Ordering chaos : the self and the cosmos in twelfth-century Latin prosimetrum / / by Bridget K. Balint.

• Superior document: Medieval and Renaissance authors and texts, v. 3
• Author: Balint, Bridget K.
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Medieval and Renaissance authors and texts ; v. 3.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (252 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

From c. 1100 until c. 1170, Latin prosimetrical texts characterized by dialogue, allegory, and philosophical speculation enjoyed a notable popularity within the cultural ambit of the French cathedral schools. Inspired by Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy , the prosimetrum writers applied his literary techniques to the ethical and anthropological concerns of their own era, producing texts of great artistry in the process. This book investigates the rise of the Boethian impulse in Latin, the innovations of the twelfth-century writers, the difficulties that arose when they attempted to recapture the certainty that characterized the Consolation , and the survival of aspects of this literary mode in later Latin and vernacular literature.

Table of Contents

The writing of prosimetrum in the Middle Ages -- The authority of the consolation -- The interlocutors -- Situating the self -- Truth and instability in the prosimetra -- Fabulous philosophizing after 1170 -- Prose and poetry in the prosimetra -- Hildebert of Lavardin, The complaint and quarrel of the body and the soul -- Lawrence of Durham, Consolation on the death of a friend.