The Latin treatise De amore (s. XII/XIII) by Andreas Capellanus has repeatedly presented a challenge to research because of the heterogeneity of its form and contents. The numerous interpretations of this elusive work base themselves on the single edition by Emil Trojel from 1892 which does not convey a representative account of the rich and complex transmission of the text. An important part of this contribution is, thus, to elucidate both the transmission history of De amore and relevant questions for research. The main focus will be an analysis of the textual version of De amore in the aforementioned Prague manuscript (1471–1481) and its formal-structural transformation, its codicological surroundings as well as its cultural context. This late-medieval textual witness suggests, on every level of the text, significant emendations to the textual form as presented by Trojel. By means of radical truncations and a prominent restructuring, new intratextual connections are created: a reinforced edifying function, an ambition for a general validity, and tendencies concerning structuring and systematizing clearly appear to be the new principles for the shaping of the text. In the Prague manuscript, De amore is copied between contemporary Humanist treatises whose contextualisation will be presented as the source of further thoughts on literary history. The contribution will be rounded off by means of an up-to-date comprehensive list of the manuscript transmission of De amore, a comparative table of the different structurings of the text, and a new description of the Prague manuscript.
The Latin treatise De amore (s. XII/XIII) by Andreas Capellanus has repeatedly presented a challenge to research because of the heterogeneity of its form and contents. The numerous interpretations of this elusive work base themselves on the single edition by Emil Trojel from 1892 which does not convey a representative account of the rich and complex transmission of the text. An important part of this contribution is, thus, to elucidate both the transmission history of De amore and relevant questions for research. The main focus will be an analysis of the textual version of De amore in the aforementioned Prague manuscript (1471–1481) and its formal-structural transformation, its codicological surroundings as well as its cultural context. This late-medieval textual witness suggests, on every level of the text, significant emendations to the textual form as presented by Trojel. By means of radical truncations and a prominent restructuring, new intratextual connections are created: a reinforced edifying function, an ambition for a general validity, and tendencies concerning structuring and systematizing clearly appear to be the new principles for the shaping of the text. In the Prague manuscript, De amore is copied between contemporary Humanist treatises whose contextualisation will be presented as the source of further thoughts on literary history. The contribution will be rounded off by means of an up-to-date comprehensive list of the manuscript transmission of De amore, a comparative table of the different structurings of the text, and a new description of the Prague manuscript.