'Floire and Blancheflor' and the European Romance [Paperback]

A comparative study of Floire and Blancheflor and its versions in medieval and Renaissance Europe, first published in 1997.This comparative study examines Floire and Blancheflor and shows how medieval writers from Spa in, France, Italy, England, and Scandinavia reworked this story from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries to develop and emphasise social, political, religious and artistic goals. It shows the influence of a little-known medieval Spanish version, especially as a precursor to Boccaccio's Il Filocolo, and to examine important issues of the development of prose fiction in medieval and Renaissance Europe.This comparative study examines Floire and Blancheflor and shows how medieval writers from Spa in, France, Italy, England, and Scandinavia reworked this story from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries to develop and emphasise social, political, religious and artistic goals. It shows the influence of a little-known medieval Spanish version, especially as a precursor to Boccaccio's Il Filocolo, and to examine important issues of the development of prose fiction in medieval and Renaissance Europe.This comparative study examines Floire and Blancheflor and shows how medieval writers from Spain, France, Italy, England, and Scandinavia reworked this story from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries to develop and emphasize social, political, religious and artistic goals. It shows the influence of a little-known medieval Spanish version, especially as a precursor to Boccaccio's Il Filocolo, and examines important issues of the development of prose fiction in medieval and Renaissance Europe.Preface; Introduction; Part I. Floire and Blancheflor as Peregrinus: 1. Texts and origins; Part II. The Road to Conversion: 2. Cunning and ingenuity or divine intervention?; 3. Signs, wonders and the telling of the tale; 4. Routes of conversion: time and space; 5. Generic crossroads; Epilogue: poetics of communication; Appendices; Bibliography; Index. PatricialӤ