Architrenius, a satirical allegory in dactylic hexameters completed in 1184 by the Norman poet Johannes de Hauvilla, follows the journey of its eponymous protagonist, the "arch-weeper," who stands in for an emerging class of educated professionals tempted by money and social standing. Architrenius's quest for moral instruction leads through vivid tableaux of the vices of school, court, and church, from the House of Gluttony to the Palace of Ambition to the Mount of Presumption. Despite the allegorical nature of Architrenius, its focus is not primarily religious. Johannes de Hauvilla, who taught at an important cathedral school, probably Rouen, uses his stylistic virtuosity and the many resources of Latin poetry to condemn a secular world where wealth and preferment were all-consuming. His highly topical satire anticipates the comic visions of Jean de Meun, Boccaccio, and Chaucer.

This edition of Architrenius brings together the most authoritative Latin text with a new English translation of an important medieval poem.

About the Author
Winthrop Wetherbee is Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus, at Cornell University.

Reviews
Its stylistic ambitions, complex figurative language, and impressive knowledge of ancient literature and mythology made the Architrenius a classic in the Middle Ages and a canonical school text equal to the works of Bernardus Silvestris, Alan of Lille, and Walter of Cha tillon. However, in a strange and, perhaps some would argue, justified, twist of fate (as did Petrarch, who disliked the poem intensely), scholarly interest in Johannes's work has lagged far behind that afforded his more famous contemporaries...This elegant volume is clearly a labor of love: it provides students and scholars with an eminently useful translation of an often misunderstood and misjudged twelfth-century Latin epic...It is to be hoped that both edition and translation will change the fate of the Architrenius, bringing this distinctive, if unusual work to the attention of both Latin aficionados and the wider public. -- Greti Dinkova-Bruun * Speculum *



Book Information
ISBN 9780674988156
Author Johannes De Hauvilla
Format Hardback
Page Count 576
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press