BOECE. Ancius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius, c. A.D. 480-524, came from a very old and very important family. His father was consul in 487, and Boethius himself became consul in 510 at the age of thirty. Theodoric, the Ostrogothic king of Italy, gave him many honors, including the coveted office of magister officorum, Master of the Offices. He married Rusticiana, daughter of Symmachus, by whom he had two sons. He was said to have translated the Geometry of Euclid, the Musica of Pythagoras, the Arithmetica of Nichomachus, the Mechanica of Archimedes, the Astronomica of Ptolemy, the theology of Plato, and the Logic of Aristotle, with the Commentary of Porphyry. His rigorous pursuit of justice for the poor aroused the hatred and jealousy of his enemies, who accused him of high treason. Believing him guilty, Theodoric imprisoned Boethius in the tower at Pavia; the Senate passed sentence without holding a trial. Bo- ethius was brutally tortured, then clubbed to death in 524. He was buried in the cathedral at Pavia; but in 721, his relics were transferred to the crypt behind the altar of the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. During the Middle Ages he was regarded as a martyr for the faith and invoked as St. Severinus. His works include, in addition to De consolatione philosophiae, written while he was in prison, translations of Porphyry's Isogage, a commentary on Cicero's Topica (Topics), compilations from various authors, De musica and De arithmetica, and several theological treatises, among them one called De Trinitate. During the Middle Ages his edition of Euclid's theorems without the proofs was very popular.

Dante places Boethius in the Heaven of the Sun among the spiriti sapienti, Par X.121-129. The works of Boethius form the foundation of much medieval philosophy and literature, permeating the thought of scholars and poets. De consolatione philosophiae was translated into several vernaculars. King Alfred translated it (after 893) into Old English as one of the books his people should know, adding his own glosses and changing the form, for he translated the whole work as prose. He expanded the story of Orpheus and Eurydice (Bo III, Metr 12), omitting the final allegorical interpretation of Eurydice as the pit of hell and as the things of the earth. He made the work more immediate to his readers, introducing the Saxon hero Weland in place of Fabricius, Bo II, Prosa 7. A translation into Provençal of the tenth century survives in a fragment of thirty-five stanzas; a twelfth-century Anglo-Norman version of Simund de Freine (c. 1180) is called the Roman de philosophie. Jean de Meun made his translation in the late thirteenth century or early fourteenth century. There is a translation of Renaud de Louens (1336-1337) and several translations in French dialects. The form of De consolatione philosophiae, alternating verse and prose, appears in several important medieval works: De nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae (The Marriage of Mercury and Philology), by Martianus Capella; De mundi universitate (On the Whole World), by Bernard Silvester, and De planctu Naturae (The Complaint of Nature) by Alain de Lille, all show heavy Boethian influence.

Commentaries appear as early as the ninth century in a work by Lupus of Ferrières. A commentary is attributed to Remigius of Auxerre, c. A.D. 904: Incipit expositio in Libro Boetii de Consolatione Phylosophiae Remigii. Gilbert of Poitiers's commentary on De Trinitate (On the Trinity) aroused Bernard of Clairvaux, and in 1147 a council at Paris examined Gilbert for heresy on the basis of this work. Bernard attempted to have him condemned, but Gilbert was acquitted of heresy.

Chaucer's translation of De consolatione philosophiae under the title Boece is dated after 1380, in the same period when he wrote The Knight's Tale, probably about 1382. He used a Latin text, a Latin commentary by Nicholas Trevet, and a French prose translation by Jean de Meun, Li Livres de confort de philosophie. Boethius's influence is most marked in The Knight's Tale, Troilus and Criseyde, The Former Age, Fortune, and Truth.

Specific borrowings include Arcite's lament, KnT 1251-1267 (Bo III, Prosa 2); Palamon's lament, KnT 1303-1314 (Bo I, Metr 5; IV. Prosa l); the passage on Destiny, KnT 1663-1673 (Bo IV, Prosa 6); Theseus's speech, KnT 2987-3074 (Bo II, Metr 8; III, Prosa 10; IV, Prosa 6, Metr 6). The old wife quotes Boethius on gentillesse, WBT 1168 (Bo III, Prosa 6, Metr 6). The Nun's Priest mentions Boece as a writer on free will, NPT 3240-3250 (Bo IV, Prosa 6; Bo V). The fox tells Chauntecleer that he has more feeling in music than Boece, NPT 3293-3294. The "other clerkys" who have written on sound include Boethius, HF II.760 (De musica I.3). The experiment of HF II.788-808 appears in De musica I.14. The dreamer quotes Boece on thoughts winged by Philosophy, HF II.972-978 (Bo IV, Metr 1.1-7).

The concept of Fortune and the role assigned to Fate as executor of the will of Providence in Troilus and Criseyde are essentially Boethian. Troilus laments that Fortune is his foe, Tr I.834-853 (Bo II, Prosa 2 and 3.75-79); Troilus's hymn to love, Tr III.1744-1771, is influenced by Bo II, Metr 8. The idea that men may sometimes be lords of Fortune, Tr IV.1587-1589, is a paraphrase from Bo II, Prosa 4. Fate is the executor of God, Tr V.1-3, influenced by Bo IV, Prosa 6.

Chaucer lists his Boece among his works, ParsT 1085; LGW F 425. The opening lines of the Legend of Philomela, LGW 2228-2230, follow Bo III, Metr 9, based on Plato's Timaeus. Chaucer wishes the scalle on Adam if he miscopies the Boece, Adam 1-2. Although The Former Age incorporates many Boethian concepts, it has been shown to be closer to Ovid than to Boethius, especially Metamorphoses I. [Albyn: Basilius: Cassidore: Conigaste: Cyprian: Decorat: Erudice: Gaudenicus: Opilion: Orpheus: Symacus: Trygwille]

Boece, the French variant, occurs once initially, Adam 2; twice in medial positions, NPT 3242, 3294; and four times in final rhyming position, WBT 1168, HF II.972, LGW F 425, LGW G 412.