FLORUS AND DIOCLETIAN: A CRUX IN CHRISTINE DE PIZAN'S "LIVRE DU CORPS DE POLICIE"
1998; Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature; Volume: 67; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Francês
10.2307/43630024
ISSN2398-1423
Autores Tópico(s)Medieval Literature and History
ResumoThe purpose of this note is to confirm a tentative hypothesis regarding one of Christine de Pizan's sources that I first put forward in a recent edition of the Livre du corps de policie' and developed more fully in an article published in Miscellanea mediaevalia: melanges offerts a Philippe Menard.2 A crux occurs in the following passage in Christine de Pizan's Livre du corps de policie, a manual of government written in '4o6-7 for the Dauphin, Louis de Guyenne, the third son of Charles VI and Isabeau de Baviere: `Et raconte Florus en l'Istoire des Rommains comment Deoclesian, empereur de Romme, apres ce que il ot eu maintes victoires en bataille, se desmist de sa propre voulente, et s'en ala finer sa vie en .i. vilaige nomme Salon, et son occupacion estoit en labourer la terre. Et lonc temps apres, comme la seigneurie de Romme eust eu grant deffaulte du bon gouvernement de si vaillant homme, envoierent vers lui Lentulius et Galerius, en lui priant que il voulsist retourner a Romme et prendre l'empire, auxquelz il respondi: Ha! dist-il, se vous eusies veu mes beaux chous que j'ay plantez de ma main, vous ne me requerissiez pas de retourner a l'empire. Et c'estoit a dire que il avoit plus de pais de conscience en ce povre office, et mieulx le prenoit en gre que avoir la charge de si grant et si pereilleuse cure comme de l'empire.' (Kennedy, p. iog, lines 5-16, Lucas, pp. zoo-I). The crux here is constituted by the fact that Florus could not have written on Diocletian: Florus' abridgement of Roman history dates from the second century AD,3 while Diocletian retired to Salona in AD 304 and died in 31 3. As I indicated in the Melanges Menard,4 the ultimate source of the above passage is the Epitome de Caesaribus, usually associated with the name of Sextus Aurelius Victor, a fourth-century historian: 'Diocletianus vero apud Nicomediam sponte imperiales fasces relinquens in proprs agris consenuit. Qui dum ab Herculio atque Galerio ad recipiendum imperium rogaretur, tamquam pestem aliquam detestans in hunc modum respondit: Utinam Salonae possetis visere olera nostris manibus instituta, profecto numquam istud temptandum iudicaretis' (Epitome, XXXIX, 5).5 How are we to account, therefore, for Christine's reference to Florus? I tentatively suggested in the Melanges Minard6 that Christine (or her source) may have confused the name Florus with Flores (the title of collections or compendia of material that are so characteristic of medieval culture), drawing attention to the fact that there is a reference to Diocletian in the Flores chronicorum, a text which Christine had already used in her biography of Charles V.7 According to Suzanne Solente,8 the version used by Christine in Charles V was an anonymous French translation of Bernard Gui's Flores chronicorum (Cod. Vat. lat. 4791, fols 1-87), which I was unable to consult for the Melange Menard.9 Now that consultation of one of the manuscripts of the Flores chronicorum has been made possible, the hypothesis that I put forward can be confirmed, namely, that Christine's source here is indeed the Flores chronicorum, and that she inadvertently confused Florus and Flores. The passage on Diocletian (fol. 39V of Cod. Vat. lat. 479I) contains the essentials of Christine's version of the story: `Apres ce que Diocletians ot administre l'empire xx ans et avecques lui Maximians, par l'exortation Deocletian touz deux se deposerent de la dignite imperiale et demoura Deocletian a Nichomedie et Maximian a Melan. Apres, les Rommains veans que la chose publique de Romme n'estoit pas bien gouvernee, envoierent messagers solempnez a Diocletian qu'il voulsist reprandre l'empire, mais il ne s'i voult pas assentir, ains dist aus messagers: Se vous savez, dist-il, le grant delit que j'ay en translater et planter les chous d'un lieu en autre, vous ne me prieres pas que je prisse l'empire, ou je n'eu[s] oncques aise. Ainsy retornerent les messagers sans riens faire.' There seems little doubt, therefore, that Christine's puzzling mention of Florus can best be explained by her imperfect recollection of her true source, the Flores chronicorum. …
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