La Châtelaine de Vergy

by Jean Dufournet (Editor), Anonymous

Quatre personnages et un petit chien. Le héros, un chevalier, est tenu à une double fidélité : envers son seigneur, le duc de Bourgogne, et envers celle qu'il aime, la châtelaine de Vergy, nièce du duc. Le voilà pris dans une fidélité inconciliable. Le secret des rencontres des amants, facilité par un petit chien dressé, sera rompu par la jalousie et les manigances de la duchesse de Bourgogne. Voici l'histoire d'un amour extraordinaire et indicible.Ecrit par un auteur du XIIIᵉ siècle resté anonyme, ce texte est l'un des plus mystérieux de notre littérature. L'amour selon la lyrique courtoise se double d'un triangle amoureux, non plus comique mais véritablement tragique. Le récit met en scène la mécanique implacable des amours impossibles. La mort est à l'horizon de l'amour.

Genres: France, Classics, Fiction, Medieval, Poetry, French Literature, 13th Century

183 pages, Pocket Book

Published February 24, 1994

Reviews

[Katia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story taught me that it’s not heartbreak unless you deliver a long monologue, faint, die, then cause two other people to die and one person to be depressed for the rest of his life.

But actually, the explicit moral of the story is if a man breaks a promise to his girlfriend, he will regret it forever. Which is kind of a medieval slay, both figuratively and literally (given our male love interest’s fate).

[sardinosaure 🦕 · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 un sans faute ; thriller de folie, la fin est dingue, lisez ;)
que de similitudes avec Quignard en plus…

[miriam ⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT 🫶 especially loved the dog

[rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the language of this tale makes it virtually inaccessible and its era restricts it to a certain superficiality, the exploration of the different relationships depicted certainly has some merit to it, and it is intriguing to say the least.

[Marisol Boyle Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

french people are so dramatic

[Beatris · Rating 5 out of 5]

new obsession unlocked: medieval literature

[Monty · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Paper 4 Prelims French Oxford)

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Châtelaine de Vergy tells the story of an unnamed knight in the service of the Duke of Burgundy who is the lover of the Châtelaine of Vergy, the Duke's niece. The Châtelaine has accepted this knight's love on one condition: that he must keep their relationship secret from everyone, and that when he comes to visit her, he must wait for her little dog to come out to him in the garden, which signals that she is alone and the knight may come see her.

When the Duchess of Burgundy falls in love with the knight, he is forced to spurn her advances, citing his loyalty to the Duke and his love for another. In her anger, the duchess then tells her husband that the knight is unfaithful and has tried to seduce her, and the Duke accuses the knight of treachery. To save his honor, and to avoid being exiled (and thus forced to distance himself from his mistress), the knight, once the lord has promised to keep his secret, reveals to his lord where his heart truly lies, thus violating his promise to his mistress.

The Duke reveals the truth of the knight's love to his wife, trusting her to keep the secret; but, at the feast of Pentecoste, the Duchess makes a cruel inside joke to the Châtelaine about her lover and her "well-trained dog". The Châtelaine realizes her lover has not kept his promise and she dies in despair. The knight discovers her body and kills himself. The Duke finds both bodies, and exacts vengeance on his wife by killing her with the knight's sword, and then becomes a knight Templar.

[Natacha Pavlov · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Je vous aimais,
que Dieu me prenne en pitié!
deux fois plus que moi-même…” 
(“I loved you,
may God have mercy on me!
twice as much as myself…”)

Another medieval gem down with La Châtelaine de Vergy, a short 13th century novel in verse.
This tragic tale of love is centered around a secret liaison between two lovers connected to the royal court of Bourgogne. It raises enduring questions of secrecy, privacy, loyalty and miscommunication.

This edition has both the original old French on one side and modern French rendition on the other, which is fitting since they are amusingly like two 'similar yet different' languages.

As one of the most popular novels of its time, it inspired a string of other versions across the centuries.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Je n’ai lu que la traduction du texte original de ce livre et non la version du XVIe siècle parce que je veux apprécier l’histoire originale. J’ai aimé les personnages et le drame de l’histoire. C’est une petite histoire, donc je ne me connecte pas avec les personnages. Cependant, j’ai adoré le temps que j’ai passé à lire ce livre.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literally SO CAMP. He said lemme flame them 🤭 I love how it’s like lowkeeyyyyyy a fabliau disguised as a courtly romance. So fun. And the poet was partaking in the lies and secrecy himself with the final moral. SO GOOD!!

[elodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

[Benjamin Kersey · Rating 4 out of 5]

my medieval French literature course is baffling me because apparently I like??? Medieval French Literature??? who knew!

read for class.

[Jemima Sandford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for 1st year undergrad. Don't actually think I ever finished it. Didn't enjoy it and found the language too complex for 1st year.

[Wylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

gossipy

[eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good!! but thank god for modern day retellings

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

lol i love this book

[Craiyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

plus dramatique, la prochaine fois

[Ben Fantom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was truly an unserious poem from Medieval France. Read it for a laugh if nothing else - bilingual editions with modern French are available and very good.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for uni