Law and Epics
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Special Session
Organizer Name
Philippe Haugeard
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. d'Orléans
Presider Name
Bernard Ribémont
Presider Affiliation
Univ. d'Orléans
Paper Title 1
Le mythe du législateur dans la Scandinavie médiévale: Aux sources d'un topos littéraire (XIe-XIIe siècle)
Presenter 1 Name
Gilduin Davy
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. d'Orléans
Paper Title 2
"La pais ferai, cui qu'an doie grever": Quand la reine dit le droit dans la Geste des Loherains
Presenter 2 Name
Muriel Ott
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Univ. de Strasbourg
Paper Title 3
"Savoir juger de droit": Une expertise juridique dans les plus anciennes chansons de geste?
Presenter 3 Name
Philippe Haugeard
Start Date
9-5-2013 10:00 AM
Session Location
Valley II 205
Description
The session "Law and epics" will propose three papers on old french and scandinavian epic literature (chansons de geste and sagas).
The first one will study the myth of legislator as a topos of medieval literature and scandinavian literature. The image of the legislator has indeed an important place in the later texts. Tradition, yet evidenced by the works of the eighteenth century, shows king Skiold as the archetype of the corrector of the country, repealing laws or salutaries edicts establishing. It should be noted, however, that the first monuments of Scandinavian literature, mainly in Denmark and Iceland, appeared at the time have emerged various literary models. First, that resulting from the "rediscovery" of Roman law that carries the memory of the princeps-dominus legislature (including the famous adages that nourish including traditional French thirteenth century). Then, the resulting model with Norman influences on North Letters are proven. Can be then examined the extent tribute to Scandinavian epic literature on these models and any peculiarities it had generated.
The second will be a comparative study of the figure of the queen of France in, on one hand, Garin le Loherain and Gerbert de Mez, and, on the other hand, the Vengeance Fromondin, aiming to draw the peculiarity of this chanson de geste, much later than the two others chansons : in the Vengeance Fromondin, the queen takes the place of the king to assert the law and set up peace for a long time between the two ennemy clans, Lorrains and Bordelais.
The third and the last paper will study the deep interest showed by the oldest "chansons de geste" for questions of law and justice: this interest appears through a many scenes of trials or judicial councils in which some characters are knew because of their competence to “savoir de droit” or “savoir juger de droit”; such formulas and such characters could give the illusion of the existence of a positive right and of a legal practice based on juridical norms and established judicial procedures. However, the characters who intervene as experts in epic plaids are never but warriors and members of the aristocratic chivalry, without juridical formation and without judicial status. In fact, in the oldest French songs, the scenes of plaids and trials show that the juridical thought of the feudal society is a pre-right, as Louis Gernet said for the Ancient Greece. This paper will thus seek to define the nature and the function of a juridical expertness in a situation of pre-right.
These papers will be read in French.
Philippe Haugeard
Law and Epics
Valley II 205
The session "Law and epics" will propose three papers on old french and scandinavian epic literature (chansons de geste and sagas).
The first one will study the myth of legislator as a topos of medieval literature and scandinavian literature. The image of the legislator has indeed an important place in the later texts. Tradition, yet evidenced by the works of the eighteenth century, shows king Skiold as the archetype of the corrector of the country, repealing laws or salutaries edicts establishing. It should be noted, however, that the first monuments of Scandinavian literature, mainly in Denmark and Iceland, appeared at the time have emerged various literary models. First, that resulting from the "rediscovery" of Roman law that carries the memory of the princeps-dominus legislature (including the famous adages that nourish including traditional French thirteenth century). Then, the resulting model with Norman influences on North Letters are proven. Can be then examined the extent tribute to Scandinavian epic literature on these models and any peculiarities it had generated.
The second will be a comparative study of the figure of the queen of France in, on one hand, Garin le Loherain and Gerbert de Mez, and, on the other hand, the Vengeance Fromondin, aiming to draw the peculiarity of this chanson de geste, much later than the two others chansons : in the Vengeance Fromondin, the queen takes the place of the king to assert the law and set up peace for a long time between the two ennemy clans, Lorrains and Bordelais.
The third and the last paper will study the deep interest showed by the oldest "chansons de geste" for questions of law and justice: this interest appears through a many scenes of trials or judicial councils in which some characters are knew because of their competence to “savoir de droit” or “savoir juger de droit”; such formulas and such characters could give the illusion of the existence of a positive right and of a legal practice based on juridical norms and established judicial procedures. However, the characters who intervene as experts in epic plaids are never but warriors and members of the aristocratic chivalry, without juridical formation and without judicial status. In fact, in the oldest French songs, the scenes of plaids and trials show that the juridical thought of the feudal society is a pre-right, as Louis Gernet said for the Ancient Greece. This paper will thus seek to define the nature and the function of a juridical expertness in a situation of pre-right.
These papers will be read in French.
Philippe Haugeard