Le Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose) and Le Jeu des échecs moralisé (The Moralized Game of Chess) are two 14th-century French illuminated manuscripts in the University of Chicago Library Special Collections. They were once bound together, before being separated in 1907.[1]
Creation
editPatronage
editThe manuscripts were created around 1365, during the reign of Charles V of France. During that period, manuscripts were commonly commissioned by members of the court. Many texts were translated into French during this time. It was also during this time that Charles V created the French Royal Library.[2]
Illumination
editThere are a total of 43 miniatures in the Roman De La Rose manuscript.[3] The illuminations for both manuscripts were created by the Master of Saint Voult. The decorations in both manuscripts are very similar; figures have similar expressions and poses, and the same colors are used in both manuscripts.[4]
Provenance
editThe earliest record of ownership comes from notes on the manuscripts themselves, which contained the names of some of the 16th-century owners.
The first evidence that the two manuscripts were bound together is found in Bibliotheca Croftsiana: a Catalogue of the Curious and Distinguished Library of the late Reverend and Learned Thomas Crofts, A.M., Chancellor of the Diocese of Peterborough.[5] In 1907, the texts were separated by museum curator and collector Sydney Cockerell.
Le Roman De La Rose
editLe Roman De La Rose (The Romance of the Rose) is a medieval poem written in Old French. It is an example of courtly literature. The first part, written by Guillaume de Lorris describes a courtier's attempts at wooing his beloved woman. The second part, by Jean de Meun, expands on the role of allegorical characters in Lorris's first part of the work.
Le Jeu des échecs moralisé
editLe Jeu des échecs moralisé is a French translation of the Latin book Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium super ludo scacchorum ('Book of the customs of men and the duties of nobles or the Book of Chess') by Dominican Friar Jacobus de Cessolis. It was written in the second half of the 13th century and was a compilation of Jacobus de Cessolis's sermons on morality. The sermons used the game of chess to describe an ideal society.[6]
References
edit- ↑ "Rose and Chess: Le Roman de la Rose and Le Jeu des échecs moralisé". roseandchess.lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ Chapuis, Julien (2002-10-01). "Patronage at the Early Valois Courts (1328–1461) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Reading The Rose". www.textmanuscripts.com. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "A Tale of Two Manuscripts Reunited". roseandchess.lib.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ Paterson, Samuel (1783). Bibliotheca Croftsiana : a catalogue of the curious and distinguished library of the late Reverend and learned Thomas Crofts, A.M. Chancellor of the Diocese of Peterborough, and Fellow of the Royal and Antiquary Societies, deceased : which will be sold by auction, by Mr. Paterson, at his Great Room, no 6. King-Street, Covent-Garden, London, on Monday, April 7. 1783, and the forty-two following days (Good-Friday excepted) : to be viewed six days previous to the sale, which will begin each day precisely at twelve o'clock. p. 441.
- ↑ "Jacobus de Cessolis: The chessboard as a model of virtue and medieval order". Chess News. 2025-11-23. Retrieved 2026-03-20.