Main Menu | List of entries | finished

INNOCENT III, 1161-1216, was born at Gavignavo in Italy, and his father, the count of Segni, named him Lothario. When he became Pope in 1198, he took the name Innocent. He was one of the youngest popes in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Before 1195, however, he had already written De miseria condicionis humane (On the Misery of the Human Condition), also known as De contemptu mundi (On Contempt for the World), a work in three books.

Most of the passages from De miseria condicionis humane occur in The Man of Law's Tale, constituting, in effect, Chaucer's translation. The Prologue, MLP 99-130, on the evils of poverty, paraphrases De miseria condicionis humane, MCH I.xv: De miseria divitiis et pauperis (ed. M. Maccarrone, 20-21). The section on sudden calamity, MLT, 421-424, comes from MCH I.xxii: De inopinato dolore (ed. Maccarrone, 29-30); on the unwisdom of too much wine, MLT 771-777, MCH II.xviii: De ebrietate (ed. Maccarrone, 53-54); on the evils that the desire for luxury causes men to commit, MLT 925-931, MCH II.xxi: De luxuria (ed. Maccarrone, 55); that no man is free from the sins of envy, pride, anger, passion, MLT 1132-1138, MCH I .xviii: De miseria bonorum et malorum (ed. Maccarrone, 25). Innocent says that the condition of the poor beggar is sorrowful and unhappy, Mel 1568 (MCH I.xv). Queen Alceste lists Chaucer's translation of Pope Innocent's Wreched Engendrynge of Mankynde among his works, LGW G 414-415.

The name appears once, in medial position, LGW G 415.


Innocent III, De miseria condicionis humane, ed. and trans. R.E. Lewis; ibid., De miseria condicionis humane, ed. and trans. M. Maccarrone; R.E. Lewis, "Chaucer's Artistic Use of Pope Innocent III's De miseria humane condicionis in the Man of Law's Prologue and Tale." PMLA 81 (1966): 485-492; ibid., "Glosses to the Man of Law's Tale from Pope Innocent III's De miseria humane conditionis." SP 64 (1967): 1-16.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.

Main Menu | List of entries | finished