Reading The ME Prose Translation of Roger d’Argenteuil’s Bible en françois in Pre-Reformation England: Incarnation, Tradition and the Authority of Rome

Abstract

In the fifteenth century, an anonymous author translated portions of a thirteenth-century French text, the Bible en françois, into Middle English. Because only the biblical and legendary narratives were translated, the resultant work, The ME Prose Translation of Roger d’Argenteuil’s Bible en françois (ME Bible), is shorter and more unified than its prototype and places more emphasis on the story of St. Veronica and the Siege of Jerusalem. This dissertation examines the ME Bible to elucidate its meaning in pre-Reformation England, a period of religious turmoil and theological uncertainty. A comprehensive interpretative process recognises that a text is created and disseminated under certain conditions and with an audience in mind. To establish the ME Bible’s meaning in pre-Reformation England, I read the text within several overlapping contexts. In particular, I investigate the state of religion and theology in late fifteenth-century England, the history of the Veronica motif in history and literature, the history and literature surrounding The Vengeance of the Savior, and the ME Bible’s specific literary features. I argue that the text is a defense of conventional teaching and tradition, a warning to Reformers and even an assertion of Rome’s hegemony—all organized in terms of and giving expression to an incarnational sensibility.