The middle french text is based on three manuscripts in pariss archives. Melusines possible lusignan, luxembourg, and plantagenet. A masterwork of late fourteenthcentury french prose fiction, melusine tells of the powerful medieval dynasty of lusignan from its founding as a city by the legendary melusine, an enigmatic fairyfigure subject to periodic monstrous transformations, through its expansion. Book overview the faery melusine of lusignan was the subject of a prose romance by jean darras at the end of the 14th century, swiftly followed by one in verse by couldrette. Lusignan family, melusine legendary character publisher london. A masterwork of late fourteenthcentury french prose fiction, melusine tells of the powerful medieval dynasty of lusignan from its founding as a city by the legendary melusine, an enigmatic fairyfigure subject to periodic monstrous transformations, through its expansion in europe and the near east, to its ultimate evanescence. It was meant to be a family history and to uphold the proprietary claims to lusignan and anjou. It is a tapestry of different times, genres and voices. The legend of melusine marginal arthuriana children of.
For centuries royal and noble houses tried to claim lineage from the fairy melusine, although their reasoning for why has never been exactly clear. Click download or read online button to the book of melusine of lusignan in history legend and romance book pdf for free now. More interesting to arthurian scholars and enthusiasts is how melusine has been linked. The book of melusine of lusignan in history, legend and. The romans of partenay, or of lusignen internet archive. The image of melusine is so famous and enduring that, perhaps without knowing her by name, we still recognize her image today as the logo for starbucks coffee. Founding fiction in medieval france donald maddox,university of massachusetts amherst. The story of melusine also called melusina was retold by letitia landon in the poem the fairy of the fountains in fishers drawing room scrap book, 1834, and reprinted in her collection the zenana. See actions taken by the people who manage and post content. The book of melusine of lusignan in history legend and romance download the book of melusine of lusignan in history legend and romance ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format.
Mar 09, 2015 baringgoulds claim that the house of luxembourg claimed descent from melusine is true, but it is not a credible claim. This may be unsurprising, since it is that very figure that enabled the authors own glorious dynastic roots to be connected with those of his patron, or, as he wrote, the house of luxembourg, according to our opinion and that of many others. This book provides a collection of material from various sources to give an all round picture of the remarkable faery, her town, her church, her. The splendid prose romance of melusine by jean darras is one of the most significant and complex literary works of the later middle ages.
Logis hotel le chapeau rouge, hotel logis lusignan, stay poitou. Lusignan 2020 lequipe des melusins pour les melusins. Considerable interest in faery tradition has grown up in recent years and not least in the story of melusine of lusignan, the subject of a prose romance by jean darras at the end of the 14th century, swiftly followed by one in verse by couldrette. The name is derived from a castle in poitou, built, according to legend, by melusine melusine or melusina, in french legend, a fairy who changed into a serpent from the waist down every saturday. She even had the castle built in lusignan and ruled over the land graciously and lovingly to her people. Carolyn collette, mount holyoke college the fourteenth century comes alive in this superb new translation of the classic french masterpiece melusine. Download pdf the book of melusine of lusignan in history. In fact, knight retells the story at length blending together various versions without specificying which piece he got from where so that i wish he had been more academic about it since bits of the legend that he cites i have not seen elsewhere. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down much like a mermaid. The legend of melusine has long fascinated people, although it is less wellknown today than in the past.
Lusignan family, noble family of poitou a province of western france that provided numerous crusaders and kings of jerusalem, cyprus, and lesser armenia. Le journal commune p28 p1417 p1819 p310 p2022 p11 p23. In fact, in the book of melusine of lusignan by gareth knight, who is perhaps the greatest expert on melusine, it is stated that the luxembourg legend says that sigefroy, first count of lusignan, married a woman named melusine p. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. The work also advanced the claim by the important noble family of lusignan from poitou, western france, that they were descended from the water spirit of a like name, melusine.
Project muse promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Facebook is showing information to help you better understand the purpose of a page. Nos affiches des melusins pour les melusins sont en place depuis. Melusine is the spirit of fresh water, usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down, much like the mythical mermaid. Melusine or melusina is a figure of european folklore and mythology, a female spirit of fresh water in a sacred spring or river. The romance was commissioned by jean, duke of berry, a lusignan descendant, who supplied the source chronicle or story. Melusine of lusignan and the cult of the faery woman. An analysis can be found in anne delong, pages 1241. It had, however, nearly petered out when jean darras composed melusine in 9293. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Book blurb considerable interest in faery tradition has grown up in recent years and not least in the story of melusine of lusignan, the subject of a. Venez nous rencontrer vendredi mars prochain a 20. In this book, melusine and the search for her true historic identity are a recurrent theme. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of france, luxembourg, and the low countries.
Melusine, as the late fourteenthcentury reader might well have recognized, is a name associated in myth and. Lusignan article about lusignan by the free dictionary. Melusine helped him gain power to the kingdom and build up the city of poitou and newly built lusignan, where melusine became the mother of the lusignan line. The sons destinies and achievements are the main narrative focus in the series of wars forming the lusignan dynasty. Dec 12, 2015 it was the mermaid chick that caught my attention, on two accounts. The castle of lusignan is associated with the medieval legend of melusine. A masterwork of late fourteenthcentury french prose fiction, melusine tells of the powerful medieval dynasty of lusignan from its founding as a city by the. Baringgoulds claim that the house of luxembourg claimed descent from melusine is true, but it is not a credible claim. He was king of the kingdom of jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to sibylla of jerusalem, and king of cyprus from 1192 to 1194.
According to legend the earliest castle was built by the folklore waterspirit melusine. She is also sometimes illustrated with wings, two tails, or both. Since we know melusine married count raimond of lusignan in other versions of the legend, it is likely various nobles just decided to make up their own connections to melusine. Jun, 2016 explore vijayaschartzs board melusine of lusignan, followed by. Hugh hugues i, lord of lusignan, was a vassal of the counts of poitiers in the 10th century. Lusignan is a commune in the vienne department in the nouvelleaquitaine region in western france.
Melusine of lusignan is a relatively short book 124 pages, and i wouldnt consider it an academic work but rather an attempt just to shed light upon the tale of melusine. Within the frame of a realist novel, byatt invokes the narrative forms of myth and fairy tale to pare back individual consciousness and focus more upon story. This book provides a collection of material from various sources, including translations from french texts, to give an all round picture of the remarkable faery, her town. University of massachusetts amherst from the selectedworks of donald maddox 1996 melusine of lusignan.
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