Contenu du sommaire

Early Life in the Lorraine of Jean de Vicktring, abbot at Victoria (Carinthia). Diplomat, jurist and chronicler (ca 1270 ?-1345). Jean, abbot of Vicktring (Victoria), a Cistercian abbey in Lower-Austria, is one of the major German chroniclers writing in Latin in the late Middle Ages. His work, entitled Liber certarum historiarum, which is mostly dedicated to the history of the Alpine countries in Central Europe (Bohemia, Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol) and to the reigning families of Luxembourg and Habsburg, was written about 1340. It is impressive through its intellectual and literary qualities. The biography of A., that had not been known so far, began in 1312 when he became abbot of Vicktring. If we examine the accounts of the Italian expedition led by the emperor-to-be Henri VII (1311-1313), in which our chronicler participated, as well as documents of the time, and of course his own work, we can establish that he belonged to the Fénétrange-Vinstingen family (Moselle) and trace his earlier occupations, which took him to Metz, Paris, Rome, then Vicktring, always serving the above-mentioned princes until he died about 1345. It is thus unquestionable that he came from the Lorraine.

Was the author of the Roman de Partonopeu de Blois a fore-runner of Chrétien de Troyes ? Two English authors, P. Simons and P. Eley, recently established on the basis of contemporary documents that the Roman de Partonopeu de Blois was written before 1177. Such chronology, which rests on the assuption that the more authentic of the three versions is the second one (ms. A), is quite revolutionary in that it suggests that Chrétien de Troyes was or could have been a disciple of the anonymous author of the Partonopeu de Blois. In their research Simons and Eley relied on consistency in political sympathies in the various manuscripts. However, an in-depth analysis of the ramance's political message brings out that the political stand is more consistent in the manuscripts of the first version (mss V and B). Political sympathies expressed in this first version rather indicate that the romance was written in 1182-1185.

The Vita Landiberti Leodiensis (ca 1144-1145) by Canon Nicolas of Liège. A Study in Hagiographic Writing in Liège in the 12th century. In the middle of the 12th century Nicolas, a canon in the St Lambert cathedral chapter in Liège, wrote a new Vita of St Lambert, the bishop who died as a martyr in Liège in the early 8th century and who was venerated as the patron saint of Liège. Next to events from the saint's life his Vita includes several historical anecdotes relating to the mythical past of the city. These are subjected to a critical scrutiny by the author of the present article. Canon Nicolas thus presents Lambert as the hero of some great epic and the heir of a long tradition of bishop-saints, which more firmly establishes his founding of the Liège bishopry in sainthood. Actually his work was part of a wider programme that aimed at promoting the cult of saints and thus comfort the authority of the Liège clergy which had been eroded by years of civil war. Such writing device recalls the then fashionable genre of the Gesta episcoporum.

Prologues to the Lancelot-Graal in the B.N.
F. manuscript, fr. 112. This article presents an analysis and a transcription of the prologues added to the Lancelot and to the Queste del Saint Graal in Paris, B.N.F., fr. 112. These texts, which date from the 15th century, have never been completely transcribed or studied until now. This manuscript, which was prepared by the scribe Michel Gonnot for Jacques d'Armagnac, contains a special version of the romances it preserves: the adventures of Tristan and other knights of the Round Table are interlaced with those of Lancelot. The prologues refer to this work of compilation as well as to other concerns of the scribe/compilator. They thus reveal readers' and writers' attitudes in aristocratic circles in the 16th century. The article includes a study of the peritext on the folios in which the prologues are to be found (illuminations, rubrics, titles).

The Beginning of the Order of the Temple in the Latin East.
This article deals with the problematic origins of the Knights Templars in the kingdom of Jerusalem and the different hypotheses developed on this issue. Founded in 1120 their order had soon gathered over 300 knights to defend Frankish Syria, from Antioch to Gaza. The Templars ensured the transit of the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and the River Jordan thanks to many strongholds and watch-towers built along the roads. The financial support provided by the other orders allowed them to play a major role in the siege of Ascalon in 1153. Their leadership generated, however, several crises with secular rulers, due to their personal relations with the muslims. King Amalric of Jerusalem did not hesitate, for instance, to have twelve TemplarsKing Amalric of Jerusalem did not hesitate, for instance, to have twelve Templars hanged after the suspicious surrender of a fortified Jordanian cave in 1166. Another crisis occurred in 1173 after the assassination of an Ismai'li ambassador by the fiery Walter du Mesnil. Two Grand Masters of the Temple were captured, despite these episodic tensions, on the battle-fields of Mardj'Ayun and Hattin, where the order lost the major part of its monastery at the end of the 12th century. Thanks to the third crusade the Templars regenerated their forces and stood out as a pillar of the kingdom of Jerusalem in the next century.Keywords : Hugh of Payns, rule, Jerusalem, Templars, Hattin.