The French and Brabantine Rose: learning and critical sense in Middle Dutch secular literature

The Roman de la Rose (ca 1285) is one of the most influential texts of the French Middle Ages. Before 1325 Heinric van Brussel translated and adapted this work into Middle Dutch. This project examines how this Brabantine adaptation, Die Rose, relates to its French source text. The Roman de la Rose is a complex allegory and an erudite work, which, by its content as well as its structure, strongly encourages critical reflection. The way in which Heinric adapted his source text will show how much learning, interpreting ability and critical sense he assumed in his audience. The study of the manuscript tradition of Die Rose will provide information about the reception of Die Rose in 14th and 15th century Middle Dutch literature. This will lead to a better understanding of the intellectual emancipation books in the vernacular could offer to lay people in the medieval Low Countries.