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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2016
Although numerous studies have investigated the problem of Chrétien de Troyes' religious inclinations, it is surprising to discover that little attention has been devoted to the religious elements of the Good Friday scene in Li Contes del Graal. Scholars rarely discuss the scene on its own merits, but use it as a basis for elucidating, if not compounding, the mysteries of the Grail castle.
∗ A preliminary version of this study was presented to the Comparative Literature 3 section at the Modern Language Association Convention in 1975. I am indebted to Professors Arthur Groos and Alice Colby-Hall of Cornell University for their suggestions and criticism.Google Scholar
1 See, for example, Holmes, Urban T., A New Interpretation of Chrétien's Del Graal, Conte (Univ. of North Carolina Studies in Romance Languages and Literatures 8; Hill, Chapel, n.c. 1948) luff.; Fowler, David C., Prowess and Charity in the Perceval of Chrétien de Troyes (Seattle 1959) 54–56; and Klenke, Sister M. A., Liturgy and Allegory in Chrétien's Perceval (Univ. of North Carolina Studies in Romance Languages and Literatures 14; Hill, Chapel, n.c. 1951). Those scholars who have broached the subject of the scene's religious elements attempt to minimize their importance, or discuss them only with respect to Chrétien's religious views as a whole or with occasional reference to the general historical development of twelfth-century theology: Pollmann, Leo, Chrétien de Troges und der Conte del Graal (Tübingen 1965) 22ff.; Haidu, Peter, Aesthetic Distance in Chrétien de Troges: Irony and Comedy in Cligés and Perceval (Geneva 1968) 224–230; Kellermann, Wilhelm, Aufbaustil und Weltbild Chrestiens von Troges im Percevalroman (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 88; Halle/Saale 1936) 115ff. and 196ff.; Imbs, Paul, ‘L'Elément religieux dans le Conte del Graal de Chrétien de Troyes,’ Les Romans du Graal dans la littérature des XII e et XIII e siècles (Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sciences Humaines 3, Strasbourg, 29 Mars–3 Avril, 1954; Paris 1956) 31–53; and Payen, Jean-Charles, Le Motif du repentir dans la littérature française médiévale (Des origines à 1230) (Geneva 1967) 391–400.Google Scholar
2 See lines 6260, 6266, 6269, 6287, 6299f., and 6510f. All references to Chrétien's text will be cited from the edition of Roach, William, Le Roman de Perceval ou le Conte du Graal (2nd ed.; Geneva 1959).Google Scholar
3 Haidu, , Aesthetic Distance 220 notes this contrast, but relates it to the mental state of the hero. Kellermann, , Aufbaustil und Weltbild 197, 214 points out the stylistic contrast to the scene at the Grail castle.Google Scholar
4 See below, pp. 417–418.Google Scholar
5 PL 54.294, 297, 300, 305, 944, and 1100. The medieval triduum from Good Friday to Easter Sunday was later applied to two other time periods in the Easter season. See Jungmann, Josef, The Early Liturgy: To the Time of Gregory the Great , tr. Brunner, Francis (Univ. of Notre Dame Liturgical Studies 6; Notre Dame, Ind. 1959) 253f. Chrétien's text cannot refer to the Mass — as Imbs, ‘L'Elément religieux’ 46; Klenke, , Liturgy and Allegory 12; and Holmes, Urban T., Chrétien de Troyes (New York 1970) 147 assume — for none is celebrated on Good Friday. Even the Missa praesanctificorum of this day is no Mass in the strict sense of the word, but a form of communion service. See Lechner, Josef and Eisenhofer, Ludwig, The Liturgy of the Roman Rite, tr. A. J. and Peeler, E. F. (6th ed.; New York 1961) 197–200.Google Scholar
6 See Weiser, Francis X., Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs: The Year of the Lord in Liturgy and Folklore (New York 1958) 175f. Google Scholar
7 On the ‘Peace of God,’ see Bloch, Marc, Feudal Society , tr. Manyon, L. A. (Chicago 1961) II 414. For the proper conduct of those approaching a priest for confession, Edmond Martène states that ‘ante omnia baculos, si quos habent, deponant: idem dicendum de gladiis, ensibus et armis.’ De antiquis ecclesiae ritibus 1.6.3.2 (Antwerp 1763) I 264.Google Scholar
8 The Passion according to John 18 was usually read aloud to the congregation, as is the practice today, although sometimes elements of all the Gospels were combined for the reading. The knight's recitation includes elements from Matthew, e.g., the reference to the thirty pence (Matt. 26.15 and 27.3, 9). See Jungmann, , Early Liturgy 259–261, and Duchesne, Louis, Christian Worship: Its Origin and Evolution , tr. McClure, M. L. (3rd ed.; London 1910) 442.Google Scholar
9 Hatzfeld, Helmut, ‘Einige Stilwesenszüge der altfranzösischen religiösen Reimdichtung,’ Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 52 (1932) 703f. Kellerman, , Aufbaustil und Weltbild 196 follows Hatzfeld in applying the term to Chrétien, and then furthers the misunderstanding of the knight's speech by attributing the reference to the Adoration of the Cross to a ‘wachsende Bedeutung dieses Motivs für Theorie und Praxis der Religion im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert.’ Both fail to recognize the specific connection of the knight's references with Good Friday.Google Scholar
10 Imbs, , ‘L'Etément religieux’ 36 identifies the hermit as an ‘homme d'Eglise.’ This is not necessarily the case, since lay confession was an established and accepted practice in the twelfth century. See Charles Lea, Henry, A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church (Philadelphia 1896) I 219ff.Google Scholar
11 Teetaert, Amédée, La Confession aux laïques dans l'Église latine depuis le VIII e jusqu'au XIV e siècle (diss. Louvain 1926; Paris 1926) 88f. Google Scholar
12 At this time, the Church found itself facing the problem of proving the necessity of confession. After Abelard, who emphasized the remission of sins through contritio cordis, confession lost its importance (Teetaert 100). By the end of the twelfth century, however, the dominant view asserted that repentance required confession to be effective. See Lea, , History of Auricular Confession I 209–212.Google Scholar
13 Teetaert, , La Confession aux laïques 480. See also Anciaux, Paul, La Theologie du sacrement de pénitence au XII e siècle (diss. Louvain 1949; Louvain 1949) 164ff. Kellermann, , Aufbaustil und Weltbild 117f. and 198 n. 3 recognizes the importance of contrition, but tends to minimize the equal importance of the act of confession See Poschmann, Bernhard, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, tr. Francis Courtney (New York 1964) 141f.Google Scholar
14 Lechner, and Eisenhofer, , Liturgy of the Roman Rite 87. On the significance of these gestures and their association with penitents, see ibid. 85–93; Duchesne, , Christian Worship 444; and Jungmann, Josef, Die lateinischen Bussriten in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung (Forschungen zur Geschichte des innerkirchlichen Lebens 3–4; Innsbruck 1932) 196 n. 118.Google Scholar
15 Jungmann, , Bussriten 141ff., and Josef Schmitz, Hermann, Die Bussbücher und das kanonische Bussverfahren II (Düsseldorf 1898) 193ff., deal with these instructions in detail. Volume I of Schmitz appeared separately as Die Bussbücher und die Bussdisciplin der Kirche (Mainz 1883).Google Scholar
16 See Schmitz, , Bussbücher II 194f. Schmitz also gives the complete text, showing the variants of eight MSS containing the instructions (ibid. 199–203). On the deficiencies of Schmitz’ edition and interpretation, see McNeill, John T. and Gamer, Helen M., Medieval Handbooks of Penance (Records of Civilization: Sources and Studies 29; New York 1938) 282f. Google Scholar
17 On the close relationship between the Ordo romanus antiquus and twelfth-century French penitential ordines, see Jungmann, Bussriten 100, 104, and 217 n. 213.Google Scholar
18 Cited from the pseudo-Roman penitential ed. Friedrich Wasserschieben, Die Bussordnungen der abendländischen Kirche (Halle/Saale 1851) 361f. See also Jungmann, Bussriten 144f.Google Scholar
19 Jungmann, , Bussriten 236.Google Scholar
20 Lea, , History of Auricular Confession I 367ff.Google Scholar
21 ‘Diligens igitur inquisitor, subtilis investigator, sapienter et quasi astute interroget a peccatore quod forsitan ignoret, vel verecundia velit occultare.’ See De vera et falsa poenitentia (PL 40.1129f.), a pseudo-Augustinian tract which greatly influenced penitential doctrine in the twelfth century. See also Teetaert, , La Confession aux laïques 55 and 479.Google Scholar
22 See Jungmann, , Bussriten 145 n. 69.Google Scholar
23 Luke, 18.13: ‘Et publicanus a longe stans, nolebat nec oculos ad coelum levare, sed percutiebat pectus suum, dicens: Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori.’ On the exegesis of this passage, see, for example, the following standard twelfth- and thirteenth-century handbooks: Biblia Sacra cum glossa ordinaria (Douai 1617) V 927, and Hugh of St. Cher, Opera omnia in Universum Vetus et Novum Testamentum (Venice 1703) VI 240B.Google Scholar
24 Jungmann, , Bussriten 145. The more influential penitentials, including Burchard of Worms’ Corrector (PL 140.950) and Regino of Prüm's manual (PL 132.247), assign it to the priest.Google Scholar
25 Schmitz, , Bussbücher I 750. See also II 195.Google Scholar
26 Wasserschieben, , Bussordnungen 362.Google Scholar
27 Schmitz, , Bussbücher I 750. See also II 195.Google Scholar
28 Lea, , History of Auricular Confession II 229–232.Google Scholar
29 Jungmann, , Bussriten 244, 257f.Google Scholar
30 The hermit's insistence on Perceval's presence at the entire service (lines 6452–6455) reflects contemporary controversy over the widespread practice of leaving Mass immediately after the elevation of the Host, the sight of which was thought to grant immunity from harm. See Franz, Adolph, Die Messe im deutschen Mittelalter (Freiburg i. B. 1902) 17–19, 103–105.Google Scholar
31 Lea, , History of Auricular Confession II 205.Google Scholar
32 See lines 599–601 and 1671–1674.Google Scholar
33 ‘Mais il n'i ot se betes non, / Cerfueil, laitues et cresson / Et mill, et pain d'orge et d'avaine, / Et iaue de clere fontaine’ (lines 6501–6504).Google Scholar
34 Gregory the Great's definition remained the norm until the sixteenth century: ‘Par autem est ut quibus diebus a carne animalium abstinemus, ab omnibus quoque quae sementinam carnis trahunt originem, jejunemus, lacte videlicet, caseo, et ovis’ (PL 77.1351). See Weiser, , Handbook of Christian Feasts 169–172, 205, and Poschmann, Bernhard, Die abendländische Kirchenbusse im Ausgang des christlichen Altertums (Münchener Studien zur historischen Theologie 7; Munich 1928) 23.Google Scholar
35 See Kellermann, , Aufbaustil und Weltbild 198ff.Google Scholar
36 As Fowler, , Prowess and Charity 56 asserts.Google Scholar
37 Contrary to Weigand, Hermann, ‘Narrative Time in the Grail Poems of Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach,’ Wolfram's Parzival; Five Essays with an Introduction, ed. Hoffmann, Ursula (Ithaca, n.y. 1969) 36; Holmes, , Interpretation 10, and Chrétien 147; and Olschki, Leonardo, The Grail Castle and Its Mysteries, tr. Scott, J. A. (Manchester 1966) 27, who brings up the laying on of hands, which, even if it appeared in the text, would not apply, since it belongs to the rite of public, not private, penance.Google Scholar
38 Poschmann, , Penance 143f.Google Scholar
39 Jungmann, , Bussriten 257f., and Lechner, and Eisenhofer, , Liturgy of the Roman Rite 377.Google Scholar
40 Lea, , History of Auricular Confession I 463–469, 483.Google Scholar