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The king's blood: Royal genealogies, dynastic rivalries and historical culture in the Hundred Years War. A case study of "A tous nobles qui aiment beaux faits et bonnes histoires"

Norbye, Marigold Anne; (2004) The king's blood: Royal genealogies, dynastic rivalries and historical culture in the Hundred Years War. A case study of "A tous nobles qui aiment beaux faits et bonnes histoires". Doctoral thesis (Ph.D.), University College London (United Kingdom). Green open access

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Abstract

This thesis is centred on the study of the manuscripts of a popular genealogical chronicle of the kings of France dating from the fifteenth century, with the incipit A tous nobles. This genealogy is composed of an abridged chronicle of the history of France, accompanied in most cases by a genealogical tree showing the pedigree of the French kings and their mythical Trojan ancestors. In two thirds of the extant manuscripts, A tous nobles is found as part of a universal chronicle which also includes biblical and ancient history, brief chronicles of the popes, Roman emperors and kings of England. About sixty manuscripts survive, in a great diversity of formats (roll or codex), layouts, textual variants and standards of decoration and execution. The thesis argues that this reveals a high level of popularity of this work, a broad range of owners, and active involvement of readers-writers in the text. Much emphasis is placed on the study of the manuscripts themselves, their appearance and their detailed contents. From the numerous variations, it is possible to postulate the existence of author-scribes (remanieurs) who chose to remodel this work. These writers affected the representation of the transition between French royal dynasties at a time when official history was promoting the concept of an unbroken royal blood line, and of the relationship with England in the light of the English kings' claim to the French crown during the Hundred Years War. These remanieurs were probably not hired copyists but the readers themselves, or persons close to them, who chose to put their individual stamp on the work. They bear witness to a historical culture amongst the lay literate classes where history was being actively remodelled and rewritten, reflecting and shaping the political outlook of an audience whose sense of national identity was growing.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: Ph.D.
Title: The king's blood: Royal genealogies, dynastic rivalries and historical culture in the Hundred Years War. A case study of "A tous nobles qui aiment beaux faits et bonnes histoires"
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by ProQuest.
Keywords: (UMI)AAI10014337; Social sciences; Hundred Years War
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10103046
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