DEVISE
. See MOTTO/DEVISE
DIDACTIC LITERATURE (OCCITAN)
. Although two of the earliest works in Occitan are religious, the Chanson de sainte Foy
and Boeci, moral and didactic literature did not develop fully until after the Albigensian
Crusade. In addition to short lyrics on religious subjects, there were translations of
apocryphal gospels (Évangile de l’enfance and Gospel of Nicodemus), various poems
dedicated to the Virgin’s joys and sufferings, and a number of saints’ lives (Vie de saint
Honorat by Raimon Féraut; Vie de saint Georges; Vie de sainte Marguerite; Vie de saint
Alexis; Vie de saint Trophime). From the 14th century come paraphrases and translations
of Latin prayers, such as the Credo and Lord’s Prayer, and of the psalms.
Moral and didactic poetry is well represented by the sirventes of the troubadours,
particularly Arnaut de Mareuil, Guiraut de Borneilh, Peire Cardenal, and Guiraut Riquier.
Moral poems directed to a specific class (women, jongleurs, young nobles) are called
ensenhamens. Many, such as Arnaut’s Razos es e mezura, offer advice on proper conduct
in society. The Catalan troubadour Amanieu de Sescars’s Ensenhamen de la donzela
gives advice to young girls concerning clothing, games, and proper deportment at church;
in his Ensenhamen del escudier, a master advises his protégé on how to succeed in love.
Ensenhamens destined for jongleurs, notably that by Guiraut de Cabrera (Cabra joglar,
ca. 1165), offer intriguing details on the way of life and the repertories of these
entertainers. An important scientific and encyclopedic work is Matfre Ermengaud’s
35,600-line Breviari d’Amor. There also exist separate treatises on birds, medicine,
surgical techniques, and astrology.
Didactic literature is written more often in verse than in prose. However, there are
several fragmentary translations of the New Testament, including the famous Bible
Vaudoise from the late 13th century (preserved in a 15th-century manuscript) and an
“Albigensian New Testament.” Numerous saints’ lives and religious legends were
rendered into prose as well as verse, including “St. Patrick’s Voyage to Purgatory” and
“The Voyage of St. Brendan.” Monastic rules and statutes were frequently translated into
the vernacular, or occasionally even composed in Occitan. Prose translations of classical
texts, such as Seneca’s Proverbs and Cato’s Distichs, are also known. Numerous charters
were written in the vernacular, and we have important coutumiers (lists of local laws and
customs) for Bordeaux, Avignon, Limoux, Agen, Albi, and Tarascon, among other
southern cities.
William W.Kibler
[See also: APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE; COURTESY BOOKS; LEYS D’AMORS;
MATFRE ERMENGAUD; MORAL TREATISES; PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONAL
MATERIALS]
The Encyclopedia 561