An Outline History Of French Literature

AN OUTl BAXttSTORY OF FRENCH LITERATURE BY H. STANLEY SCHWARZ, PH. D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF FRENCH IN THE WASHINGTON SQUARE COLLEGE OF NEW YORK UNIVERSITY NEW YORK ALFRED A KNOPF COPYRIGHJVf Q34 JBY ALFfeE0 A. KNOPF, INC. - PUB LISHED, QcrtfB R, J 9 l4 Vs. Bi-. tr, ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY THE VAIL-BXifLOU PRESS, INC., BINGHAM TON, N. Y. PAPER TRNISHED BY W. F. ETHERINGTON CO., NEW YORK BOUND BY THE H. WOLFF ESTATE, NEW YORK. MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER AND MOTHER INTRODUCTORY NOTE Feeling the need, both in general survey courses and also in courses specializing in certain phases of French literature, of a history of French literature in compact, outline form, the author has undertaken the present volume. The average college student has difficulty in selecting the main facts from histories of literature in foreign tongues, and in getting a true perspective. This text, which is not intended to supplant existing histories of French literature, may, it Is hoped, be used in conjunction with them, as an aid and guide to the student in concentrating his attention upon what is salient and essential. Using this outline as a background, the instructor may amplify in class the material contained therein, which has been reduced, as far as possible, to a minimum. At the end of the treatment of individual authors, as well as at the end of main divisions, bibliographies have been appended, so that students desiring more detailed information upon a particular subject may know where to find their material. The work has been indexed in detail so that it may be used also as a ready reference manual. The author takes pleasure in having this opportunity ofexpressing publicly his indebtedness to Dr. Earle B. Babcock, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Romance Languages in New York University, for his kindly interest, generous encouragement, and con structive suggestions, and to Dr. Henry Powell Spring, Instructor in French in New York University for his valuable assistance in the form of suggestions and reading of proof. AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF FRENCH LITERATURE THE MIDDLE AGE GENERAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE MIDDLE AGE I. MAIN DIVISIONS. 1. Division of the Frankish Empire, 842-987. 2. Development of the feudal system, 987-1328. 3. Political disorganization, 1328-1453. 4. Unification of modern France, 1453-1515. II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, i. The Capetian Kings. Hugh Capet, 987-996. Robert, 996-1031. Henry I, 1031-1060. Philip I, 1060- 1108. Louis VI the Fat, 1108-1137. Louis VII, 1137-1180. Philip Augustus, 1180-1223. Louis VIII, 1223-1226. Louis IX Saint Louis, 1226-1270. Regency of Blanche of Castille, 1226-1242. Philip III, 1270-1285. Philip IV the Fair, 1285 1314. Louis V, 1314-1316. Philip V, 1316-1322. Charles IV, 1322-1328. a. The Valois Kings. Philip VI, 1328-1350. Outbreak of Hundred Years War, 1337. John, 1350-1364. Charles V the Sage, 1364-1380. Charles VI, 1380-1442. Charles VII, 1442-1461. Exploits of Joan of Arc, 1429-1430. End of Hundred Years War, 1453. Louis XI, 1461-1483. Charles VIII, 1483-1498. Expedition into Italy resulting in first direct contact with Italian Renais sance, 1494-1495. Louis XII, 1498-1515. 12 THE MIDDLE AGE III. ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. The conquest of Gaul by the Romans resulted in the adoption of the Latin tongue in preference to the existing Celtic. Pppular spoken Latin, corrupted by theGauls who used it as an adoptive language, developed into a language popularly known in France as Gallo-Roman. From the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries two main divisions are clearly discernible, the Langue doc, in territory south of the Loire, and the Langue doil, north of the Loire. Beginning with the fourteenth century the Francian dialect of the Langue doil expanded with the political growth of the section in which it was spoken and gradually became the predominant language of France...