The Architrenius {The Arch-Weeper} is a narrative poetic satire written in nine books (4361 lines) of Latin hexameter. John of Hauville (Johannes de Hauvilla) completed the Architrenius toward the end of 1184. He dedicated this work to Walter of Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen. A master literary stylist, John of Hauville was magister (teacher) at the cathedral school at Rouen.
The Architrenius displays wide-ranging learning. It builds upon deep knowledge of Greco-Roman classics, particularly Ovid, Horace, and Juvenal. The Architrenius advances intellectually and culturally beyond Greco-Roman literature in close association with Walter of Châtillon’s Alexandreis, Alan of Lille’s Anticlaudianus, and John of Salisbury’s Policraticus. Like those three twelfth-century Latin masterpieces, the Architrenius critically considers men’s position within gynocentrism. The Architrenius includes as characters King Arthur and Sir Gawain. It thus indicates medieval Latin literature’s marginalized paternal status in the development of the Arthurian romances and the culture of men-abasing courtly love.
The Architrenius was a highly regarded medieval text. It rapidly gained the status of a classic and was incorporated into the canon for school study. It has survived in a dozen thirteenth-century manuscripts, as well as manuscripts providing extensive glosses on its text.
The twelfth-century Latin Architrenius describes a scholar at the University of Paris. He was as wretched as a courtly lover. … Read the post medieval scholar at University of Paris wretched like courtly lover
Sex is socially constructed as a good that men lack and women possess. In the 12th-century Architrenius, Mother Nature denounced that exploitation of men. … Read the post Mother Nature denounced promiscuous maidservants exploiting men
Johannes de Hauvilla’s insightful medieval Latin satire Architrenius associated mother-prompted marriage and the girdle of Venus with castration culture. … Read the post girdle of Venus for Architrenius: the cuckold in castration culture