Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svâto-Tihonovskogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta: Seriâ III. Filologiâ (Dec 2018)
Ovidius moralizatus by Pierre Bersuire: target audience, exegetical and ideological context
Abstract
Ovidius moralizatus has often attracted the attention of researchers. However, the initial ideological and religious context in which this work was created remains insuffi ciently studied. It is interesting to see whether there is a link between this text and currents of religious thought of its time. In our opinion, Bersuire is indeed aff ected by it, and it is possible to prove this by comparing allegories in his text with those in Ovidian exegesis, as well as with some religious and political treatises of his predecessors and contemporaries. This comparison allows us to defi ne the originality of the comments of the Ovidius moralizatus; we shall see, moreover, that Bersuire sometimes uses political concepts of his time. We can thus characterise the readers whom he addresses; in fact, only the reader familiar with the atmosphere in which the work was created would be able to understand the meaning of the concepts and allegories it uses. Borrowing Erwin Wolf’s term, one could speak in this case of the “intended readers” (intendierte Leser). In my opinion, this term is appropriate in the analysis of various medieval texts including those that have evident pragmatic and communicative functions. It points to the link between the author’s intentions and the initial circle of readers; thus, it allows us to contrast the primary reception of the work with its later interpretations. I find, fi rst of all, that Bersuire indirectly opposes his book to the academic and philological comments of Ovid studied in numerous works by F. Coulson. Unlike these commentators, Bersuire does not dwell on the meaning of certain diffi cult passages of the poem, nor does he indicate the links between the episodes or the peculiarities of its composition. When he borrows certain comments from his predecessors (e.g., Arnoulf d’Orleans), he develops them by proceeding from the comparisons between the action of the fable and the relationships in society. In many cases, he replaces Arnoulf’s commentary with a social explanation. Thus, Bersuire creates a large number of social portraits presenting people from diverse backgrounds, e.g. commoners, the noble and the rich, judges, usurers, soldiers, tyrants and princes. The portraits of monks, nuns and preachers occupy a large place in the picture of society that he is drawing. This inclination of Bersuire to employ social allegory was formed by the infl uence of the moral works of his time written by the Friars Minor, the order to which he once belonged Among the works that infl uenced him and served as his sources are De proprietatibus rerum by Bartolomaeus Anglicus, the Liber de moralitatibus by Marcus Urbevetanus and the Speculum morale totius sacrae Scripturae by Cardinal Johannes Vitalis de Furno († 1327), provincial of Aquitaine. The allegories created by Bersuire sometimes include political terms of his time, and in particular those of Ockham. Thus, he uses the term jurisdictio temporalis (“temporal power”) or prelatio temporalis (“temporal supremacy”). Like Ockham, albeit in an allegorical form, Bersuire points out the excessive character of the lay power which high-ranking men possess and suggests that this power should be restricted. He further suggests, in allegorical form, that the Pope should not have full power over his subjects, and that only those worthy (in accordance with the law of the Gospels) have the right to power in this world. Some allegories of Bersuire, as I attempt to show, aim to criticise Pope John XXII and his entourage. Thus, the intended readers of Bersuire belonged to several social strata. In the first place it is the entourage of Pope John XXII to whom he addresses his sermons and his criticisms, infl uenced by Franciscan morality and by the political and social doctrine of Ockham. They are also the Friars Minor, to whom he expresses his solidarity and implies in a veiled form that he, to a certain extent, shares their position. Finally, they are clerics and scholars, enthusiasts of Antiquity, to whom he teaches that the essence of the ancient tales is neither style nor poetic art but their moral content. These various meanings soon ceased to be understandable. Since then, it became possible to locate Ovidius moralizatus in more remote contexts: poetic and metaphorical, or related to the interest in Antiquity.
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