Description
Book SynopsisJohannes de Hauvilla’s satirical allegory
Architrenius, completed in 1184, follows the quest for moral education of its eponymous protaganist, the “arch-weeper,” who confronts the vices of school, church, and court. This edition brings together the most authoritative Latin text with a new English translation of an important medieval poem.
Trade ReviewIts stylistic ambitions, complex figurative language, and impressive knowledge of ancient literature and mythology made the
Architrenius a classic in the Middle Ages and a canonical school text equal to the works of Bernardus Silvestris, Alan of Lille, and Walter of Châtillon. However, in a strange and, perhaps some would argue, justified, twist of fate (as did Petrarch, who disliked the poem intensely), scholarly interest in Johannes’s work has lagged far behind that afforded his more famous contemporaries…This elegant volume is clearly a labor of love: it provides students and scholars with an eminently useful translation of an often misunderstood and misjudged twelfth-century Latin epic…It is to be hoped that both edition and translation will change the fate of the
Architrenius, bringing this distinctive, if unusual work to the attention of both Latin aficionados and the wider public. -- Greti Dinkova-Bruun * Speculum *
