The Fables of Ulrich Bonerius (ca. 1350) The Fables of Ulrich Bonerius (ca. 1350) : Masterwork of Late Medieval Didactic Literature Translated by Albrecht Classen The Fables of Ulrich Bonerius (ca. 1350): Masterwork of Late Medieval Didactic Literature Translated by Albrecht Classen This book first published 2020 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2020 by Albrecht Classen All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-5955-6 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-5955-4 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations ................................................................................... vii Introduction ............................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ............................................................................... xxxi Translation .................................................................................................. 1 Bibliography ........................................................................................... 249 Index ....................................................................................................... 259 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Both the cover image and the images included here (black and white and in color) were all taken from Heidelberg Universitätsbibliothek, Codex Pal. germ. 794 (here ms. no. 15, from ca. 1410(cid:3013)1420), with permission. Cover: fol. 79r: Bonerius, fable no. 94 Black and white images: Fig. 1: fol. 1v, Bonerius, fable no. 17 Fig. 2: fol. 3v, Bonerius, fable no. 19 Fig. 3: fol. 4r, Bonerius, fable no. 20 Fig. 4: fol. 7v, Bonerius, fable no. 23 Fig. 5: fol. 23r, Bonerius, fable no. 43 Fig. 6: fol. 41r, Bonerius, fable no. 57 Fig. 7: fol. 47r, Bonerius, fable no. 61 Fig. 8: fol. 58r, Bonerius, fable no. 74 Fig. 9: fol. 63r, Bonerius, fable no. 79 Fig. 10: Reed, Lakeside Park, Tucson © Albrecht Classen Fig. 11: fol. 72r, Bonerius, fable no. 89 Color images, centerfold: Fig. 1: fol. 5r, Bonerius, fable no. 21 Fig. 2: fol. 9r, Bonerius, fable no. 25 Fig. 3: fol. 14r, Bonerius, fable no. 35 Fig. 4: fol. 60r, Bonerius, fable no. 76 INTRODUCTION Medieval and early modern German fable literature was deeply influenced by Ulrich Bonerius’s Der Edelstein (The Gemstone), representing a major stepping stone between late antiquity and the Enlightenment (eighteenth century).1 His highly popular collection of fables, which continues to be enjoyable and instructive to read even today, provides valuable insights into late medieval culture, mentality, ethics, and morality, and it sheds important light on the genre of didactic literature. What he has to say about people’s stupidity, ignorance, failures, and evil character still applies to us, sad to say, very much until today, but his advice how to correct and improve oneself also carries considerable weight for the modern world. There are some interesting parallels with the fables written by Marie de France (ca. 1190),2 but Bonerius approached his task from a more learned perspective, and he was also fully trained as a translator/writer, intending his works as material for preachers, although (or just because) he employed a fairly simple style and addressed his concerns in a direct, yet very convincing fashion. His fables contain much pragmatic advice for many of life’s ordinary situations high and low, warning us about vices and lauding virtues. We clearly hear a preacher’s voice, but Bonerius was obviously fully aware of people’s countless shortcomings, failures, and foibles, and addressed them through his hundred narratives, many of which closely follow the ancient models of animal stories (Aesop), while some of them also talk about people’s interactions, regularly leading to problems and conflicts. 1 In German-language research, he is normally identified as ‘Ulrich Boner,’ but both in the prologue and the epilogue to The Gemstone he relies on the Latinized version, which I prefer, especially because the word ‘boner’ has a pornographic connotation in modern English. The name goes probably back to the profession of one of his forefathers, meaning, the butcher. For a solid introduction to Bonerius, see Klaus Grubmüller, “Boner,” Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters: Verfasserlexikon, 2nd, completely revised ed. by Kurt Ruh et al. Vol. I (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1978), cols. 947(cid:3013)52. 2 Marie de France, Fables, ed. and trans. Harriet Spiegel. Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching (Toronto, Buffalo, and London: University of Toronto Press, 1994). x Introduction To be fair, however, there are significant similarities between the Anglo-Norman fables written by Marie de France and the Middle High German fables composed by Bonerius. Both draw mostly from the same sources, and both embrace very similar values and ideals. They differ in their interpretations of the morals or lessons to some extent, but not drastically. They provide different prologues reflecting their own personal situations, but they use many of the same animals and narrative contexts. Both begin with the same fable (no. 1) about the rooster who cannot make any use of the gemstone hidden in the dung pile, but the rest of the fables follows separate paths in each collection. Marie’s fable about the wolf and the lamb (no. 2) is no. 5 in Bonerius’s work, Marie’s fable about the mouse and the frog (no. 3) appears as no. 6 in the German collection, Marie’s no. 4 is Bonerius’s no. 7, Marie’s no. 5 is Bonerius’s no. 9, etc. Subsequently, the differences grow progressively, so that we can only identify some thematic overlaps in both of their works. In the case of the Middle High German narratives, the Swiss poet at times improved the context considerably. For instance, whereas Marie talks about a greedy dog carrying a piece of cheese in its mouth, Bonerius has the dog holding a piece of meat, a more realistic variation. Both poets also include their own individual fables, so we would have to read these two works in tandem, but not in any direct relationship. While both adopted classical sources, they also pursued their own ideas and offered interesting interpretations, which make both collections into creative and innovative contributions to this tradition. It is highly unlikely that Bonerius might have been familiar with the efforts by Marie, but both can be identified as outstanding literary representatives of their times. Comparing Marie’s Fables with Bonerius’s Edelstein, we discover two great contributors to the genre of fables, especially because both preserved their independence and included not only the well- established narratives handed down by Aesop (6th c. B.C.E.), Phaedrus (1st c. C.E.), Babrius (2nd c. C.E.), Aphthonius of Antioch (315), Avianus (early 5th c.), and Romulus (10th c.; also known as Anonymus Neveleti, or Anglicus), but each also created his/her own fables and hence deserves credit for being a poet on his own.3 Bonerius’s fables also prove to be a 3 See the useful introduction by Harriet Spiegel, ed. and trans., Marie de France, Fables (see note 2), 6(cid:3013)7. For a solidly researched study especially of the Latin fable tradition, which includes, however, also comments on Bonerius, see Aaron E. Wright, ‘Hie lert uns der meister’. Latin Commentary and the German Fable 1350(cid:2259) 1500. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 218 (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2001), 107(cid:3013)31. See also the older studies providing valuable comparisons between Bonerius’s versions and the Latin sources: Anton E. Schönbach, “Zur Kritik Boners,” Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie