Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Leprosy and Law in Béroul’s Roman de Tristran

2007; Brepols; Volume: 38; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1484/j.viator.2.302079

2031-0234

Sally Burch,

Renaissance Literature and Culture

The author notes that, in the episode of Yseut’s trial, Tristran’s disguise as a leper differs from the lover’s disguise in other versions of the “ambiguous oath” folktale. The article argues that this is significant, because the queen’s contact with the “leper” provides for the spectators at the Mal Pas an apparent physical test of her virtue: an adulteress would fear leprosy as a punishment for her sin. Hence, this incident can be read as a form of trial by ordeal. Béroul’s sophisticated handling of the unilateral ordeal process reflects contemporary debates about ordeals, and suggests that he had a clerkly background.