Two Old French Satires on the Power of the Keys
L'Escommeniement au lecheor and Le Pardon de foutre

Edited by Daron Burrows

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Research Monographs in French Studies 18

Legenda

4 February 2005  •  158pp

ISBN: 1-904713-09-2 (paperback)  •  RRP £75, $99, €85

ISBN: 978-1-351195-59-1 (Taylor & Francis ebook)

MedievalFrenchPoetrySatire

These thirteenth-century French comic texts, L'Escommeniement au lecheor and Le Pardon de foutre, are two of the earliest satires on the Church's power to 'loosen and bind', symbolised by St Peter's keys. In L'Escommeniement, excommunications are relentlessly fired out against various social groups accused of activities ranging from the illegal and the immoral to the nonsensical and obscene. In Le Pardon, a cardinal freshly arrived from Rome proffers absolutions and indulgences to a number of groups whose graphically alleged sexual incontinence would appear to merit anything but pardon. These hitherto unedited poems are complemented by an English translation, glossary and commentary.

Daron Burrows is Lecturer in French at the University of Manchester.

Reviews:

  • ‘The first of the two works edited here was published only in 1844; the second has never been edited until now... That these works should be known is undeniable. If it is unnecessary, or perhaps futile, to speak of their literary value, they are clearly interesting for other reasons. In particular, should anyone still need assurance that religion and the Church were fair game for medieval satirists, this volume should lay those doubts to rest.’ — Norris J. Lacy, French Review 82.1, 2009, 150-51

Bibliography entry:

Burrows, Daron (ed.), Two Old French Satires on the Power of the Keys: L'Escommeniement au lecheor and Le Pardon de foutre, Research Monographs in French Studies, 18 (Legenda, 2005)

First footnote reference: 35 Two Old French Satires on the Power of the Keys: L'Escommeniement au lecheor and Le Pardon de foutre, ed. by Daron Burrows, Research Monographs in French Studies, 18 (Legenda, 2005), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Burrows, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Burrows, Daron (ed.). 2005. Two Old French Satires on the Power of the Keys: L'Escommeniement au lecheor and Le Pardon de foutre, Research Monographs in French Studies, 18 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Burrows 2005: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Burrows 2005: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

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