Die Gesta militum des Hugo von Mâcon: ein bisher unbekanntes Werk der Erzählliteratur des Hochmittelalters

Hugo of Mbcon wrote his Latin chivalric poem "De militum gestis memorabilibus (almost 6000 verses in elegiac couplets) in the middle of the 13th century. The present Editio princeps is based on two complete manuscripts. Extensive excerpts have been added from a commentary which was written about a generation later.The work links the tradition of the allegorical didactic poetry of the high middle ages with the novella-like elements of vernacular poetry. In this way the impressive literary inventivity of the author produces a world of knights, kings, hermits, pilgrims and crusades, contrasted with philosophical and theological teachings. The language is rich in reminiscences from classical literature, whilst medieval influences include Alan of Lille and Mathew of Vendtme.The introduction to the edition sets out the situation of the transmission of the poem. All of its nine books are paraphrased in detail and the editor points out parallel motifs from Latin and vernacular literatures. An index is given of the sources which the medieval commentator used to explain the text.In this way the text itself forms a contribution to the investigation of the narrative literature of the Middle Ages, whilst the commentary can be seen as a document of school activity in the 13th century.