Song and Legend From the Middle Ages | Page 6

the same poet composed his verses
and sang them--was both trouvere or troubadour and jongleur; while in
Germany the minnesingers were generally both poets and minstrels.
IV. TALES AND FABLES.
No distinct line can be drawn between Tales and Fables; between
Romances and Tales; nor between Fables and Allegories. These
varieties of writings merge into one another.
The number of tales in circulation in Mediaeval Europe was

exceedingly large. These tales came from many different sources: from
Oriental lands, introduced by the Moors, or brought back by the
crusaders; from ancient classical literature; from traditions of the
church and the lives of the saints; from the old
mythologies; from
common life and experience. Among many
mediaeval collections of
them, the most famous are the
"Decameron" of Boccaccio, and the
"Geste Romanorum", a collection made and used by the priests in
instructing their people.

V. DIDACTIC AND ALLEGORICAL LITERATURE.
Under didactic literature we would include a large mass of
writing
not strictly to be called pure literature--sermons, homilies, chronicles,
bestiaries, and chronologies. Nearly all these were written in verse, as
prose did not begin to be used for literature until very late in the Middle
Ages.
The mediaeval mind, under the influence of the scholastic

theology, grew very fond of allegory. The list of allegories is
exhaustless, and some of the allegories well-nigh interminable. It is not
easy to say whether the "Romance of Reynard the Fox" is a series of
fables or an allegory. The fact that a satire on human affairs runs
through it constantly, warrants us in calling it an allegory. Some phase
of the Reynard legend formed the medium of expression of the thought
of every mediaeval nation in Europe. Perhaps the most popular and
influential allegory of the Middle Ages was "The Romance of the
Rose", written in France but translated or imitated in every other
country. Dante's "Divine Comedy" is an allegory of a very elevated
kind.
VI. THE DRAMA.
The origin and line of development of the drama in all the
countries
of Mediaeval Europe is this: Dramatic representations in connection
with the liturgy of the church were first used in the service; then they
were extended to church festivals and ceremonies. By degrees portions
of Bible history were thrown into dramatic form; then the lives of the
saints furnished material. A distinction grew up between Mystery
Plays--those founded on Bible history--and Miracle Plays--those
founded on the lives of the saints. These plays were performed both in
the churches and in the open air. They were written usually by the
clergy. Gradually there grew up a play in which the places of religious
characters were taken by abstract virtues and vices personified, and
plays called Moralities were produced. They were played chiefly by
tradesmen's guilds. Alongside the sacred drama are to be found
occasional secular dramatic attempts, farces, carnival plays, and
profane mysteries. But their number and significance are small. The
medivaeval drama is historically interesting, but in itself does not

contain much interest. It is impossible to give an idea of it by selection.
SONG AND LEGEND FROM THE MIDDLE AGES.
CHAPTER I. FRENCH LITERATURE.
French Literature of the Middle Ages was produced between the
eleventh and the fifteenth centuries, having its greatest
development
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It must be divided into two
sections according to the part of France where it was produced.
I. French Literature proper, or that composed in the northern half of
France.
II. Provencal Literature, or that developed in Provence.
The most obvious difference between these is that the Provencal
literature had little of the epic and romantic, but developed the lyric
extensively, especially lyrics of love.
The following table will show the more important kinds of French
Mediaeval Literature.[1]
[1] This classification is adapted from M. Gaston Paris'
excellent
sketch "La Litterature Francaise au Moyen Age", 1890, and
Saintsbury's "Short History of French Literature", 1889.
I. Narrative Literature.
0. The National Epics.
. Romances of Antiquity.
. Arthurian Romances.
. Romances of Adventure.
. Tales and Fables.
. Chronicles.
II. Didactic Literature.
. Allegories--"The Romance of the Rose".

0. Satires.
. Homilies, etc.
III. Lyric Literature.
THE NATIONAL EPICS.
The French national epics (called "Chansons de Gestes", songs of
heroic deeds) are those narrative poems which are founded on early
French history, and recount the deeds of national heroes. They are, for
the most part, based on the deeds of Charlemagne and his nobles. They
are peculiar to Northern France. Their date of production extends from
the eleventh to the fourteenth
century, their best development being
in the eleventh and
twelfth.
These epic poems number more than one hundred. They vary in length
from one thousand to thirty thousand lines. The whole mass is said to
contain between two and three million lines. Like all folk epics, they
are based upon earlier