com

More information on the project website: HTTPS://MULTILINGUALDYNAMICS.SITES.UU.NL/