Add MS 15229

Contents:

Fourteen episodes of the French verse romance, Le Roman de Renart (Reynard the Fox), attributed to Pierre de Saint Cloud, Richard of Lison and others. The Roman is based on a large collection of tales from Oriental sources, mostly collected and translated in Picardy or the Paris area in the 12th and 13th centuries.

The codex has been incorrectly bound. The text begins at the current f. 11 (numbered 'xix' on the verso) and the first 8 leaves in the current volume (ff. 3-11) should follow f. 36. The first 18 folios of the original volume are now lacking, so the text is imperfect at the beginning. In addition, two folios before f. 15 are lacking (see Ward, Catalogue of Romances (1893), II, p. 368).

The episodes are as follows:

ff. 11r-13r: Renart teinturier (Reynard the Dyer), beginning at 'Con na que faire dome en chambres' from the lamentation of Dame Hersent, wife of Isengrim the Wolf, in the latter part of the tale where Renard has fallen into a dye vat and been died yellow;

ff. 13r-19r: Chanticler le coq (Chanticleer the cockerel), opening with a 22-line general introduction to the Roman, beginning 'Seignour oi avez maint conte';

ff. 19v-33r: Liétart le vilein (Lietard the Peasant), beginning, 'Un prestre de la crois en brie/ Qui dame diex doinst bone vie', an attribution to a priest of Croix-en-Brie, near Nangis, possibly Pierre de Saint Cloud;

ff. 33v-36v: Tiécelin le corbeau (The Crow and Cheese), followed by intrigues between Reynard and Hersent, wife of Isengrim;

ff. 36v, 3r-6r: Ysengrin fait moine; la pêche aux anguilles, (Isengrim becomes a monk; Isengrim fishes with his tail for herrings);

ff. 6r-10v, 37r-42r: Le combat de Renart et Ysengrin (the Combat between Reynard and Isengrim);

ff. 42r-53r: Ysengrin dans le puits (Reynard and Isengrim in the well);

ff. 53r-62r: Renart et Tibert (Reynard and Tybert the Cat); the tale ends with an attribution to 'Richart de Lison' and with Reynard and his wife, Hermeline, cooking two geese in sauce;

ff. 62v-67v: La confession de Renart (Reynard confesses to Hubert the Kite);

ff. 67v-71r: Le pèlerinage de Renart (Reynard goes on pilgrimage to Rome);

ff. 71r-77v: La queue de Tibert; Primaut le loup (Tibert loses his tail, Primaut the wolf becomes a priest);

ff. 77v-92v: Renart teint en noir (Reynard dyes himself black);

ff. 92v-103r: Renart médecin (Reynard as king's physician and the flaying of the Wolf, Isengrim);

ff. 103r-124v: Renart empereur (Reynard as emperor), ending with the lines, 'Mais entreulz mout grant amor ot/ Li contes fenist a ce mot' followed by the colophon, 'Explicit le Romans de Renart'.

According to Busby, Codex and Context (2002), this text belongs to the same tradition as Paris, BnF fr. 1580 and Oxford, Bodleian Douce MS 360 (part of the 'Alpha' family of manuscripts). It was probably the exemplar from which New York, Morgan Library, MS M.932 was copied.

Decoration:

13 miniatures in colours on gold grounds, with frames in blue, rose and gold (ff. 3r, 6r, 13r, 19v, 33r, 42r, 53r, 63r, 68r, 70v, 77v, 92v, 103r). Framed initials in gold on blue and rose grounds (e.g., f. 53r). Puzzle initials in blue and red at the beginning of chapters (e.g., f. 36v). Initials in red or blue with pen-flourishing in the other colour. Tall initials with decoration, some with faces, extending into the upper margins. Page numbering in roman numerals and catchwords in the lower margins.

The subjects of the miniatures are:

f. 3r: Reynard on a cart with an eel in his mouth, with two men walking beside the cart;

f. 6r: Reynard kneeling before a crowned lion, with other animals behind him;

f. 13r: Reynard seizing Chanticleer the cockerel by the neck;

f. 19v: Bruin the bear demanding from Lietard the peasant his best ox;

f. 33r: A crow perched in a tree with a cheese in its beak, while Reynard sits below, looking up at it.

f. 42r: Reynard in a bucket being lowered into a well by a cleric in a white robe;

f. 53r: Reynard and Tibert the cat, seated with the moon above;

f. 63r: Reynard is chased from the hen house by three clerics with batons, with three chickens perched above;

f. 68r: Reynard standing before a seated figure in white robes and veil, perhaps representing his absolution before going on pilgrimage;

f. 70v: A wolf attacking chickens;

f. 77v A castle where Reynard takes refuge;

f. 92v: Reynard as a physician with Isengrin at the court of King Lion;

f. 103r: The animals judging Reynard, who is in a cave.