ERL OF TOLOUS: FOOTNOTES


1 They delayed neither for wind nor [foul] weather

2 Whatever I might receive from that generous person / Every time I were to see her / It would assuage (redeem) me from my sorrow (poverty)


ERL OF TOLOUS: NOTES

Abbreviations: B: Bodleian 6922 (Ashmole 61); Bo: Bodleian 6926 (Ashmole 45); C: Cambridge, T: Thornton, H: Halliwell; L: Lüdtke, F&H: French & Hale.

15 Syr Dyoclysyan probably refers to the third century Roman leader, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus. According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, Diocletian rose through the ranks to become Emperor Numerian's bodyguard. He distinguished himself initially by avenging Numerian's death, striking down the praetorian prefect, Aper, a name which also means "wild boar." The naming of a boar may have particular intertextual significance since a companion text in the Cambridge MS, the Seven Sages of Rome, not only points to Dioclesian,
Some tyme ther was a noble man
Who name was clepyd Dyaclysyan,
but contains a short didactic narrative about a wild boar ("Aper" appears in the margin). But Diocletian's most famous contribution to the Roman Empire was his establishment of a tetrarchy, a four-part joint rulership. He established himself Augustus in the East, took Galerius to be his Caesar, and elevated an old comrade who had proven valorous in combat, to Augustus in the West and assigned Constantius Chlorus to be his Caesar. The two Caesars were bound to their Augusti by marriage with their daughters . . . Diocletian's genius was as an organizer, and many of his administrative measures lasted for centuries. The tetrarchy was an attempt to provide each part of the Empire with a ruler and to establish an ordered, non-hereditary succession (p. 346).

In T the Erl of Toulous appears under the title heading, Romance of Dyoclicyane with the subtitle Erl of Toulous and the Empress Beaulibone while in C the title appears as an incipit: Here foloweth the Erle of Tolous.

25 Mortimer J. Donovan, in The Breton Lay: A Guide to Varieties, notes that Syr Barnard points to a legendary ninth-century love affair between Count Bernard of Barcelona and Empress Judith, second wife of Louis the Pious:
Bernard I, count of Barcelona and Toulouse, was made prime minister with the connivance of Empress Judith, second wife of Louis le Debonnaire, who used him to forward plans for her son Karl. The two conspirators of the poem are identified with Hugo, Count of Tours, and Matfrid, Count of Orleans. The Empress was accused of adultery with Bernard and at an assembly in 831 cleared herself when, according to law, no accuser appeared. Although Bernard was ipso facto exonerated, he asked the privilege of a duel with any accuser, but, none coming, never fought. (p. 207)

According to Allen Cabaniss in "Judith Augusta and Her Time," University of Mississippi Studies in English 10 (1969), 67-109, the Empress Judith was "banished to Poitiers and required to take the veil at St. Radegunda's convent of the Holy Cross . . . . For six or seven months Empress Judith suffered, like an earlier Heloise, restriction to cloister life at St. Radegunda, deprivation of her husband and son, separation from her lover Bernard, if lover he was, and above all loss of the recent gay life at court" (p. 88). She was released from her vows by Pope Gregory IV and stood trial before the emperor, his sons, and barons of the empire. "The assembly was asked if anyone wished to make indictment of her. Not a single voice was lifted, although less than a year before there had been riotous clamor against her. Judith thereupon solemnly purged herself by oath of any charge that might have been alleged against her. Once again she was wife as well as empress" (p. 92).

29 Three hundred pounds worth of land would have been an extraordinary acquisition.

37-38 The Emperor's wife, Beulybon, is being compared with yet subordinated to the Virgin Mary, who, in the late Middle Ages, was understood to be both an icon of female perfection and a mediatrix. According to Adelaide Harris in The Heroine of the Middle English Romances (Norwood: Norwood Editions, 1978), the analogy is a medieval romance convention (see notes 151, p. 188).

33-48 Thomas Aquinas lists three conditions necessary to sanction a just war: the authority of a sovereign, a just cause, and a rightful intention, (Summa Theologica, Pars II, Q. 40, Art. I). Romances often challenged those conditions; as Beulybon's response to her husband's actions suggests. See also Margaret Gist's Love and War in the Middle English Romance (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1947), p. 114.

65 All other MSS read swordys and schylde.

79 C: raumsomyd. F&H emend to raunsonyd.

83 According to F&H manly suggests virtue, character, dignity, and courageous behavior.

86 C: Bodely. L emends to Boldely.

93 A hauberk is a tunic of chain mail worn as protective garb over the torso. As with all pieces of armor, it conveyed symbolic significance. In Ramón Lull's Book of the Order of Chivalry, for example, it represents a "castle and fortress against vices and weaknesses. For just as a castle or fort is walled in, so a hauberk is firm and closed on all sides to remind a noble Knight that he should not enter with his courage into treason nor any other vice" (p. 67).

95 C uses the Roman numeral for hundred (C) here as in line 124.

113 This line constitutes an addition from T. F&H supply the line in parentheses and I have followed them in order to maintain both poetic and stanzaic integrity.

137 no gode. L omits no.

151 In T the Empress is named in the title (see note for line 15). Beulybon's name, a combination of belle meaning "beautiful" and bon meaning "good," suggests that she complies with conventional notions of the medieval romance heroine (see note for line 188). Laura Hibbard Loomis sees evidence in the heroine's name for a lost French original (Medieval Romance in England, p. 36).

152 Seynt John. Though there are many saints by the name of John, including John the Baptist, this is probably a reference to John the Evangelist, a.k.a. John the Apostle, the author of the Gospel and Epistles bearing his name as well as the Book of Revelation. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Saints he was immensely popular:
One hundred and eighty-one ancient churches and not a few modern ones are dedicated to him. He must have been a very familiar figure to medieval people through being represented on rood-screens, while the iconography of medieval apocalypses often include a series of pictures of his life. He is often represented in the West with John the Baptist as on the stole of Cuthbert, embroidered at Winchester during the 9th century. (p. 228)

174 During the Hundred Years War fought between England and France (1337-1453) ransoming became a popular mode of raising revenue not only for the aristocracy but also for ordinary folks. Desmond Seward in The Hundred Years War (New York: Atheneum, 1978) writes:
A prince or nobleman commanded an enormous price, but the market was not restricted to magnates; a fat burgess or an important cleric could be an almost equally enviable prize . . . For ransoming was often more like the kidnap racket of modern times, and small tradesmen and farmers had their price; even ploughmen fetched a few pence. (p. 80)

Geoffrey Chaucer, when taken prisoner during an expedition to Brittany, was held ransom. Edward III contributed £16 for his release (p. 98). Later the poet wrote in the Tale of Melibee:
that wot ful litel what werre amounteth." (CT VII 1039)
175 F&H add alle from T.

179 F&H supply this line from T.

182 F&H's conjecture that "play" suggests hawking is probably correct not only because hawking constitutes a common leisure activity for aristocrats in the Middle Ages, but because there is a direct correlation between avian and human hierarchies. According to De Arte Venandi Cum Avibus, a thirteenth-century hunting manual (reiterated in Juliana Berners' tract on hawking in The Boke of Albans in the fifteenth century), social status is indicated by particular species of hunting bird:
Emperor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . eagle
King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .gerfalcon and its tercel
Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .falcon gentle and its tercel
Duke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .rock falcon
Earl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .peregrine falcon
Baron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bastard
Knight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .saker
Squire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lanner
Lady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .merlin
Young man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hobby
Yeoman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .goshawk
Poor man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .male goshawk
Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .sparrowhawk
Holy water clerk . . . . . . . . . . . . .musket
Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . kestrel
For further discussion of falconry see Robin Oggins, "Falconry and Medieval Social Status," Mediaevalia 12 (1989), 43-55. It is interesting to note that an activity often thought of as strictly aristocratic should have a designation for people belonging to non-aristocratic social circles, e.g., the "poor man." Hawks were so highly treasured that it was a felony to steal one.

188 In compliance with conventions of medieval romance, the heroine is described as the "fayrest woman" alive. Standards for beauty found in romance narratives include grey eyes, a small waist, a complexion "bryght of blee" and as white as "whale's bone" (see lines 340-43, 353-57). According to Adelaide Harris, in addition to these attributes, "no heroine of romance has dark hair. Even in Tristan, where contrast would be effective, both Iseult of Ireland and Iseult of Brittany are blondes" (p. 14).

190 by boke and by belle. F&H note that "a similar ceremony is in Richard Coeur de Lion, line 605. The Saracens in the 'Chanson' swear on the Koran, line 610. Most of the articles mentioned here are used in Ywain, lines 3907ff. The penalty for swearing falsely was violent death sent from heaven. See Joseph of Arimathea, line 362; Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale, CT 11[B], lines 666-76. In Amis and Amiloun, lines 1250-60, the punishment is leprosy" (p. 81). According to Addis & Arnold's Catholic Dictionary:
Many solemn oaths ordered by the Church are made more solemn by touching the Gospels; and in the Middle Ages persons swearing often touched the Blessed Sacrament, relics, the sacred vessel, etc.

The Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood & Chivalry sheds more light on the significance of this practice:
The intense veneration of relics caused them to be adopted as the most effective means of adding security to oaths; because the simple oath was given such little respect these adjuncts came to be regarded as an essential feature of the oath and the oath was divested of its binding force without them (p. 347).
210 F&H supply this line from T.

219 Chivalry relies upon, among other things, the validity of oral contracts among knights and their superiors.

232 we. The pronoun is inserted above the line in a later hand. Medieval scribes often omit pronomial subjects, especially with incipient verbs, but here the we suits the meter.

235 Seynt Andrewe. Andrew was popular throughout the Middle Ages. Legend indicates that his relics were transferred from Patras in Achaia, the place of his crucifixion, by Regulas, an eighth-century Pope to Fife, Scotland now known as St. Andrews. Fife became an important center of evangelism and pilgrimage.

244 The word for appears as an insertion above the line.

280 mut. L emends to mot. The honorable Beulybon recognizes that it would be a grave sin to forswear an oath, since the promise was made with God as witness.

286 It was customary to attend mass upon rising.

288 All other MSS read slouth.

296 F&H add wyth.

307 oryall. The MED defines oriel as a bay window, recess (in a building or ship); a balcony, gallery, loft; a small private room. Joseph Ritson suggests that the windows were occasionally ornamented with painted glass.

320 F&H suggest that the "chapel probably was attached to the buildings of Diocletian's castle. The oriel seems to have opened off the vestibule" (p. 393).

340 F&H note that this eye color is blue, while Larry D. Benson in The Riverside Chaucer suggests that the true color is "uncertain," but acknowledges the frequency with which grey is used to describe the eyes. That the color - whatever it might be - constitutes a special feminine attribute, perhaps deriving from the grey-eyed Athena of classical Greek tradition, is of no dispute. Chaucer uses the term in the Romaunt of the Rose to describe the watchful eyes of the beautiful maiden at the garden door. Note the color of her hair as well:










A mayden curteys openyde me.
Hir heer was as yelowe of hewe
As ony basyn scoured newe,
Hir flesh tendre as is a chike,
With bente browis smothe and slyke
And by mesure large were
The opening of hir yen clere
Hir nose of good proporcioun
Her yen greye as a faucoun.
(lines 538-46)
yellow; hue


smooth; sleek


proportion
eyes grey; falcon

And again in the Prioress' description in the Canterbury Tales: "hir nose tretys, hir eyen greye as glas" (GP, line 152).

355 Joseph Ritson's nineteenth-century note on whale's bone is interesting:
This allusion is not to what we now call whale-bone, which is wel-known to be black, but to the ivory of the horn or tooth of the Narwhal, or sea-unicorn.
Modern science knows whale's bone to be white (perhaps Ritson is referring to baleen, the dark-colored transverse palatal plates used to make women's corsets in the nineteenth century), but the rest of his comment is probably accurate. Albertus Magnus in Man and the Beasts lists the Narwhal under Monoceros and describes it as "a sea creature endowed with a single horn in the front of its head, with which it can pierce fish and even some boats" (p. 363). Anne Clark in Beasts and Bawdy (New York: Taplinger, 1975) elaborates:
The narwhal, which is sometimes called the sea-unicorn, has a long tusk which is twisted in this way. These, and the horns of the rhinoceros or other animals, were often either genuinely mistaken for the horns of unicorns, or were fraudulently offered for sale under that name. (p. 48) Ground into a powder the "unicorn" horn was famous both as a remedy for poison and as an aphrodisiac.
377 y wolde. C: he wolde. F&H follow L's emendation as do I since the Earl seems to be indicating his own desire.

379 C: y not. F&H comply with L's emendation as do I.

389 C: Of on. F&H and L omit on thereby eliminating an inherent contradiction.

398 C: kyssyd hyt. F&H emend to hyt kyssyd to improve the meter. L reads kyssys hyt.

430 L notes variations on the name Kaunters found in the other MSS: Kamiters, Camtres, Kanteres, Kankerus. There seems to be no precedent for the name which is not the case with Kaym. The Index of Arthurian Names lists several variations on Kaym, e.g., Kaymes, Caym, Cayn, etc. which appear in Arthurian works. All are variations on Cain, son of Adam.

572 hanged and to-drawe. The official punishment for treason. MED cites John Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon as example of what the procedure entailed: "He was first i-compned and then to drawe with horses, and than an honged by the throte, and than i-quartered and to deled to dyvers places of Engelond" (8.267); and Brut-1333 (Rawlinson B. 171), 209-23: "Sir Gilbert of Midelton was atteint, and take, and honede & drawe [eviscerated] and his body quartarede, and his hevede smyten of an sette oppon a spere . . . and the iiij quarters sent to iiij citees of England." This method of execution appears in the Song of Roland, where Ganelon is drawn and quartered for his treachery and betrayal of Roland and Charlemagne.

602 lefe brothyr. A "leve [dear/faithful] brother" is a sworn friend.

625 worde. F&H note that this may be a "possible blunder for the usual orde and ende" (I, p. 402).

703 This line is added by F&H.

707 According to the MED the carver is one who attends a superior at the table by cutting up his/her meat and serving food; one who waits table. The duties of a carver appear in John Russell's Book of Nurture, a medieval instruction manual for boys:

My son, thy knife must be clean and bright; and it beseems thee to have thy hands fair washed. Hold always thy knife surely, so as not to hurt thyself, and have not more than two fingers and the thumb on thy keen knife . . . (as quoted in The Babees Book: Medieval Manners for the Young, ed. Edith Rickert, pp. 58-59).

730 Seynte Jermayne. F&H note that this St. Germaine refers to Germanus of Auxerre, who "led a British army against the Picts and the Scots in 429 A.D. His name is preserved in several Welsh place-names" (p. 405). Other significant details may include his rise to the governorship of Auxerre, an Armorican border province. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Saints:
On the death of Amator, bishop of Auxerre, in 418, Germanus was chosen as his successor . . . he directed British forces in battle, when they won the famous 'Alleluia victory' against a combination of Picts and Saxons, apparently without bloodshed. A year later he was in Ravenna pleading the cause of the rebellious Bretons to the Emperor (p. 180).\
Another possibility may be Germanus of Man, who Celtic scholars believe was "born in Brittany c. 410, went to Ireland to stay with Patrick in 440, came to Wales and lived in the monastery of Brioc and Illtud c. 450, left Gaul to meet Patrick in Britain c. 462, where he engaged in a magic contest with Gwrtheyrn, returned to Ireland and became bishop of Man c. 466" (p. 169). He is often confused with Germanus of Auxerre.

731 There are several theories of age operating in the Middle Ages. See J. A. Burrow's The Ages of Man: A Study in Medieval Writing and Thought (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986). That a twenty-year-old carver is referred to as a child suggests his novice status rather than his degree of maturity. See also Sir Degaré, Floris and Blanchfleur. In Love and War in the Middle English Romances, Margaret Gist comments that romance heroes are often older when they initiate their adventures than might occur in real life wherein people married at an early age, e.g., twelve for girls and fourteen for boys (p. 27).

758 ay worthe them woo. This portion of the line derives from T. F&H's emendation.

759 To ther. All MSS read: To hur. L's emendation, followed by F&H.

768 C: traytour.

771 Other MSS read: swerdys and torchys.

785 mysansweryd. F&H gloss "spoke abusively," though the sense might also be "spoke deceitfully," as they viciously bring her own words home to her (see lines 653 and 786).

789 wonduryng. F&H gloss as wandering. But wondering is possible too, as if to say that she will be made a spectacle - "a marvel" - in her infidelity.

809 F&H read berys rather than borys. Though the word appears to be berys in C, I have emended it to conform with T. External evidence including commentary and the related tale of Diocletian in the Gesta Romanorum support my emendation. Also boars with their tusks are more commonly associated with the ravishing of women. See Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, V. 1436-84.

813 F&H gloss hopyd than as "knew with certainty" rather than "hoped that." To maintain consistency, they gloss hopud in line 822 similarly, though there is a marked difference between absolute knowledge of any situation and the uncertainty hoping implies.

818 It was customary for long-distance travellers to carry an extraordinary supply of provisions to compensate for a lack of adequate accommodations along the way.

851 they seyde. C: he seyde. L's emendation, followed by F&H.

852 Syr Antore. The name may allude to the giantslayer in Libeaus Desconus or may be another name for Arthur.

856 in fere. "Together," though possible, is too neutral a gloss. "Keeping company" or "copulation" is the implication of the conniving knights.

865-88 kele. C: kelee. F&H's emendation.

867 Had not . . . hym slayn. The two lines are corrupt. F&H gloss: "had not a knight interferred, he would have slain his informant, and thus discomfited the traitor" (I, p. 409). Or, perhaps the sense is: had a knight not been present the Emperor would have slain himself [hym slayn] and destroyed the traitor as well. Or, conceivably, line 868 might imply that, had the Emperor slain himself, the traitor would have gone scot-free [broght owt of heele: "released from constraint"].

873 The motif of the Woman Falsely Accused is found in a number of other romances, most notably Octavian, Oliva, Gaudine, Sir Aldingar, and Avowing of Arthur. See Edwin A. Greenlaw's, "The Vows of Baldwin: A Study of Medieval Fiction," PMLA 21 (1906), 575-636.

881 he naked. C: they naked. L's emendation, followed by F&H.

1035 hele. F&H gloss as "conceal," though that sense of helen does not suit the context well. "Embrace" or "preserve" seem the more likely meanings. See MED helen v(1). 3b or v(2). 1d.

1039 heyle. "conceal." Given the fact that the priest has just revealed the contents of his niece's confession, the Earl has good reason to request secrecy.

1041 Trial by combat was customary in a chivalric dispute of this kind. It necessitated a contest between two knights fought with weapons of war until one of the two was unable to fight any longer. According to Broughton's Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood & Chivalry this method of settling disputes flourished under Edward III (1327-1377), whose interest in chivalry inspired him to create the Order of the Garter.

1047 That the priest reveals the secrets of the confessional to a stranger here is perhaps a mark of his trust in his niece and her virtue rather than a breech of his office. But if it is a breech of office it is minor compared to his letting the Earl hear confession subsequently.

1065 F&H and others acknowledge a direct source to be non-extant.

1095 Tantamount to throwing down the gauntlet, this act constitutes a public challenge. By picking it up, the opponent accepts the challenge.

1110 basenet. A protective head covering worn under the helmet.

1133 them. C: hym. L's emendation, followed by F&H.

1145 byschoperyke. A province under the authority of a bishop or archbishop, a bishopric constitutes a generous gift.

1154 Syr. L emends to Syr [abbot], to fill out the line metrically; followed by F&H.

1164 In C thee is obliterated by a smudge.

1198 Many scholars have noted the romance as non-extant.

1199 The steward in medieval romance is often portrayed negatively. In Sir Orfeo that convention is reversed when Orfeo confers temporary kingship upon his steward, later tests him, discovers and acknowledges his loyalty. And, here, the steward is certainly good.

1200 sesyd. According to the MED seisin means to "endow in legal or formal possession of a kingdom, land, feudal estate, goods, etc."

1203 The election takes place because the Emperor and Beulybon have no heirs. Just as the steward in Sir Orfeo, Sir Barnard proves himself to be a worthy candidate for rulership.

1208 This line recalls a similar line in Emaré: wedde her to his wife. See also Henry Weber's edition of Seven Sages of Rome, line 3343.

1215 L notes that Rome may suggest romance. H concurs by noting the difference between the manuscripts and the printed edition which reads "In romance this chronicle is" suggesting that the "boke of Rome" is a volume written in a Romance language, probably French. This conclusion, however, discourages consideration of other possibilities, i.e., the Gesta Romanorum or the Seven Sages of Rome, a companion text in C. Both contain stories of Diocletian and may be, if not direct sources, then indirect resources. In the Gesta Romanorum the tale begins:
When Diocletian reigned, he decreed that whatsoever woman committed adultery should be put to death.
In addition, rome is not capitalized in the MS; its capitalization is a modern editorial decision. In line 1151 it clearly refers to the city.

1215 The poem is being specifically associated with Breton lay.

1219 L notes the variations in endings in two MSS: Amen qd Rate in B and Sic transit gloria mundi in Bo. The ending to T is missing.