Author Description
This is the first monograph to be published about one of the most famous and least understood authors of the Latin Middle Ages. We know him by the pseudonym of Archpoet. Setting the Archpoet's world and works in their historical contexts, Peter Godman argues that they provide insight into a brilliant counter-culture of medieval Germany. Its subtlest exponent did not indulge in literary play but refashioned the political, social, and religious roles available to a twelfth-century thinker in order to create, for himself and his patron, an identity alternative to the norms of clerical conformity prevalent elsewhere in Europe. At a time when Germans were being decried as backward barbarians, he produced a manifesto of intellectual heterodoxy which wittily challenged the truth-claims made by humourless moralists. The Archpoet and Medieval Culture reconsiders the categories in which the literature of the Middle Ages is interpreted and suggests a less literal mode of reading the sources to historians.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This monograph investigates how the twelfth-century figure known as the Archpoet utilized his literary output to construct an identity of intellectual heterodoxy within the constraints of medieval German society. Peter Godman, a scholar of medieval Latin literature, examines the Archpoet's works not as mere play, but as a calculated refashioning of political and religious roles. By situating these texts within their specific historical context, the author argues that the Archpoet challenged the prevailing norms of clerical conformity and the contemporary perception of Germans as culturally backward.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of the Archpoet's surviving Latin poetry and its socio-political implications.
- Examination of the relationship between the poet and his patron in twelfth-century Germany.
- A methodological framework for interpreting medieval sources through a non-literal lens.
Scope Limits
- The study does not provide a comprehensive biography of the poet's life, as historical records remain sparse.
- The analysis is restricted to the specific cultural and political climate of twelfth-century Germany and does not cover the entirety of medieval European literature.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars frequently cite this work as a significant contribution to the study of medieval Latin literature and the intellectual history of the twelfth century. Experts note the academic density of the prose, which demands a high level of familiarity with medieval Latin and the historical context of the period.
Page Count:
304
Publication Date:
2014-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0191029963
ISBN-13:
9780191029967
Biography
History
Germany history
English & College Success
Latin poetry
Literary Criticism
English
European History