Jankyn's book of wikked wyves / Volume 2, Seven commentaries on Walter Map's "Dissuasio valerii" / John Ridewall [and others

The three medieval texts that make up Jankyn's Book of Wikked Wyves have formed a vital part of Chaucerian research for more than half a century. Integrated here for the first time, these texts now form a cornerstone volume of the Chaucer Library series. In volume 1 of Jankyn s Book of Wikked Wyves (Georgia, 1997), Ralph Hanna and Traugott Lawler presented authoritative versions of three medieval texts invoked by Jankyn (fifth husband of the Wife of Bath) in The Canterbury Tales. In Jankyn s Book, volume 2, Lawler and Hanna revisit one of those texts by way of presenting all the known contemporary commentaries on it. The text is Walter Map s Dissuasio Valerii, that is, The Letter of Valerius to His Friend Ruffinus, Dissuading Him from Marrying. Included in Jankyn s Book, volume 2, are seven commentaries on Dissuasio Valerii, edited from all known manuscripts and presented in their Latin text with English translation on the facing page. Each commentary opens with a headnote. Variants are reported at the bottom of the translation pages, and full explanatory notes appear after the texts, along with a bibliography and index of sources. In their introduction, Lawler and Hanna discuss what is known about the authors of the commentaries. Four are unknown, although one of these is almost certainly a Dominican. Of the three known authors, two are Dominicans (Eneas of Siena and the brilliant Englishman Nicholas Trivet), and one is Franciscan (John Ridewall). In addition, the editors discuss the likely readerships of the commentaries the four humanist texts, which explicate Map s witty and allusive Latin and which were for use in school, and the three moralizing texts, which mount eloquent defenses of women and which were for use mainly by the clergy. While Lawler and Hanna s immediate aim is to give readers of Chaucer the fullest possible background for understanding his satire on antifeminism in The Wife of Bath s Prologue, the Dissuasio Valerii commentaries extend significantly our understanding of medieval attitudes, in general, toward women and marriage. -- Publisher

In volume 1 of Jankyn's Book of Wikked Wyves (Georgia, 1997), Ralph Hanna and Traugott Lawler presented authoritative versions of three medieval texts invoked by Jankyn (fifth husband of the Wife of Bath) in The Canterbury Tales. In Jankyn's Book, volume 2, Lawler and Hanna revisit one of those texts by way of presenting all the known contemporary commentaries on it.

The text is Walter Map's "Dissuasio Valerii," that is, "The Letter of Valerius to His Friend Ruffinus, Dissuading Him from Marrying." Included in Jankyn's Book, volume 2, are seven commentaries on "Dissuasio Valerii," edited from all known manuscripts and presented in their Latin text with English translation on the facing page. Each commentary opens with a headnote. Variants are reported at the bottom of the translation pages, and full explanatory notes appear after the texts, along with a bibliography and index of sources.

In their introduction, Lawler and Hanna discuss what is known about the authors of the commentaries. Four are unknown, although one of these is almost certainly a Dominican. Of the three known authors, two are Dominicans (Eneas of Siena and the brilliant Englishman Nicholas Trivet), and one is Franciscan (John Ridewall). In addition, the editors discuss the likely readerships of the commentaries—the four humanist texts, which explicate Map's witty and allusive Latin and which were for use in school, and the three moralizing texts, which mount eloquent defenses of women and which were for use mainly by the clergy.

While Lawler and Hanna's immediate aim is to give readers of Chaucer the fullest possible background for understanding his satire on antifeminism in "The Wife of Bath's Prologue," the "Dissuasio Valerii" commentaries extend significantly our understanding of medieval attitudes, in general, toward women and marriage.

In Volume 1 Of Jankyn's Book Of Wikked Wyves (georgia, 1997), Ralph Hanna And Traugott Lawler Presented Authoritative Versions Of Three Medieval Texts Invoked By Jankyn (fifth Husband Of The Wife Of Bath) In The Canterbury Tales . In Jankyn's Book , Volume 2, Lawler And Hanna Revisit One Of Those Texts By Way Of Presenting All The Known Contemporary Commentaries On It. The Text Is Walter Map's Dissuasio Valerii, That Is, The Letter Of Valerius To His Friend Ruffinus, Dissuading Him From Marrying. Included In Jankyn's Book, Volume 2, Are Seven Commentaries On Dissuasio Valerii, Edit. Cover; Contents; Foreword; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Jankyn's Book Of Wikked Wyves Commentaries; Appendix: A Note On The Later English Transmission Of Dissuasio Valerii; Commentary One: Grues, Ut Dicit Ysodorus; Commentary Two: John Ridewall; Commentary Three: Nicholas Trivet; Commentary Four: Valerius Qui Dicitur Parvus; Commentary Five: Hoc Contra Malos Religiosos; Commentary Six: Lambeth 330 (selections); Commentary Seven: Eneas Of Siena; Notes; Bibliography And Abbreviations; Index Of Sources; A; B; C; D; E; G; H; I; J; L; M; O; P; R; S; T; V; W. Edited By Traugott Lawler & Ralph Hanna. Issued As Part Of Upcc Book Collections On Project Muse. Description Based Upon Print Version Of Record. Mode Of Access: World Wide Web.

The three medieval texts that make up Jankyn's Book of Wikked Wyves have formed a vital part of Chaucerian research for more than half a century. Integrated here for the first time, these texts now form a cornerstone volume of the Chaucer Library series.

Near the end of her prologue, Chaucer's Wife of Bath tells how her fifth husband, Jankyn, a clerk of Oxford, taunted her by reading from a collection of antifeminist tracts. The contents of Jankyn's book include three texts that enjoyed wide distribution in the later Middle Ages: Walter Map's "Dissuasio Valerii," Theophrastus's "De Nuptiis," and Jerome's "Adversus Jovinianum." The first two are reproduced in their entirety in this volume, with selections from the third.

The editors examine Jankyn's book from many angles, including the extensive manuscript sources from which it may be reconstructed, background information for its literary appreciation, and Chaucer's use of the materials. The publication of this volume, the fourth in the Chaucer Library, represents a major event for medievalists.

v. 1. The primary texts: Walter Map's "Dissuasio," Theophrastus' "De nuptiis," Jerome's Adversus Jovinianum