Le Bone Florence of Rome
Encyclopedia
Le Bone Florence of Rome is a medieval English chivalric romance. Featuring the innocent persecuted heroine, it is subcategorized into the Crescentia
cycle of romances because of two common traits: the heroine is accused by her brother-in-law after an attempted seduction, and the story ends with her fame as a healer bringing all her persecutors to her.
. She is brought to a refuge but another rebuffed suitor kills her host's daughter and frames Florence; she is exiled again, suffers more persecution, but finds refuge at a convent where she becomes famous as a healer. This brings all her persecutors to her, and they must confess before she heals them.
, Constance, and Griselda
, stock character
s in chivalric romance. It is distinguished among them by the story's opening with her brother-in-law approaching her with offers of love and ending with her fame as a healer bringing all her persecutors together; there are more than a hundred versions from the twelfth to the nineteenth century. One such features in the Gesta Romanorum
. Many of these are strongly miraclous, which led to their becoming Miracles of the Virgin. The brother-in-law, and his motive of thwarted love, classifies this among those romances not using the typical fairy tale
motifs for their persecutor, a wicked mother-in-law, but a motif found among the heroines only in romances.
The "Florence" versions are noted by being less pious and more romantic and martial versions. There are seven known versions: this, the English one, five French, and one Spanish. The English version lays heavy emphasis on divine justice in the course of the action and underscores its religious nature by having the heroine's virginity be preserved by not by a magical brooch but by a prayer to the Virgin.
The tale also appears to be influenced the romance The King of Tars
, where the heroine's kingdom is also attacked by a rebuffed suitor. In that case, the reluctance springs from his pagan religion, and the work is more consistently religious.
While Emaré
suffers because of her wicked mother-in-law accusing her of bearing animals, her tale has many common points with Florence's: both women are noted for their beauty and magnificent clothing, both are taken as evil for it, and both suffer not for their own instruction, being models of virtue, but to demonstrate God's providence.
Because in many variants, one character or another stems from Hungary, there may also be influence from the legends of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
The story itself been traced to the Old English The Wife's Lament
; however, because the woman herself complains only of malevolent relatives, not the specific brother-in-law, it is impossible to confirm that it is the source. Similar attempts, for instance, have been made to link it to the Constance cycle, and it does fit such tales as Emare and Vitae Duorum Offarum
as well as it does the Crescentia cycle.
Crescentia (romance)
Crescentia is an Old High German chivalric romance, written in Kaiserchronik about 1150. Other versions appeared in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in prose and verse....
cycle of romances because of two common traits: the heroine is accused by her brother-in-law after an attempted seduction, and the story ends with her fame as a healer bringing all her persecutors to her.
Synopsis
Florence, daughter of King Otes of Rome, rejects Garcy, the king of Constantinople, because of his age. Garcy attacks Rome, and Mylys and Emere, sons of the King of Hungary, comes to its aid. Emere and Florence fall in love and are betrothed, but in his absence, Mylys tries to seduce her, and she imprisons him, but frees him when his brother returns. He attacks her again in forestEnchanted forest
In literature, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common, and occur throughout the centuries to modern works of fantasy...
. She is brought to a refuge but another rebuffed suitor kills her host's daughter and frames Florence; she is exiled again, suffers more persecution, but finds refuge at a convent where she becomes famous as a healer. This brings all her persecutors to her, and they must confess before she heals them.
Crescentia cycle
The Crescentia cycle features women who suffer trials and misfortunes, similar to those of EmaréEmaré
Emaré is a middle English Breton lai, a form of Mediaeval Romance poem, told in 1035 lines. The author of Emaré is unknown and exists in only one manuscript, the Cotton Caligula A. ii, which contains ten metrical narratives. Emaré seems to date from the late fourteenth century, possibly written in...
, Constance, and Griselda
Griselda (folklore)
Griselda is a figure from certain folklores whose name is eponymous for patience and obedience.In the tale as written by Giovanni Boccaccio, Griselda marries Gualtieri, the Marquis of Saluzzo. He tests her by declaring that their first child—a daughter—must be put to death, likewise their second...
, stock character
Stock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
s in chivalric romance. It is distinguished among them by the story's opening with her brother-in-law approaching her with offers of love and ending with her fame as a healer bringing all her persecutors together; there are more than a hundred versions from the twelfth to the nineteenth century. One such features in the Gesta Romanorum
Gesta Romanorum
Gesta Romanorum, a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales, was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th...
. Many of these are strongly miraclous, which led to their becoming Miracles of the Virgin. The brother-in-law, and his motive of thwarted love, classifies this among those romances not using the typical fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
motifs for their persecutor, a wicked mother-in-law, but a motif found among the heroines only in romances.
The "Florence" versions are noted by being less pious and more romantic and martial versions. There are seven known versions: this, the English one, five French, and one Spanish. The English version lays heavy emphasis on divine justice in the course of the action and underscores its religious nature by having the heroine's virginity be preserved by not by a magical brooch but by a prayer to the Virgin.
The tale also appears to be influenced the romance The King of Tars
The King of Tars
The King of Tars is a medieval English chivalric romance, an amplified version of the oldest variant found in the Reimchronik, which is found in three manuscripts including the Auchinleck manuscript. It contains many specific religious phrases, and is consistently religious in intent.-Synopsis:A...
, where the heroine's kingdom is also attacked by a rebuffed suitor. In that case, the reluctance springs from his pagan religion, and the work is more consistently religious.
While Emaré
Emaré
Emaré is a middle English Breton lai, a form of Mediaeval Romance poem, told in 1035 lines. The author of Emaré is unknown and exists in only one manuscript, the Cotton Caligula A. ii, which contains ten metrical narratives. Emaré seems to date from the late fourteenth century, possibly written in...
suffers because of her wicked mother-in-law accusing her of bearing animals, her tale has many common points with Florence's: both women are noted for their beauty and magnificent clothing, both are taken as evil for it, and both suffer not for their own instruction, being models of virtue, but to demonstrate God's providence.
Because in many variants, one character or another stems from Hungary, there may also be influence from the legends of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
The story itself been traced to the Old English The Wife's Lament
The Wife's Lament
The Wife's Lament or The Wife's Complaint is an Old English poem of 53 lines found in the Exeter Book and generally treated as an elegy in the manner of the German frauenlied, or woman's song. The poem has been relatively well-preserved and requires few if any emendations to enable an initial reading...
; however, because the woman herself complains only of malevolent relatives, not the specific brother-in-law, it is impossible to confirm that it is the source. Similar attempts, for instance, have been made to link it to the Constance cycle, and it does fit such tales as Emare and Vitae Duorum Offarum
Vitae duorum Offarum
The Vitae duorum Offarum "The lives of the two Offas" is a literary history written in the mid-thirteenth century, apparently by the St Albans monk Matthew Paris.-Account:...
as well as it does the Crescentia cycle.