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Old French Online

Lesson 3

Brigitte L.M. Bauer and Jonathan Slocum

Saints played an important role in everyday life in the Middle Ages. A saint is a person who is officially recognized by the Church of Rome as having lived a remarkably holy life. Because of their exceptional Christian virtues, saints are assumed to be in heaven, where they are able to intercede for sinners, those who live a less-than-holy life.

With the calendar of saints indicating the days of the individual saints, the Church had introduced their systematic celebration, highlighting their virtuous lives as Christians. Because of their interceding function, saints often were patrons of certain groups, roles that generally trace back to events in their lives. St. Nicolas, for example, was patron saint of sailors because -- according to legends -- he had saved sailors at one point in his life; St. Luke, who originally was believed to be a painter and a physician, was the patron saint of painters and of physicians. Moreover people generally were named after a saint, for whom they tended to develop special devotion.

Outside and inside churches and houses were many statues of saints, each with its own symbols (e.g. St. John the Evangelist with the poisoned cup to which he was condemned). There was a strong hagiographic tradition as well: an important number of medieval documents describe saints' lives, often written by contemporaries or based on stories told by them.

Saints were, so to speak, omnipresent in daily life in the Middle Ages.

Reading and Textual Analysis

The text for this lesson has been taken from La Vie de Saint Alexis, which dates from the mid-11th century and relates the life of Saint Alexis, a young Roman whose life was devoted to God. The legend of St. Alexis is rather international: it is attested in Syria, Greece, and Western Europe. The document discussed here presumably is based on a lengthy written tradition.

The Old French text is a poem of 625 verses, which in all probability was chanted during the liturgy of the saint's day, July 17.

Son of an important and rich Roman senator, Alexis decides on the eve of his wedding to leave Rome and live with the poor. Having distributed his possessions among the poor, he lives for seventeen years in Edessa, spending his days as a beggar. When the locals come to consider him a saint, he leaves the town on a ship and eventually ends up in Ostia, a port close to Rome. In the streets of Rome he encounters his father, who fails to recognize him. Alexis asks to be taken into the household. His father accepts, and Alexis stays there for another seventeen years without being recognized by his family, living as a pauper under the staircase. Refusing to reveal his identity, he sees how his parents and his wife grieve his loss. He patiently undergoes the physical torments he imposes upon himself and the pestering by his father's men. After seventeen years he feels that he is about to die and he calls for his servant: he will write a letter explaining the situation and revealing his indentity. Shortly after his death, the letter is discovered and Alexis is recognized as a saintly figure.

The fragments below describe how Alexis, after seventeen years, returns to Rome and asks his father to take him into his house. They also describe how his parents and his wife fail to recognize him, and spend their time grieving their lost son and husband.

A un des porz ki plus est pres de Rome,
Iloec arivet la nef a cel saint home.

Quant vit sun regne, durement s'en redutet
De ses parenz, qued il nel recunuissent
E de l'honur del secle ne l'encumbrent.

Eist de la nef e vint andreit a Rome;

Vait par les rues dunt il ja bien fut cointe,
Altra pur altre, mais sun pedre i ancuntret,

Ansembl'ot lui grant masse de ses humes;
Sil reconut, par sun dreit num le numet.

"Eufemïen, bel sire, riches hom,
Quar me herberges pur Deu an ta maison;

Suz tun degrét me fai un grabatum
Empur tun filz dunt tu as tel dolur;

Tut soi amferm, sim pais pur sue amor".

Quant ot li pedre le clamor de sun filz,
Plurent si oil, ne s'en puet astenir:

"Por amor Deu e pur mun cher ami,
Tut te durai, boens hom, quanque m'as quis,
Lit ed ostel e pain e carn e vin".

Sovent le virent e le pedre e le medra,
E la pulcele quet il out espusede:
Par nule guise unces ne l'aviserent;

N'il ne lur dist, ne il nel demanderent,
Quels hom esteit ne de quel terre il eret.

Soventes feiz lur veit grant duel mener
E de lur oilz mult tendrement plurer,
E tut pur lui, unces nïent pur eil.

Danz Alexis le met el consirrer;
Ne l'en est rien, si'st a Deu aturnét.

Soz le degrét ou il gist sur sa nate,
Iluec paist l'um del relef de sa tabla.

A grant poverte deduit sun grant parage;
Ço ne volt il que sa mere le sacet:
Plus aimet Deu que trestut sun linage.

Trent'e quatre anz ad si sun cors penét:
Deus sun servise li volt guereduner:
Mult li angreget la sue anfermetét.

Or set il bien qued il s'en deit aler:
Cel son servant ad a sei apelét.

Lesson Text

A un des porz ki plus est pres de Rome,
Iloec arivet la nef a cel saint home.
Quant vit sun regne, durement s'en redutet
De ses parenz, qued il nel recunuissent
E de l'honur del secle ne l'encumbrent.

Eist de la nef e vint andreit a Rome;
Vait par les rues dunt il ja bien fut cointe,
Altra pur altre, mais sun pedre i ancuntret,
Ansembl'ot lui grant masse de ses humes;
Sil reconut, par sun dreit num le numet.

"Eufemïen, bel sire, riches hom,
Quar me herberges pur Deu an ta maison;
Suz tun degrét me fai un grabatum
Empur tun filz dunt tu as tel dolur;
Tut soi amferm, sim pais pur sue amor".

Quant ot li pedre le clamor de sun filz,
Plurent si oil, ne s'en puet astenir:
"Por amor Deu e pur mun cher ami,
Tut te durai, boens hom, quanque m'as quis,
Lit ed ostel e pain e carn e vin".

Sovent le virent e le pedre e le medra,
E la pulcele quet il out espusede:
Par nule guise unces ne l'aviserent;
N'il ne lur dist, ne il nel demanderent,
Quels hom esteit ne de quel terre il eret.

Soventes feiz lur veit grant duel mener
E de lur oilz mult tendrement plurer,
E tut pur lui, unces nïent pur eil.
Danz Alexis le met el consirrer;
Ne l'en est rien, si'st a Deu aturnét.

Soz le degrét ou il gist sur sa nate,
Iluec paist l'um del relef de sa tabla.
A grant poverte deduit sun grant parage;
Ço ne volt il que sa mere le sacet:
Plus aimet Deu que trestut sun linage.

Trent'e quatre anz ad si sun cors penét:
Deus sun servise li volt guereduner:
Mult li angreget la sue anfermetét.
Or set il bien qued il s'en deit aler:
Cel son servant ad a sei apelét.

Translation

In one of the ports that is closest to Rome,
There the ship of that holy man arrives.
When he saw his country, he is very worried
About his parents, that they recognize him
And overload him with the honors of the world.
He leaves the ship and went directly to Rome;
He goes through the streets with which he was already very familiar,
One after the other, eventually he there runs into his father,
Together with him is a large group of his men;
And he recognized him, he calls him by his proper name.
"Eufemien, dear Lord, powerful man,
may you lodge me in your house for the sake of God;
Make me a simple bed under your staircase
For the sake of your son, about whom you have such grief;
I am utterly weak and thus feed me for his love".
When the father hears the appeal of his son,
His eyes shed tears, he cannot contain himself:
"For the love of God and for my beloved friend,
I will give you, good man, all you have asked me for,
A bed and lodging and bread and meat and wine."
They saw him often, his father and his mother,
And the girl whom he had married:
They never recognized him in any way;
He did not tell them, and they did not ask,
Who he was nor what country he came from.
Many times he sees them display great grief
And shed tears from their eyes with great tenderness,
Entirely for him, never for themselves.
Sir Alexis takes it in resignation;
It does not matter, that much he is turned to God.
Under the staircase where he lies on his matting,
There they feed him of the remains of the table.
In great poverty he lives his high social rank;
He does not want his mother to know:
He loves God more than his entire lineage.
He has tortured his body that way during thirty-four years:
God wants to reward his devotion:
His physical weakness becomes much more painful for him.
He now knows well that he has to die:
He has called his servant to see him.

Grammar

11. Past Tenses: Uses

In the previous lesson it was said that Old French had an imperfect tense (Fr. imparfait, e.g. chantoie 'I was singing'), a preterite (Fr. passe/ simple or passe/ de/fini, e.g. chantai 'I sang'), and a compound past tense, the perfective present (e.g. ai chanté 'I have sung').

The actual uses of these forms will be discussed in the following paragraphs. It is, however, necessary to include in this discussion the present as well, because that tense is often used as a so-called historical present.

The student may have noticed in the fragments analyzed so far that the present and the three past tenses may alternate in any given sentence, as for example:

(a) the present and the preterite:

    Karles l'oït e ses Franceis l'entendent (CdR 1788, Lesson 2)
    'Charles heard (Pret.) him and his subjects hear (Pres.) him'

(b) the compound tense and the preterite:

    Carles li reis, ...,
    Set anz tuz pleins ad estet en Espaigne:
    Tresqu'en la mer cunquist la tere altaigne (CdR 1-3, Lesson 1)
    'Charles the king, ...,
    has been in Spain a full seven years:
    he conquered (Pret.) the high land up to the sea'

The use of tenses was less strict in early medieval texts than it became from the 13th century onward. Yet even in the early period tense use was not chaotic; there were definite tendencies:

(a) imperfect:

Examples:

    il nel demanderent
    Quels hom esteit ne de quel terre il eret (Al. 239-240, this lesson)
    'they did (Pret.) not ask him,
    Who he was (Impf.) nor what country he was (Impf.) from'

(b) preterite:

Examples:

    Blancandrins vint devant Marsiliun (CdR 414)
    'Blancandrin came (Pret.) to see Marsile'
     
    vairs out les oilz et molt fier lu visage (CdR 283)
    'he had (Pret.) grey-blue eyes and a proud face'
     
    li quens Rollant fut noble guerrer (CdR 2066)
    'Count Roland was (Pret.) a noble warrior'

(c) compound tense:

Examples:

    Carles li reis, ... ,
    Set anz tuz pleins ad estet en Espaigne (CdR 1, Lesson 1)
    'Charles the king, ...,
    has been in Spain a full seven years'
    [and now he is on his way back to France]

(d) historical present:

Examples:

In a story set in the past, one finds:

    E Deu apelent andui parfitement (Al. 22)
    'And they both beseeched (Pres.) God perfectly'

Changes in tense use often mark a dramatic moment in the text; cf:

    Quant vit sun regne, durement s'en redutet ... (Al. 198, this lesson)
    'When he saw (Pret.) his country, he was (Pres.) very worried'
     
    Puis converserent ansemble longament:
    N'ourent amfant, peiset lur en forment, (Al. 21-22)
    'Then they lived (Pret.) together for a long time,
    they had (Pret.) no children, which was (Pres.) a great grief to them'
12. Definite Article: Forms

The definite article in Old French has the following paradigm:

Definite Article

    Masc. Sg.   Masc. Pl.   Fem. Sg.   Fem. Pl.
Nom.   li   li   la   les
Obl.   le, lo   les   la   les

The vowel of singular forms often disappears in front of another vowel (elision); cf.:

    l'ami   'the friend' (Obl. Sg. Masc.)
    l'amie   'the friend'(Nom./Obl. Sg. Fem.)

As a rule there is no elision in the nominative singular masculine and in the plural:

    li amis   'the friend' (Nom. Sg. Masc.)
    li ami   'the friends' (Nom. Pl. Masc.)

In sequences that include a preposition, a definite article, and a noun starting with a consonant, the definite article le and les may combine with the preposition (enclisis); cf:

    a   +   le   >   al, au
    a   +   les   >   as, aus, aux
                     
    de   +   le   >   del, dou, du
    de   +   les   >   des
                     
    en   +   le   >   el, eu, ou, u
    en   +   les   >   es
13. Definite Article: Uses

Latin did not have definite articles, but in the shift from Latin to the Romance languages definite articles developed out of Latin demonstratives. For French -- with the exception of a few dialects -- the definite article traces back to the Latin demonstrative ille 'that'.

Whereas the use of definite articles in modern French has become almostautomatic, its use in medieval French is motivated. Because of inconsistencies, linguists so far have not been able to pinpoint the precise "rules," but there are definite tendencies.

The definite article in Old French is used when the element in question is known either because it has already been mentioned, or because it is generally known; cf.:

    Rollant ad mis l'olifan a sa buche (CdR 1753, Lesson 2)
    'Roland has put the horn to his mouth'

In this example reference is made to the horn about which there has been much discussion already. Similarly,

    Li empereres se fait ... balz (CdR 96, Lesson 1)
    'the emperor is ebullient'

The emperor is Charlemagne, who from the beginning of the document is the main character.

In the following example reference is made to la feste seint Martin, which is generally known in the Middle Ages:

    Vos le sivrez a la feste seint Michel (CdR 37)
    'you will follow him on the holiday of St. Michael'

A noun may also refer to a unique phenomenon, e.g. the world:

    Bons fut le secles ... (Al. 1)
    'Good was the world ...'

On the whole there is no definite article when the noun has generic value, as in:

    Fers e acers i deit aveir valor (CdR 1362)
    'it is iron and steel that have value'

There is no definite article when the noun is an abstract noun; cf.:

    el num la virgine ki portat salvetét (Al. 89)
    'in the name of the Virgin, who brought salvation'
     
    cum fort pecét m'apresset! (Al. 59)
    'how much sin is tempting me!'

There is no article when the noun refers to a country; cf.:

    de dulce France i ad quinze milliers (CdR 109, Lesson 1)
    'from our beloved France there are fifteen thousand men'

Before the 13th century there generally is no article when the noun refers to peoples or groups of people; cf.:

    Franceis i unt ferut de coeur e de vigur;
    Paien sunt morz a millers (CdR 1438-1439)
    'the French have been striking there with zeal and strength;
    the pagans have died by thousands'

There are a number of expressions including a verb and a direct object in which the noun does not combine with an article, such as:

    merci crier   'beg for mercy'
    messe esculter   'go to mass' (lit.: to mass listen)
    guerre commencer   'start war'
    merci aveir   'have mercy'

There is no definite article in adverbial expressions introduced by a preposition; cf.:

    a grant poverte deduit sun grant parage (Al. 248, this lesson)
    'in great povery he lives his high social rank'

In an ennumeration a noun may be ommited, leaving the definite article behind; cf.:

    al tens Noë ed al tens Abraham ed al David (Al. 6-7)
    'in the time of Noah and in the time of Abraham and in that of David'

The definite article combines often with titles and proper names; cf.:

    Li reis Marsilie (CdR 10, Lesson 1)
    'King Marsilie'
     
    Li quens Rollant (CdR 1785, Lesson 2)
    'Count Roland'

Definite articles may combine with possessives; cf.:

    par le men escïentre (CdR 1791, Lesson 2)
    'to my knowledge'
     
    la tue amurs (CdR 3107)
    'your love'
     
    la sue anfermetét (Al. 278, this lesson)
    'his physical weakness'
14. The Subjunctive: Forms

Old French is characterized by the productive use of the present and past subjunctive. The formation of the two subjunctives is based on two different stems. The present subjunctive is based on the present stem, which also is found in the first person plural indicative; cf.:

Formation of the Present Subjunctive

    Inf.   Pres. Part.   1st Pl. Pres.   Pres. Subju.
    chanter   chantant   chantons   chant
    fenir   fenissant   fenissons   fenisse
    partir   partant   partons   parte

The imperfect subjunctive is based on the perfective stem, found in the past (perfective) participle and the preterite as well; cf.:

Formation of the Imperfective Subjunctive

    Inf.   Past Part.   Pret.   Impf. Subju.
    chanter   chanté   chantai   chantasse
    fenir   feni   fenis   fenisse
    partir   parti   parti   partisse

From a historical perspective, Old French chantasse traces directly to Latin cantavissem (cantav-issem), and like the preterite is based on the perfective stem of the verb: chantai for example traces back to Latin cantavi (cantav-i). The Old French past (or perfective) participle has the same stem as well, because it is based on the Latin perfective stem. This is especially clear in Latin verbs like relinquere 'leave', which have -n- in its present stem, but not in the perfective stem; cf. relinquo 'I leave' vs. reliqui 'I have left', relinquens 'leave-Pres. Part.' vs. relictus 'leave-Pf. Part.'.

The present and imperfect forms of the subjunctive for the various conjugations are as follows.

14.1. Present subjunctive

Present Subjunctive, Verbs in -er (chanter, e.g. chant 'that I may sing') --

Present   Ending   Sg.   Ending   Pl.
1st pers.   -   chant   -ons   chantons
            -iens   chantiens
2nd pers.   -s   chanz   -iez   chantez
3rd pers.   -t   chant   -ent   chantent

Present Subjunctive, Verbs in -ir with infix (fenir, e.g. fenisse 'that I may end') --

Present   Ending   Sg.   Ending   Pl.
1st pers.   -isse   fenisse   -issons   fenissons
            -issiens   fenissiens
2nd pers.   -isses   fenisses   -iss(i)ez   feniss(i)ez
3rd pers.   -isse   fenisse   -issent   fenissent

Present Subjunctive, Verbs in -ir without infix (partir, e.g. parte 'that I may leave') --

Present   Ending   Sg.   Ending   Pl.
1st pers.   -e   parte   -ons   partons
            -iens   partiens
2nd pers.   -es   partes   -ez   partez
3rd pers.   -e   parte   -ent   partent

Present Subjunctive, Verbs in -re (corre, e.g. corre 'that I may run') --

Present   Ending   Sg.   Ending   Pl.
1st pers.   -e   corre   -ons   corons
2nd pers.   -es   cores   -ez   corez
3rd pers.   -e   core   -ent   corent
14.2. Imperfective subjunctive

Imperfective Subjunctive, Verbs in -er (chanter, e.g. chantasse 'that I sang') --

Imperfective   Ending   Sg.   Ending   Pl.
1st pers.   -asse