2023-11-29
58 分钟We conclude our miniseries comparing the legends to the real life of Gerbert d'Aurillac: mathematician, pope, and alleged magician. Today's variant of the Dark Legend comes from Walter Map, and we follow that with a look at the historical Gerbert's contributions to science. Today's Texts: Map, Walter. De Nugis Curialium. Translated by Montague R. James, historical notes by John Edward Lloyd, edited by E. Sidney Hartland, Cymmrodorion Record Series, no. 9, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1923. Gerbert d'Aurillac. The Letters of Gerbert with His Papal Privileges as Sylvester II, translated and edited by Harriet Pratt Lattin, Columbia UP, 1961.
This is medieval death trip for Tuesday, November 28, 2023.
Episode 104 concerning the abacus and succubus of Joubert Dorriac hello and welcome to medieval death Trip, the show where we explore the wit and weirdness of medieval texts.
Im your host Patrick Lane.
Were back from our little sojourn into the victorian age with Richard Garnets satirical version of the dark Legend of Jabert, the story the demon Pope.
Today, well resume our look at the medieval myth and reality of the man who became pope, Sylvester II.
Previously we heard William of Malmesburys rather libelous account of Jouberts career and ascension to the papal seat arise, allegedly facilitated by black magic.
But after that we looked at the actual known biography of Joubert and discussed how his political activities made him some powerful enemies who are likely responsible for the devil tarnished image that was passed on to later historians like William and like todays contributor to the dark legend of Gerbear, the 12th century english writer and court wit Walter Mapp.
We last heard from Walter Mapp in episode 88 concerning the plight of the paterfamilias, in which he was complaining about the burden of being the head of a household.
And before that we heard from him in episodes 50 and 51 where he was complaining about the difficulty of being a courtier of the kingdom.
All of these, as well as todays little narrative, come from his book de Nugis curialiam, or a courtiers trifles, a work thats basically nothing but a collection of little comic or satirical essays and anecdotes, essentially toastmasters, material for deploying in after dinner raconteurship among an assortment of legendary material.
In de Nugis correaliam we find Walter Mapps version of the Dark Legend, one that I almost hesitate to call the dark Legend because it seems largely to come from a different branch of the narrative genome.
The myth that Mapp relates here has certain commonalities with William of Malmesbury's version, but many of its details are different and unique to map.
They are not found in any other texts about Gerbert.
This fact helps confirm the argument proposed last episode that the dark legend is not rooted in Gerbet's actual life, but evolved later from a broader set of insinuations which could lend themselves to different permutations of stories loosely centered around the concept of magician pope.
With Walter Mapp's version, it's honestly a little hard to say how much it represents a totally separate branch of oral tradition, and how much it might just be maps own whole cloth fiction writing.
William of Malmesbury has enough integrity as a historian that one presumes he did at least draw his version from existing sources, however credulous he may have been.
In doing so with Mapp, though, it's not far fetched to think that he just took a few sentences worth of dark legend bullet points and invented his own new story off of them, without any qualms over fidelity to history.
And this is a much more deliberately literary work in its execution than William of Malmesbury's history.
Map revels in classical allusions and metaphors.
Indeed, before we get to the text, we probably ought to gloss a few of those.