My review of the proceedings of a conference on Le Tournoi de Chauvency in the Douce 308 MS in the Bodleian Library, Oxford was just published in French Studies.
Le tournoi de Chauvency is a fascinating French narrative poem, recounting the events of a multi-day tournament and mêlée fight, accompanied by singing, dancing, games, and feasting from 1285. It is part of the manuscript Douce 308 in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, where it sits among other narrative poems and a large collection of song lyrics, some of which are those songs in the Tournoi.
As I’m currently writing a chapter on the songs in this manuscript, I was delighted to review this collection. I’ve already blogged a slightly longer comment on the two essays in it that deal with the Vows of the Peacock, but for access to the full review, please use the links below, kindly provided by OUP.
Hello Elizabeth. My ancestor might be mentioned in this manuscript Gullaume de Lamoignon but he might not yet have claimed the family name. I would dearly like to read it but my french is very poor. is there an English translation anywhere?
Thanks. There’s a modern French translation but not, as far as I know, an English one. If anyone else knows of one, they should reply in the comments here!
When I get going with the text properly, I’m going to be doing my own working translation. If it’s passable, I might blog bits of it, but that remains to be seen…!
Thanks. Will look out for it. I really badly want to know where the source is for the accounting records of the Counts of Flanders because my ancestor is a knight who probably served the Count of Nevers (Robert III Bethune). I have bought books and checked bibliography but nobody really gives the primary source. Its all sources which have been taken from sources etc. I guess the manuscripts exist somewhere.