[See also: BRUGES; FLANDERS; GHENT; TEXTILES; WOOL TRADE]
Merlevede, J. De Ieperse stadsfinanciân (1280–1330): Bijdrage tot de studie van een Vlaamse stad.
Brussels, n.d.
Mus, Octaaf, and Jan A.van Houtte, eds. Prisma van de Geschiedenis van leper. Ypres, 1974.
Nicholas, David. Town and Countryside: Social, Economic, and Political Tensions in Fourteenth-
Century Flanders. Bruges: De Tempel, 1971.
YSENGRIMUS
. A Latin poem of some 6,500 dactylic hexameters in seven books, composed ca. 1150
and attributed to the Flemish monk Nivard of Ghent. This first great beast epic, centered
on the figure of the wolf, is a coherently constructed work in twelve episodes. Both a
fable and an oratorical and satirical text, Ysengrimus reflects contemporary life and the
problems of the Second Crusade. This somber and pessimistic poem is largely
unsympathetic to St. Bernard, Pope Eugenius III, and the monks of Cîteaux and Cluny. It
is an excellent reflection of the culture of a 12th-century cleric: well acquainted with
Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, Juvenal, and other classical authors; steeped in biblical and liturgical
culture; and generally indifferent to popular culture.
Jean Dufournet
[See also: RENART, ROMAN DE]
Charbonnier, Elisabeth, ed. Le roman d’Ysengrin. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1991.
Mann, Jill, ed. and trans. Ysengrimus. Leiden: Brill, 1987.
The Encyclopedia 1871