Guillaume de Lorris

The Romance of the Rose (Le Roman de la Rose)

The Romance of the Rose: Cover

With illuminations from an edition dated c.1490–c.1500 originating from Bruges, the Netherlands, prepared for Engelbert II, count of Nassau and Vianden (d. 1504). Courtesy of the British Library.


Fleur-de-Lys - Left Part I Fleur-de-Lys - Right

Fleur-de-Lys - Left Part II Fleur-de-Lys - Right

Fleur-de-Lys - Left Part III Fleur-de-Lys - Right

Fleur-de-Lys - Left Part IV Fleur-de-Lys - Right

Also See:

The Romance of the Rose, The Continuation, by Jean de Meung

Jean de Meung wrote his long continuation (dated to between 1268 and 1285 by internal references) of the original Roman de la Rose, conceived by Guillaume de Lorris some forty years earlier. Guillaume had penned a development of the courtly love poem, allegorical in content, to act as an ‘Art of Love’ (Ovid) for his own age. Jean’s continuation is an encyclopaedic moral commentary on his world, the seeds of which lie in Guillaume’s work, but whose content and style of delivery is Jean’s own.

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Winning the Rose, a Commentary by A. S. Kline

Composed in the 13th century, The Romance of the Rose created by Guillaume de Lorris and continued, and completed, by Jean de Meung, is the finest poetic achievement of the French High Medieval period. This Commentary explains the structure of the work, and the intentions behind it, and considers the detailed content, chapter by chapter, identifying references, and elucidating the speeches and actions of the personifications brought to life by the allegory.

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Translated by A. S. Kline © Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

This work may be freely reproduced, stored and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any non-commercial purpose. Conditions and Exceptions apply.