Treatise of Love
Encyclopedia
The Treatise of Love is an English prose text first printed around 1493. Its printing was the work of Wynkyn de Worde
, who took over William Caxton
's printing business in 1491, and printed the Treatise before he began publishing under his own name in 1494. Drawing greatly on the Ancrene Wisse
, the text contains religious advice addressed to an audience of aristocratic women.
) and the Hours of the Cross from Pseudo-Bonaventura
's Vita Christi. Like the Ancrene Wisse, its religious advice is written for the purpose of aristocratic women (one specific but unknown woman is addressed).
Compared to the Ancrene Wisse, however, the Treatise moves some of its contents and reorganizes them. In particular, it reorganizes the discourse to more closely follow the Passion
. Central to both texts is a discussion of "four loves"--that between good friends, men and women, mother and child, and body and soul (in the order of the Ancrene Wisse). The Treatise, however, relegates the love between men and women to the final position, and spends very little time on it; indeed, direct references to carnal love found in the Ancrene Wisse are left out of the Treatise.
"Courtly tropes of wooing and marriage", commonly found in contemporary devotional tracts for women, are found in the Treatise as well. It proposes that the female audience is the recipient of love letters written by Christ; one critic referred to this rhetoric as "romance gospel", a kind of gospel in which "women readers [are represented] as beautiful and reticent ladies, the passive love objects of a courtly Christ." The Virgin Mary is likewise presented as a passionate woman, grieving over her dead son in the Passion:
, the Bishop of Ely
whose library was bequeathed to Cambridge University. It is noteworthy that eight of those ten copies are bound together with the Chastysing of Goddes Chyldren, another book published by de Worde between 1491 and 1494. The copy used for the edition published by the Early English Text Society
is from the Pierpont Morgan Library--it was previously owned by the Earl of Aylesford
and Lord Amherst of Hackney
.
Wynkyn de Worde
Wynkyn de Worde was a printer and publisher in London known for his work with William Caxton, and is recognized as the first to popularize the products of the printing press in England....
, who took over William Caxton
William Caxton
William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...
's printing business in 1491, and printed the Treatise before he began publishing under his own name in 1494. Drawing greatly on the Ancrene Wisse
Ancrene Wisse
Ancrene Wisse or Guide for Anchoresses is an anonymous monastic rule for anchoresses, written in the early 13th century. Ancrene Wisse was originally composed for three sisters who chose to enter the contemplative life...
, the text contains religious advice addressed to an audience of aristocratic women.
Contents
The text contains three main parts that deal with divine love, which are largely based on the early thirteenth-century Ancrene Wisse, and, following an "intermediate conclusion," seven brief sections dealing with other aspects of (religious) love. Besides the Ancrene Wisse, other source texts are the Planctus Mariae (usually ascribed to Bernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
) and the Hours of the Cross from Pseudo-Bonaventura
Pseudo-Bonaventura
The Pseudo-Bonaventura, or Pseudo-Bonaventure is the name given to the authors of a number of medieval devotional works which were believed at the time to be the work of Saint Bonaventure: "It would almost seem as if 'Bonaventura' came to be regarded as a convenient label for a certain type of...
's Vita Christi. Like the Ancrene Wisse, its religious advice is written for the purpose of aristocratic women (one specific but unknown woman is addressed).
Compared to the Ancrene Wisse, however, the Treatise moves some of its contents and reorganizes them. In particular, it reorganizes the discourse to more closely follow the Passion
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
. Central to both texts is a discussion of "four loves"--that between good friends, men and women, mother and child, and body and soul (in the order of the Ancrene Wisse). The Treatise, however, relegates the love between men and women to the final position, and spends very little time on it; indeed, direct references to carnal love found in the Ancrene Wisse are left out of the Treatise.
"Courtly tropes of wooing and marriage", commonly found in contemporary devotional tracts for women, are found in the Treatise as well. It proposes that the female audience is the recipient of love letters written by Christ; one critic referred to this rhetoric as "romance gospel", a kind of gospel in which "women readers [are represented] as beautiful and reticent ladies, the passive love objects of a courtly Christ." The Virgin Mary is likewise presented as a passionate woman, grieving over her dead son in the Passion:
Then she rose up on her feet and with very great pain faced the Cross, where she might best embrace the blessed body of Jesus Christ, whom she had formerly suckled with her own sweet breasts....And she was all splattered with the precious blood of her sweet son, the blood that fell on the earth in great quantities, which she kissed fervently with her holy mouth.
Table of contents
- The Tretyse of Loue
- Hours of the Cross
- Remedies Against the Seven Deadly Sins
- The Three Signs of True Love and Friendship
- The Branches of the Appletree
- The Seven Signs of Jesus' Love
- An Exhortation by Faith
- Master Albert of Cologne's Nine Articles
- Diverse Sayings of Saint Paul and Others
- The Six Masters of Tribulation
Textual origin
The Treatises relationship to the Ancrene Wisse is notable, and makes the Treatise its youngest derivative in English. However, the text does not derive from any English version: it announces in its opening lines that it is translated from the French, and its language also makes it likely that the sections from the Ancrene Wisse were translated into English from a French translation of the originally English text.Extant copies
Ten copies are known to have remained; of three or four others the location is unknown. One of those copies belonged to John MooreJohn Moore (Bishop of Ely)
John Moore was an English cleric, scholar, and book collector. He was bishop of Norwich and bishop of Ely ....
, the Bishop of Ely
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...
whose library was bequeathed to Cambridge University. It is noteworthy that eight of those ten copies are bound together with the Chastysing of Goddes Chyldren, another book published by de Worde between 1491 and 1494. The copy used for the edition published by the Early English Text Society
Early English Text Society
The Early English Text Society is an organization to reprint early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes are in Middle English and Old English...
is from the Pierpont Morgan Library--it was previously owned by the Earl of Aylesford
Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford
Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford was a British peer, the eldest son of Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford.He was styled Lord Guernsey until he succeeded his father in 1812....
and Lord Amherst of Hackney
William Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney
William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney DL, JP was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and collector of books and works of art.-Background and education:...
.