A Contextual Analysis of Two Huon d’Auvergne Manuscripts

This study examines two Franco-Italian manuscripts of the Huon d’Auvergne romance epic, Padua, Biblioteca del Seminario Vescovile, MS 32 and the Barbieri fragment, Bologna, Biblioteca dell’Archiginnasio, B. 3489. Using codicological evidence, the discussion connects these two material witnesses to literary trends of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the period in which the manuscripts were prepared. This article approaches each witness as a unique iteration of the Huon d’Auvergne epic and argues that the Barbieri witness, even though fragmentary, should not be overlooked in an attempt to understand the literary culture of this epic.