"De rappels en prédictions, savoir convaincre et savoir agir : le rôle ambigu de Merlin, de la naissance d'Arthur à son accès au trône de Bretagne (dans le Merlin en prose et la Suite Vulgate)"

Bénéficiant de la connaissance du passé, du présent et du futur, Merlin ne se contente pas de rappeler, observer, ou prédire, mais il agit et influence le cours de l'histoire en favorisant la conception problématique d'Arthur. L'étude porte sur la nature et la portée de son investissement dans une trame narrative où il n'a de cesse d'argumenter, de convaincre, et de se justifier.

Entre histoire et fiction: la représentation du règne d'Arthur dans le manuscrit enluminé du Brut en prose, Londres, Lambeth Palace 6 (c. 1480)

The manuscript London, Lambeth Palace 6, contains the Middle English prose Brut, a text which benefited from a great popularity throughout the fifteenth century. It was copied by an English scribe and richly illuminated by the Master of Edward IV and his assistants at Bruges around 1480. This article studies the representation and integration of the reign of Arthur in the historical framework of the Brut or Chronicles of England, including its fictional aspects: Arthur emerges as a historical character but also as a chivalric and mythical figure. The analysis covers the miniatures ranging from the plot leading to the conception of Arthur to the end of his reign (fols. 36-66). The textual and iconographic choices of the prose Bruts are highlighted by comparisons with Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, Wace’s Brut, and later prose rewritings in the Lancelot-Grail romance cycle, especially Merlin and its Vulgate Sequel. They show the continuous interest raised by Arthur in the aristocratic and royal circles of late fifteenth century England and the relationship be¬tween continental and insular historiographical, literary and artistic traditions.