Thomas d'Angleterre

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Thomas d'Angleterre (also Thomas von Bretagne, Thomas von Britannien; around 1170 ) was an old French courtly author.

The 'Thomas Tristan'

The name of a 'Thomas' is associated with one of the first surviving adaptations of the Tristan and Isolde fabric.

The two oldest, but incomplete, novel-like versions of the material were probably created in the 1170s: that of Thomas, who is otherwise completely unknown as a person, and that of a minstrel named Béroul (see below). A Tristan novel, perhaps written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1160–1170, is lost, the Lai Chevrefoil of Marie de France , a Tristan Isolde novella, also dates from around 1170. Both Thomas and Béroul evidently resorted to something older different texts back. Thomas names a Tristan novel by a Breri as one of his sources, but nothing has survived.

Some suspect that Thomas wrote his work for the English court, as London is mentioned at one point as a great, prosperous city. In the old French manuscripts the author only calls himself Thomas, without any indication of the origin; Gottfried von Straßburg calls him Thomas von Britanje . Britanje can mean both Brittany and Britannia (England); Gottfried only calls Brittany that. Of England, Gottfried mentions that it used to be called Britain too, but since the conquest by the Saxons it is no longer called that, but England. According to Gottfried's linguistic usage, Thomas must have been a Breton. The Thomas-Tristan testifies to the author's good geographical knowledge on both sides of the channel, so that a decision is not possible. The English court was critical of the English court, but was dependent on it above all in what is now northern France. They could be considered as patrons for Thomas, similar to Chrestien de Troyes. In any case, Thomas belonged to the French-speaking Anglo-Norman culture. The nickname 'd'Angleterre' is not authentic, but was given by researchers who believe that the designation of London as a large city suggests that Thomas was English. It is at least as possible, however, that Thomas was a Breton, only came to London on one trip and was impressed by it. Altogether eight fragments of Thomas-Tristan in five different manuscripts with altogether a good 3,000 verses from the last third of the plot are preserved (Tristan's marriage with Isolde Weißhand, who is only regarded as a substitute, some other Tristan adventures and his tragic end), as well as one fragment (Fragment Carlisle) from an earlier part of the work that begins shortly after taking the love potion and ends with a stamp on Isolde's fraudulent wedding night.

Béroul's novel, which may have been written around 1180, has survived in a single manuscript that contains almost 4,500 verses in the middle section (Tristan and Isolde's secret love at the court of King Marke, who is Tristan's uncle and Isolde's husband; the discovery of their relationship; Tristan's escape ; Isolde's condemnation and her rescue by Tristan; the two of them living together alone in a shed in the forest; their eventual return to court; Tristan’s resumption by Marke and his departure into exile).

We know the overall plot of Thomas's novel thanks to a very gruff narrative Old Norse prose transmission from 1226, the Tristrams saga ok Ísondar by a brother Robert at the court of the Norwegian King Hákon IV. Hákonarson , and from the fact that Gottfried von Strasbourg was around 1210 Tristan (though unfinished) based on Thomas' text. The Middle English Sir Tristrem is also based on the Thomas Tristan, but he works more freely than the saga; besides, the conclusion is missing in it. The work of Béroul, in turn, corresponds in some scenes, without being direct transfer or adaptation, to the Tristrant of Eilhart von Oberg (approx. 1170–1200) preserved in toto .

In France around 1230 to 1235 an unknown author (or several authors?) Compiled the so-called Tristan en prose , a very extensive prose novel that was read into the 16th century. The work, which has been handed down in numerous manuscripts and slightly diverging versions, combines the Tristan fabric with other fabrics, especially the King Arthur fabric, and makes Tristan a knight of the round table who is versed in poetry and singing.

The Tristan Isolde material does not come from the Germanic world of legends, as one might believe as a German or Wagnerian, but from the Welsh-Scottish-British, i.e. H. the so-called matière de Bretagne, from which many subjects and motifs flowed into French literature in the second half of the 12th century.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gottfried, Tristan v. 434ff.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thomas d'Angleterre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thomas of Brittany
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Old French courtly author
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH 12th century or 13th century