OF SIX MEDIEVAL WOMEN 



Lives of the Saints and of the Fathers, and the 

 Miracles of Our Lady. Philosophy was repre- 

 sented by a French translation of Boethius 

 (probably a copy of a translation made by order 

 of King Philip le Bel, by Jean de Meun, the 

 writer of the second portion of The Romance of 

 the Rose), Law by a verse translation of the laws 

 of Normandy, History by the Chronicles of the 

 Kings of France, and Travel by The Romance 

 of the Great Kan, known to us as The Travels 

 of Marco Polo. But by far the largest category 

 consisted of Romances, such as that of Oger le 

 Danois from the national Epic, and another of 

 Tancred, a hero of the first Crusade, the Romance 

 of Troy, Percival le Gallois, Tristan, Renart, and 

 the Violet, the story which forms the chief 

 episode in the play of Cymbeline. Of course 

 there was no great choice, but that Mahaut read 

 them and loved them we may be certain, since 

 we know that she took some with her on her 

 journeyings, and to preserve them from the wear 

 and tear of travel, had leather wallets made to 

 protect them. Mahaut was, in truth, the first 

 wealthy individual of the age to spend her 

 substance with the express purpose of surround- 

 ing herself with beauty of every kind. The 

 foremost thought of a man in a like case would 

 probably have been to add to his power. Her 

 thought was of beauty, a quality much more far- 

 reaching and less transient, and one which, even 

 like Time itself, triumphs over the changes of 

 fame and fortune. 



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