2025/10/29 by Yasmina Foehr-Janssens · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #Medieval History and Crusades #Medieval Literature and History #Medieval and Classical Philosophy
paper · doi:10.16995/olh.24096
openalex created_date 2025/10/29 · openalex publication_date 2025/10/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.In the narrative tradition of the Seven Sages of Rome, the stereotype of the powerful, male-threatening woman conveyed in the biblical story of Joseph is here reinforced by the strong homosocial bond between the numerous male characters. This layout shapes a gender pattern unwelcoming to any heterosexual love plot. As French prose continuations emerge during the thirteenth century, they confront a dual challenge. New characters must adhere to the cycle's typical sapiential, but at the same time the heroes are encouraged to marry in accordance with the tradition of chivalric romance and the genealogical structure of the cycle. In this paper, we will examine the first episode of the third continuation, the Roman de Cassidorus, where the young emperor Cassidorus meets his future spouse, the young Saracen princess, Helcana. A number of highly popular storylines, both in chansons de geste and in the novels of the period, are conjured up by this narrative sequence. The plot is set in the Holy Land and Bethsaida and deals with intercultural issues. The resolution of the love affair is based on an apocryphal episode in the story of Joseph. The legend of the marriage of Joseph and Aseneth shares with the Seven Sages’ tradition its translinguistic and transcultural character. While the complex process of making heterosexual love is particularly evident here, it also allows us to see the contradictions that shape the discourse of courtly love.