(either ca. 1230 or ca. 1270)
This anonymous verse narrative has come down to us in only one manuscript, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale fr. 2168, but it easily proves to be one of the most charming and intriguing medieval French tales about the love of two young people, one of whom is a Christian (he), and the other originally a Muslim (she). Formally the text consists of 21 verse sections alternating with 20 sections in prose, which makes it a chantefable, a term coined by the poet. The author might have originated in the Picardie, and, if we can believe an allusion to himself at the beginning of the text (I, 2), he was already an old man when he composed this charming poem. Despite many scholarly debates about this line, the possibly ironic element of this self-reference has hardly ever been mentioned.
The date of Aucassin et Nicolette is very unclear. Some scholars argue for the first half of the 13th century because of an allusion to a 20-year war that could refer to the Albigensian Crusade, which would definitely place the text beyond 1229. Others suggested a date around 1270 on paleographical grounds and because of a reference to a new kind of coin minted only after 1266. The author demonstrates an extraordinary sense of humor mixed with a remarkable contempt for the church’s teachings, such as when he mentions that harpists and JONGLEURS provide entertainment to the evil sinners in hell,which to Aucassin, kept in prison by his father because of his love for Nicolette, seems much preferable to paradise. Whereas the latter is a place where “old priests go, and old cripples, and the maimed who grovel day and night in front of altars and in old crypts . . . dying of hunger, thirst, cold, and misery,” hell to him appears much more appealing: “That is where beautiful courtly ladies go, because they have two or three lovers as well as their husbands . . . I want to go with them, provided I have with me Nicolette, my very sweet friend” (Burgess 1988, VI). Nicolette, however, who quickly proves to be the main character in this tale—obviously the only one truly active and competent enough to strategize how to realize her love for Aucassin—had been kidnapped from her royal parents in Carthage and sold as a slave girl by some Saracen traders. The viscount of Beaucaire had bought and baptized her, and taken her on as his godchild.Aucassin’s father, the Count Garin of Beaucaire, is involved in a war with Count Bougar of Valence, and he desperately wants to convince his son to be knighted and lead his troops.He strikes a deal with Aucassin, offering him permission to talk with his beloved and kiss her once if he takes up arms for his father. But the latter breaks his promise once his son has defeated the opponent and imprisons Aucassin because he insists on his love for Nicolette. Nicolette manages to escape and hides in a forest where she creates a bower where Aucassin (now released from prison by his father) eventually finds her with the help of a group of children. The lovers depart together and travel across the sea until they reach the curious country of Torelore where everything has turned to its opposite: The king lies in childbed while his wife wages war using rotten crab-apples, eggs, and fresh cheeses.When Aucassin gets involved and kills many of the enemies, the king of Torelore stops him, saying: “It is not our custom to kill each other” (XXXII). But when a Saracen pirate ship arrives, they are all taken prisoner, and the lovers are placed on two different ships. Aucassin accidentally returns to Beaucaire,where he is liberated and entrusted with the land because his parents have died three years earlier. Nicolette, in the meantime, is taken to Carthage, where her parents no longer recognize her until she reveals the secret to them. In order to find her lover, she soon dons a minstrel’s garb and secretly returns to Provence, disguised as a man. After she has tested Aucassin’s love for her, she recovers her true appearance, and the two lovers marry.
Although the narrative seems to be very light, facetious, even nonsensical entertainment, the satirical author offers profound criticism of military operations, explores the significance of gender roles, seriously critiques the medieval practice of marriage arrangements according to social, financial, and political criteria in total disregard of the young people’s feelings and desires, and also examines the possibility of interracial marriages. This chantefable also proves to be interesting because it operates with both prose and verse, opens up many different perspectives toward the new money-based economy (Nicolette pays five sous to the children in return for their help to direct Aucassin to her hiding place in the woods; Aucassin also gives money to a man in the woods), discusses the danger of piracy and kidnapping, and emphasizes the significance of truthfulness and keeping promises (consider Aucassin’s father). Finally, the poet also sheds light on the life of minstrels and jongleurs.
Bibliography
■ Aucassin et Nicolette. Edited by Jean Dufournet. Paris: Garnier-Flamarion, 1984.
■ “Aucassin et Nicolette. English & French,” edited by Anne Elizabeth Cobby, translated with an introduction by Glyn S. Burgess, in Voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et à Constantinople: English & French. New York: Garland, 1988.
■ Vance, Eugene. “The Word at Heart: Aucassin et Nicolette as a Medieval Comedy of Language,” Yale French Studies 45 (1970): 33–51.
■ Gilbert, Jane. “The Practice of Gender in Aucassin et Nicolette,” Forum for Modern Language Studies 33, no. 3 (1997): 217–228.
■ Krueger, Roberta L. “Beyond Debate: Gender in Play in Old French Courtly Fiction Author(s).” In Gender in Debate from the Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance, edited by Thelma S. Fenster and A. Clare Lees, 79–95. New York: Palgrave, 2002.
Albrecht Classen
Encyclopedia of medieval literature. 2013.