in 1454 had political value, for through such devices the
prestige of the Valois dukes reached its zenith. Philip
himself was a model of late-medieval chivalry: hand-
some, courageous, pious, self-indulgent, extravagant.
He maintained mistresses and bastards throughout his
lands yet made heartfelt, albeit unfulfi lled, promises to
go on crusade. He is remembered as “the Good” above
all for the talented artists who gave him the accolade and
immortalized Burgundy in tapestries, the paintings of
van Eyck, and literature ranging from the Cent nouvelles
nouvelles to the histories of Chastellain. He may seem
less successful in retrospect than he did at the time, but
Burgundy was a phantasm and Philip sustained it the
best of all his line.
See also Bedford, John Duke of; Charles VII;
Charles the Bold
Further Reading
Bonenfant, Paul. Philippe le Bon. Brussels: La Renaissance du
Livre, 1955.
Cartellieri, Otto. The Court of Burgundy: Studies in the History
of Civilization. New York: Askell House, 1970.
Huizinga, Johan. The Waningofthe Middle Ages: A Study of the
Forms of Life, Thought and Art in France and the Netherlands
in the Dawn of the Renaissance. London: Arnold, 1924.
Vaughn, Richard. Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy.
London: Longman, 1970.
——. Valois Burgundy. London: Lane, 1975.
Paul D. Solon
PHILIPPE DE THAÜN
(fl. late llth–early 12th c)
Author of the earliest surviving scientifi c works in
French. Philippe’s Anglo-Norman dialect, which he
helped establish as a literary medium, probably indicates
that he was born in England, but he was of continental
parentage originating in Thaon in lower Normandy, 13
miles northwest of Caen. His Cumpoz (probably 1113)
is dedicated to an uncle, Humphrey (Honfroi) of Thaon,
chaplain to Eudo Fitz-Hubert, also known as Eudo Dapi-
fer, steward of Henry I of England, whose royal court
was a center of learned activity. Philippe’s two signed
works, the Cumpoz and the Bestiaire, are in hexasyl-
labic rhymed, occasionally assonanced, couplets, but
the Bestiaire ends with an octosyllabic lapidary. Several
anonymous works have also been attributed to him.
The Cumpoz (“computus”) is a practical treatise on
the calendar that tells how to predict the dates of Easter
and the movable feasts governed by Easter. The problem
is reconciliation of the lunar calendar, which determines
the date of Easter by its association with Passover, with
the Julian solar calendar. Along with accurately detailed
computational material, Philippe gives free rein to an
allegorical bent in discussions of the zodiac and the
names of the days and the months. He twice uses the
year 1113 as an example for computing, once implying
that it is the current year; in any case, the Cumpoz was
dedicated before Eudo’s death in 1120, for he is referred
to as though still alive.
The Bestiaire (ca. 1125) is a “Book of Nature” divided
into three sections: land animals and sea creatures, birds,
and precious gems; it draws on traditional bestiary mate-
rial from ancient myth and biblical sources. An article
on a creature or stone generally opens with a physical
description, often incorporating drawings with the text,
followed by discussion of specifi c properties or habits.
Allegorical commentary derived from the descriptive
material then demonstrates the revelation of God in the
natural world. The articles in the fi rst two sections are
arranged hierarchically, from the “kings” of each species
(the lion, the eagle), which signify Christ, to the “lower”
(land-bound birds, and fi sh), which refer to Satan; pre-
cious gems, beginning with their “king,” the diamond,
are associated with the powers of good. The Bestiaire is
dedicated to Adeliza (Aaliz de Louvain), whom Henry
I married in 1121; she retained the title of queen four
years after Henry’s death in 1135. Scholars tend to date
the Bestiaire from early in Adeliza’s marriage because of
the date of the Cumpoz. One manuscript of the Bestiaire
bears a rededication to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II’s
queen, written after 1154.
The anonymous Livre de Sibile (1135–54), dedicated
to the empress Matilda, Henry I’s daughter, is a book
of prophecies. Authorship has been ascribed to Philippe
primarily because the text bears striking linguistic and
stylistic resemblances to the signed works; in addition,
personal content in the dedication parallels information
found in the rededication of the Bestiaire to Eleanor of
Aquitaine. On the basis of less convincing evidence,
two early Anglo-Norman lapidaries, the Alphabetical
and the Apocalyptic, an Anglo-Norman allegorical
Desputeisun del cors e de l’arme, and a geographical
treatise, Les Divisiuns del mund, have also been attrib-
uted to Philippe.
See also Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry IFurther Reading
Philippe de Thaün. Le bestiaire de Philippe de Thaün, ed.
Emanuel Walberg. Paris: Plon, 1900.
——. Li cumpoz, ed. Émile Mall. Strasbourg, 1873.
——. Le livre de Sibile by Philippe de Thaon, ed. Hugh Shields.
London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1979.
Legge, M. Dominica. Anglo-Norman Literature and Its Back-
ground. Oxford: Clarendon, 1963.
McCulloch, Florence. Mediaeval Latin and French Bestiaries.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1960.
Pickens, Rupert T. “The Literary Activity of Philippe de Thaün.”
Romance Notes 12 (1970–71): 208–12.
Shields, Hugh. “Philippe de Thaon, auteur du Livre de Sibylle?”
Romania 85 (1964): 455–77.PHILIPPE DE THAÜN