A ‘Mirror of the Gentry’: Vernacular Versions of the ‘Secretum Secretorum’ in Medieval Wales and England
-
Helen Fulton
Abstract
Though the early medieval advice manual known as ‘Secretum Secretorum’, ‘The Secret of Secrets’, has been fairly well discussed by modern critics, including its numerous Latin and vernacular versions, there has been relatively little consideration of the ways in which the contents of the manual have been remediated into fictional literary texts of the Middle Ages, especially in Welsh. This article provides a new examination of the reception of Latin and vernacular versions of ‘Secretum Secretorum’ in medieval Welsh and English literatures. It is the first attempt to list the Middle Welsh versions of the ‘Secretum’ and to discuss them together with the Middle English versions. The article argues that the medieval ‘Secretum’, styled as a speculum principum, functioned not so much as a “mirror of princes” addressed to actual kings and princes but as an advice manual for professional and bourgeois readerships. The dominant function of the treatise, especially in its vernacular versions, was therefore as what we might call a “mirror of the gentry”, educating emergent shire and urban leaders about individual responsibility and how to follow a noble way of life. Both vernaculars, English and Welsh, transfer the ethical precepts popularised by ‘Secretum Secretorum’ and other didactic texts into fictional worlds where the moral message is wrapped in a more attractive package of fantasy and allegory addressed to a diverse readership.
Abstract
Though the early medieval advice manual known as ‘Secretum Secretorum’, ‘The Secret of Secrets’, has been fairly well discussed by modern critics, including its numerous Latin and vernacular versions, there has been relatively little consideration of the ways in which the contents of the manual have been remediated into fictional literary texts of the Middle Ages, especially in Welsh. This article provides a new examination of the reception of Latin and vernacular versions of ‘Secretum Secretorum’ in medieval Welsh and English literatures. It is the first attempt to list the Middle Welsh versions of the ‘Secretum’ and to discuss them together with the Middle English versions. The article argues that the medieval ‘Secretum’, styled as a speculum principum, functioned not so much as a “mirror of princes” addressed to actual kings and princes but as an advice manual for professional and bourgeois readerships. The dominant function of the treatise, especially in its vernacular versions, was therefore as what we might call a “mirror of the gentry”, educating emergent shire and urban leaders about individual responsibility and how to follow a noble way of life. Both vernaculars, English and Welsh, transfer the ethical precepts popularised by ‘Secretum Secretorum’ and other didactic texts into fictional worlds where the moral message is wrapped in a more attractive package of fantasy and allegory addressed to a diverse readership.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Vorwort V
- Inhaltsverzeichnis VII
- Prodesse et delectare – An Introduction 1
-
Sektion 1: Wissen und Macht / Knowledge and Power
- The Knowledge of Knights and Power of Kings in Twelfth Century England 15
- Secret Knowledge for Political and Social Harmony. The ‘Secretum secretorum’ between the Middle East and Europe 39
- A ‘Mirror of the Gentry’: Vernacular Versions of the ‘Secretum Secretorum’ in Medieval Wales and England 57
-
Sektion 2: Performanz und Bildhaftigkeit / Performativity and Imagery
- Performing Didacticism in Early Middle High German Poetry, Poet, Audience and Creed in Armer Hartmann’s ‘Rede von deme heiligen gelouben 85
- Probleme der Bilderkennung und des Text-Bild-Verhältnisses am Beispiel des ‚Welschen Gastes‘ Thomasins von Zerclaere 102
- “And You Shall Tell Your Son on this Day”: Visual Didactics in Medieval Illustrated Haggadot 138
-
Sektion 3: Formen und Funktionen/ Forms and Functions
- Fragments of Didacticism: The Early Middle High German ‘Rittersitte’ and ‘Der heimliche Bote’ 177
- Insegnare in versi nell’Italia settentrionale 210
- Darf man einen gesunden Zahn ziehen? Ein juristisches Lehrgedicht des Simon von Couvin (ca. 1325–1367) 233
- Quotation, Form, and Didacticism: The ‘Breviari d’Amor’, ‘Der Renner’, and the ‘Vita nova’ 261
-
Sektion 4: Modelle and Rezeption / Models and Reception
- ‘Recognitions’ as a Scientific Text: Spanish and Italian Readers in the High Middle Ages 285
- Poeta doctus / poeta doctor: Didaxe und Eros in CB 88 306
- Il ‘De conflictu vitiorum et virtutum’ di Giovanni Genesio Quaglia. Una psicomachia del Trecento e le sue fonti 336
- Una bella roba. Novellare als neues Erzählkonzept in Boccaccios ‚Decameron‘ 355
- Die Aufwertung der alten germanischen Heldenepik im 16. Jahrhundert zwischen delectare und prodesse am Beispiel des ‚Liedes vom Hürnen Seyfried‘ 389
- Authors and Works 401
- Manuscripts 405
- People and Places 407
- Autorenverzeichnis 411
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Vorwort V
- Inhaltsverzeichnis VII
- Prodesse et delectare – An Introduction 1
-
Sektion 1: Wissen und Macht / Knowledge and Power
- The Knowledge of Knights and Power of Kings in Twelfth Century England 15
- Secret Knowledge for Political and Social Harmony. The ‘Secretum secretorum’ between the Middle East and Europe 39
- A ‘Mirror of the Gentry’: Vernacular Versions of the ‘Secretum Secretorum’ in Medieval Wales and England 57
-
Sektion 2: Performanz und Bildhaftigkeit / Performativity and Imagery
- Performing Didacticism in Early Middle High German Poetry, Poet, Audience and Creed in Armer Hartmann’s ‘Rede von deme heiligen gelouben 85
- Probleme der Bilderkennung und des Text-Bild-Verhältnisses am Beispiel des ‚Welschen Gastes‘ Thomasins von Zerclaere 102
- “And You Shall Tell Your Son on this Day”: Visual Didactics in Medieval Illustrated Haggadot 138
-
Sektion 3: Formen und Funktionen/ Forms and Functions
- Fragments of Didacticism: The Early Middle High German ‘Rittersitte’ and ‘Der heimliche Bote’ 177
- Insegnare in versi nell’Italia settentrionale 210
- Darf man einen gesunden Zahn ziehen? Ein juristisches Lehrgedicht des Simon von Couvin (ca. 1325–1367) 233
- Quotation, Form, and Didacticism: The ‘Breviari d’Amor’, ‘Der Renner’, and the ‘Vita nova’ 261
-
Sektion 4: Modelle and Rezeption / Models and Reception
- ‘Recognitions’ as a Scientific Text: Spanish and Italian Readers in the High Middle Ages 285
- Poeta doctus / poeta doctor: Didaxe und Eros in CB 88 306
- Il ‘De conflictu vitiorum et virtutum’ di Giovanni Genesio Quaglia. Una psicomachia del Trecento e le sue fonti 336
- Una bella roba. Novellare als neues Erzählkonzept in Boccaccios ‚Decameron‘ 355
- Die Aufwertung der alten germanischen Heldenepik im 16. Jahrhundert zwischen delectare und prodesse am Beispiel des ‚Liedes vom Hürnen Seyfried‘ 389
- Authors and Works 401
- Manuscripts 405
- People and Places 407
- Autorenverzeichnis 411
