SONE DE NAUSAY
. A long verse romance (over 21,300 lines) of the late 13th century, Sone de Nausay (or
Nansai) is the story of a young man who, rebuffed by the woman he loves, seeks
adventures throughout the world. Eventually, Sone repudiates the woman and becomes
king of Norway by marrying Odee, the daughter of the deceased king. Though not
essentially an Arthurian romance, the poem includes several Arthurian episodes and
motifs, notably the Grail and Bleeding Lance. Only one manuscript is known (Turin
1626).
Norris J.Lacy
Goldschmidt, Moritz, ed. Sone von Nausay. Tübingen: Bibliothek des litterarischen Vereins in
Stuttgart, 1899.
Langlois, Charles-Victor. La vie en France au moyen âge du XIIe au milieu du XIVe siècle, 4 vols.
Paris: Hachette, 1926–28, Vol. 1: D’apres les romans mondains du temps, pp. 286–319.
SONGE DU VERGIER
. An important political tract of the 14th century, the Songe du vergier may be seen as a
statement of the views prevailing at the court of Charles V in the late 1370s, particularly
among those royal advisers who became known as the “Marmousets.”
In the spring of 1374, Charles V commissioned a member of his household with legal
training to prepare a document setting forth the position of the French crown on such
subjects as the relationship of ecclesiastical and secular power, the position of the
monarch vis à vis the emperor and the pope, and the nature of royal sovereignty over the
kingdom. The tract first appeared on May 16, 1376, under the Latin title Somnium
viridarii. The author then revised the work before translating it into French as Songe du
vergier in 1378.
Scholars have long debated the authorship of the Songe, but there is now considerable
evidence that the person responsible was Évrart de Trémaugon, a cleric from the region
of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany who had studied with the distinguished Italian legist John of
Legnano and was a member of the royal household in the 1370s before becoming bishop
of Dole. The Songe takes the form of a lengthy debate between a priest and a knight (a
literary device then popular in France). The views expressed by the knight include a
powerful statement of royal sovereignty, possibly ahead of its time, and are a valuable
guide to the policies and programs of the Marmousets during their period of greatest
influence at the French court (1374–92).
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
[See also: CHARLES V THE WISE; CHARLES VI; MARMOUSETS]
The Encyclopedia 1671