Aucassin in Nicolette, illustrated by Anne Anderson
The Story of Aucassin in Nicolette with pictures by Anne Anderson
Aucassin in Nicolette is a so-called chantefable or Song-Story, a combination of verse and prose, similar to prosimetrum. It's a unique example of the genre, made of then well-established Arthurian romance and tale in verses.
There's only one surviving manuscript of the story about Aucassin and Nicolette, written by an unknown author in the late 12th or the 13th century which is now archived in France's Bibliotheque Nationale. It was discovered in 1752 by Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye (1697-1781), a classicist, historian, medievalist, lexicographer, and philologist.
"Aucassin and Nicolette" was very likely made as a base for acting which is supported by the quality of the part in prose (which doesn't stylistically offer much) and poetic part (where the anonymous author showed not only good rhetoric skills but used some original approaches in metrics as well). Yet, our intention is not to dive too deeply into this text.
Let's go to the summary of the story, supported by Anne Anderson's pictures from times when her name already became popular although her talent fully shined a full decade later.
A short summary of Aucassin in Nicolette
The story starts with a prelude in verse. The setting is very similar to the numerous settings of the stories from the same period. Count Garin of Beaucaire is at war with Count Bougars de Valence. His son Aucassin doesn't want to help him fight the enemy because he is so obsessed with love.
His love is Nicolette, a young slave of Saracene origin, who was bought, baptized, and raised as his own daughter by the Captain of the city. Aucassin's father decided to put the son's distraction away by ordering the Captain to get rid of Nicolette by sending her away.
But Captain decided to imprison Nicolette in a tower where an old lady kept her company. Countless rumors spread across the country claiming that Nicolette died, traveled far away, or married somebody abroad, and so on and on. Aucassin still didn't care about his father's war. So Count Garin promised him a chance to see his love if he goes into a fight.
Aucassin didn't achieve much on the battlefield because his mind was still occupied with Nicolette. Only when he realized he won't see her if he dies, starts fighting. He was so fierce he killed and wounded many knights from the opposing party. Even more, he managed to imprison the leader, Count Bougars.
When his father didn't keep his part of the deal, denying the chance of meeting with Nicolette, Aucassin released Count Bougars. Count Garin was furious with the treachery of his own blood, so he imprisoned Aucassin.
In the meantime, Nicolette escaped from her prison by making a robe of linen and went after Aucassin.
She get to the castle with the dungeon, where he was imprisoned but couldn't get in. The guards who believed she would be somewhere near her love were looking for her and she decided to hide in the wood where she made herself a shelter.
Some time later Aucassin was taken out of prison to participate in some feast and a friend gave him a horse so he could escape. He looked for Nicolette and made his way to her shelter when she was not there.
But she returned and the couple was finally united.
They decided to leave the country by ship. A storm brought the ship with the lovers to a strange place called Torelore. For some time they lived there until Saracens attacked the castle and capture everybody. Aucassin and Nicolette were separated again.
His ship was destroyed by another storm and he returned to his home finding that his parents are dead and he became Count of Beaucaire.
Nicolette was boarded on another ship and went to Carthage. When she saw the city, she remembered her childhood. She was the daughter of the king who was very happy to see her again and immediately offered her a marriage with one of the local kings.
Yet Nicolette stayed faithful to Aucassin. She disguised herself as a minstrel, boarded one more ship, and returned to Provence singing from castle to castle until the new Count of Beaucaire heard her songs depicting her adventures in search of love with him.
They are reunited and stay together for good.
What is so special about Aucassin and Nicolette?
The story is a parody of virtually every existing literary genre in France in the 12th and 13th centuries: courtly novels, heroic poems, lyric poems, saint's life fables, etc. It exploits the existing overused patterns in reverse ways to achieve maximal although soon predictable humorous effect.
Here are a few examples:
- Aucassin's name sounds way more like the name of Saracen than Nicolette's whose name is typical Christian.
- She is extremely resourceful and he is confused as a stereotypical lady in distress.
- In Torelore there's a pregnant king and it's a queen who is leading the army.
- The Lady is seeking the man, going through numerous dangers, climbing the walls, etc.
It seems, like Andrew Lang smartly concludes in one of his texts, the author of Aucassin and Nicolette made the only serious part of the story the love of the protagonists and even this part is not very serious. Enjoy this classic piece of literature!
You are also cordially invited to learn more about Anne Anderson's life and work.
