Les Croniques et excellents faitz des ducs princes barons

Small 4°, gothic of (8) ll and cxlii ll., 1 woodcut.

17th century vellum, manuscript title on spine.

185 x 127 mm.

[Robert Le Diable]. Les Croniques et excellents faitz des ducs Princes Barons et Seigneurs de la noble duche de Normandie. Et avec ce les Guerres et discentions qui ont este entre Francoys, Normans, et Angloys. Aussi de la cōqueste du pays et duche de Guyenne, additionnées de plusieurs belles hystoires, comme on pourra veoir en lisant ledit livre. Imprimé nouvellement à Paris. xxxv. On les vend à Paris en la rue neuve nostre dame a lēseigne sainct nicolas.

Paris, J. Saint-Denis, s.d. (1529).

The legend of Robert the Devil, as told by Étienne de Bourbon (c. 1250–1261), can be summarized as follows: a countess who had no children promised the devil that she would give him the child if he granted her one. She conceived a son whom she named Robert. He grew up in depravity. Robert persuades his mother to confess the cause of his wickedness. The pope, whom he had gone to Rome to beg for a penance, sends him to a hermit. The hermit, by divine inspiration, commands him to stop speaking, to act “mad,” and to snatch his food from the dogs. Robert goes to the king’s capital to carry out his penance. The Barbarians invade the kingdom. The king goes into battle. An angel brings the penitent weapons and a horse, which Robert hides after putting the enemy to flight. The king’s daughter sees this, but she is mute. The king tries to find out who this knight is. To no avail. The scene repeats itself. The third time, the king orders him to be captured. A knight thrusts his lance into Robert’s thigh; the tip remains lodged in the wound. Robert removes it, but the king’s daughter seizes it. The king declares he will offer his daughter in marriage and his kingdom to the victorious knight, should he come forward. The king’s seneschal injures himself to take advantage of the opportunity. But God heals the king’s daughter, who recounts what she has seen. The hermit, having arrived on the scene, orders Robert to speak. But Robert refuses both the daughter and the kingdom and goes off to live the life of a hermit.

This story appears in a French novel of 5,078 octosyllabic verses, composed in the late 12th or early 13th century. Étienne de Bourbon adapted it into a Latin exemplum intended for preaching, a narrative later taken up and summarized by the Dominican friar Jean Gobi in the *Scala celi* (between 1322 and 1330). As the first chapter of the Chroniques de Normandie (14th century), it stands out as a false genealogical account (since Robert had no descendants), likely intended to imbue the Norman family with a diabolical aura. A Dit of 254 monorhymed quatrains, written and performed by minstrels in the 14th century, was immediately adapted for the stage: the Miracle of Our Lady of Robert the Devil, a drama in 2,279 lines, was part of the repertoire of a Parisian brotherhood dedicated to the cult of the Virgin; it was performed on December 6, 1375. In these last two versions, the original asceticism shifts toward a reconciliation between the demands of faith and the pursuit of happiness: Robert, instead of ending his life as a hermit, marries—but by divine command!—the king’s daughter. Burlesque scenes are added. The Dit is rendered in prose at the end of the 15th century. La Vie du terrible Robert le dyable is published in May 1496 in Lyon by the presses of Pierre Mareschal and Bernabé Chaussard. The work was destined for great success, as, from 1496 to 1580, eleven editions followed one another in Paris, Lyon, and Rouen. In the 15th century, a German tale—whose ending remains ascetic—and an English novel (Sir Gowther) retell the legend. The printed French version was translated into nearly every European language beginning in the 16th century. The Portuguese version made its way to Brazil: the folheto *Roberto o Diabo* remains one of the greatest successes of *literatura de cordel* (pulp literature). One of the last Western adaptations of the legend is G. Meyerbeer’s opera, with a libretto by Scribe and Delavigne (1831).

This legend, which, from one version to the next, reflects the adaptation of a text to the expectations of its audience, is a blend of chivalric, religious, and undoubtedly folkloric elements, united within the framework of an exemplary narrative. To cite just three examples: R.S. Crane, in 1914, demonstrated that a hagiographic narrative bearing close similarities to the legend of Robert the Devil had been circulating in Ireland as early as the 11th century, right down to the command for the sinner to do penance. The theme of feigned madness is borrowed from the Byzantine tradition of the “holy fools” (saloi). Similarly, the ending of the legend bears clear affinities with the Brothers Grimm tale, Iron Hans (Der Eisenhans), as well as with the tales grouped under tale type 314 of the international classification by A. Aarne and S. Thompson, tales generally titled “The Little Gardener with Golden Hair” or “The Scabby One.”

This story of “Robert the Devil” is included in this 1529 edition of the “Roman de rou,” a work by “Robert Wace” published under the title “Chronicles of Normandy.”

Born on the island of Jersey around 1110, Robert Wace was taken to Caen at a very young age, where he was “educated in the arts.” He continued his studies in Chartres. Upon returning to Caen, he devoted himself to a literary career. He is the author of the *Roman de Rou*, undertaken with the approval of King Henry II, if not by his direct order, which presents itself as the logical sequel to the *Roman du Brut*: a chronicle of the Normans added to the chronicle of the Bretons, forming a vast work of propaganda in favor of the Plantagenets. The Rou was begun in 1160. But the bulk of the poem—11,440 octosyllabic lines—was written after 1170, though the reason for this interruption and its exact duration remain unknown.

Wace drew his material from Latin chronicles: his main sources are Dudon of Saint Quentin, William of Jumièges, and, beginning with the reign of William the Bastard, William of Poitiers, Orderic Vital, and the Gesta regum by the English historian William of Malmesbury. But he added a number of original elements. The documentary value of the poem lies in the reflection it offers of the world in which the author lived.

Its literary and linguistic significance is great. Wace’s work, one of the most substantial of the 12th century, is one of the most accomplished models we have preserved of the Old French language and bears witness to the vitality of Norman culture.

The precious copy of Etienne Baluze (1630-1718), Colbert’s librarian with his manuscript ex-libris.

Frère, I, 241 ; Saffroy, III, 46746 ; Bechtel, Catalogue des gothiques Français, 1476-1560, C‑349 ; Brunet, I, 1874; Moreau, III, 1521-1530, 170 ; Mellot (J-D), Répertoire d’imprimeurs/libraires, 4396.