RENART LE CONTREFAIT
. It was an unnamed priest of Troyes, defrocked for bigamy, who composed this final
avatar of the Roman de Renart, in eight branches, of which we have two redactions. The
first (A: 32,000 lines) was composed between 1319 and 1322, and the second (B: 41,150
lines) appeared between 1328 and 1342. There is also a prose section. The whole is an
incoherent but rich monster, a lively reflection of its age, as well as a conglomeration of
tales, incidents, reflections, and commentaries of every sort.
A virulent satire of the monarchy, aristocracy, ecclesiastical abuses, and vices of
women, this defense of the weak is above all a compendium of medieval moral and
philosophical thought that bears witness to the wide-ranging culture of its author as well
as to the influence of Jean de Meun. The poet makes explicit much of what was only
hinted at in the earlier Roman de Renart. Renart is at times the mischievous fox of the
early branches, at other times the symbol of evil in all its manifestations, and even the
repentent philosopher commenting on human vices under the guise of Reason, Nature,
and God.
Jean Dufournet
[See also: RENART, ROMAN DE]
Raynaud, Gaston, and Henri Lemaître, eds. Le roman de Renart le contrefait. 2 vols. Paris:
Champion, 1914.
Flinn, John. Le roman de Renart dans la littérature française et dans les littératures étrangères au
moyen âge. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963, pp. 364–441.
RENAUT DE BEAUJEU
(de Bâgé; ca. 1165–1230). Author of an Arthurian verse romance of over 6,000 lines, the
Bel Inconnu, written ca. 1185–90. The hero of the poem is Gawain’s son, Guinglain, who
releases Esmeree, daughter of the King of Wales, from the enchantment of two sorcerers,
who had transformed her into a serpent. Guinglain marries Esmeree after liberating her
and resisting seduction by a supernatural woman. Many narrative elements of the Bel
Inconnu are traditional and occur elsewhere in romance: the sparrowhawk contest, the
seduction of a mortal by a fairy, the fier baiser, and so on. Even the primary plot of the
Bel Inconnu recurs as the basis of other romances, such as the Middle English adaptation
of Renaut, Libeaus Desconus, the Italian Carduino, and the Middle High German
Wigalois. There are grounds for believing that the story of the Fair Unknown was
associated originally with Gawain, as part of a complex of tales about him; later versions
probably transferred it to his son.
Renaut de Beaujeu presents his poem in a personal manner, saying that he is writing it
for his own beloved. This personal touch in some ways exemplifies the differences
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