Le Triumphe des vertuz. Troisième traité. Le Triumphe de justice (review)

Titia Schuurs-Janssen describes the production of this manuscript work presented to François Ier as ‘une entreprise de longue haleine’ (p. xviii). The same is undoubtedly true of producing the critical edition of this vast work; two volumes of which have already appeared (see FS, LVII (2004), p. 84). However, perhaps like Thenaud who was increasingly able to weave together more and more complex strands of narrative, Schuurs-Janssen’s own journey of editing the complete work leads her to excel in her treatment and presentation of this treatise. Surviving in just a single manuscript, the Triumphe des vertuz is by far the most enthralling read of the first three treatises. In the introduction, Schuurs-Janssen highlights numerous points of interest. Among the most fascinating of these is the story of the manuscript’s hurried production in the light of the recent birth of the new and keenly awaited Dauphin (François) in 1518. In order to reflect the national mood of celebration and in view of the great importance of Royal patronage and protection for Thenaud and his monastery, the author carefully rewrote the text so that François not his sister Charlotte became the main protagonist of the adventure. Schuurs-Janssen identifies a number of aspects that point to the great rush in which the text was finished, including a blank page that was due to be filled by a miniature. Perhaps because the text now had to appeal to the young François in his childhood, this work is richer and more diverse than the previous treatises. It corresponds more closely to the miroir des princes genre of an educational work intended to provide moral teaching to the nobility. In addition, many passages are richly descriptive and provide a greater sense of a leisurely read. Schuurs-Janssen draws upon her intimate knowledge of this text to track changes and variations in syntax, morphology and spelling across the three treatises. She comments at length on the increasing intrusion of the present day and analyses the way in which changing vocabulary marks an evolution in the conception of the monarchy. Of particular note is the way in which Thenaud reworks Erasmus’s Institutio principis Christiani. Although not pursued by Schuurs-Janssen, Rabelais’s parallel reworking of this text in Gargantua provokes a startling point of comparison for the modern reader and this, together with the romanesque qualities of the third treatise shed light on the wider dimensions of genre, composition and reception in the period. Schuurs-Janssen does not attempt to make the link between the themes, style and language of the work and current scholarship or critical approaches. In some senses, this is the great strength of this edition as the reader is left to marvel at the encyclopaedic nature of the work without having their interpretative frameworks limited for the sake of currying favour with current intellectual fads. Instead, one is left with the sense of great excitement that the young François must also have experienced upon discovering the work and not a little anticipation at what the fourth and final treatise will offer.