The Pilgerfahrt des träumenden Mönchs (PTM). A synoptic and commented edition of the three Rhine Franconian translations of a late medieval allegory by Guillaume de Digulleville

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Haubrichs
• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: from 2016 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317317317

The French verse allegory Pèlerinage de vie humaine, written around1330-31 by the French Cistersian Guillaume de Digulleville, was oneof the largest successes of late medieval religious poetry in thevernacular languages. Still during the Middle Ages, it was translated inEnglish, Spanish, Dutch and German, in German alone four timesduring the fifteenth century. Whereas the MiddleFranconian/Ripuarian verse translation by Peter of Meroede (died1451) remains out of consideration, the three in multiple ways relatedRhine Franconian versions take center stage in this project. The versetranslation contained in a Berleburg manuscript (PTM b) and the twoprose versions of the Pilgerfahrt des träumenden Mönchs (Pilgrimageof the dreaming monk, PTM) preserved today in Darmstadt (PTM d)and Hamburg (PTM h) will be edited in this project, closely followingthe manuscript texts - and for the first time as regards the prosetranslations. This text edition is complemented by a commentarywhich more closely examines the relations of the three RhineFranconian versions to each other, known hitherto mainly byinvestigations of the history of the provenance of the manuscripts andby the study of the language of these translations, especiallypromoted by a research project directed by the applicant and fundedby the DFG between 2009 and 2013. The commentary will investigatein particular the theological/scientifical knowledge of the translator ortranslators, the pragmatic importance of the hints to the House ofNassau-Saarbrücken provided by the history of the provenance of themanuscripts for the origin of the translations, finally the specificlinguistic trait of these versions and the role of the illustrationscontained in every Rhine Franconian version of the PTM.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants