Description

The anonymous fifteenth-century French verse translation of Boethius's Consolatio Philosophiae, contained in a single known manuscript, Paris, Biblioth que nationale, fr. 25418, fols 1-74r, is a revised and abridged version of the major French translation, Le Roman de Fortune et de Felicit , edited by B atrice Atherton as her doctoral thesis for the University of Queensland (1994). The title of the present critical edition is derived from the opening strophe of the reviser's Prologue: 'Pour le Tout Poissant honnourer ... Contre Fortune ... Dez dis B ece vueil conter C'om dit de Consolacion', which indicates the Christian didactic purpose intended and expressed in moral lessons for living in this world. Consisting of books I-IV only of the Consolatio, the text lacks the complex philosophical issues of book V and throws into relief the dichotomy of Fortune and Felicity. Pruning of the mythological narratives, historical examples, and nature images by the reviser produced a somewhat lean abr g of Boethius's thought, but with Christian emphasis. With prudent editing, the translation constitutes a coherent whole and is recognised as one of the thirteen distinct medieval French translations of the Consolatio Philosophiae.