Ateneo - UPO

The Saint and the Reader: Alexis

For attending students, the specific bibliography will be provided in class, following students' interests.Bibliography (a selection)Editions:- La vie de saint Aleis, poème du XIe siècle ... publ. par G. Paris et L. Pannier, Paris, Franck, 1872 - M. Perugi, Saint Alexis, genèse de sa légende et de la vie française. Révisions et nouvelles propositions accompagnées d’une nouvelle édition critique de la vie, Genève, Droz, 2014 - La vie de saint Alexis, éd. crit. par M. Perugi, Genève, Droz, 2000 - M. Eusebi, La Chanson de saint Alexis, Modena, Mucchi, 2001 - La chanson de saint Alexis, essai d’édition critique de la version primitive, avec apparatsynoptique de tous les témoins par F. Zufferey, Paris, Société des anciens textes français,2020 As an introductory reference manual - Lino Leonardi, Filologia romanza 1. Critica del testo, Milano-Firenze, Le Monnier Università, 2022 Non-attending students will choose a program with the teacher.

Knowledge (basic level):
- basic knowledge of the medieval historical-literary context;
- basic knowledge of the medieval language of the text studied in class;
- basic paleographic knowledge for reading manuscripts.
Knowledge (advanced level):
- excellent knowledge of the medieval historical-literary context;
- excellent linguistic and metrical knowledge of the text studied;
- excellent paleographic and codicological knowledge regarding the specific manuscript witnesses studied.
Competencies (basic level):
- ability to read a medieval Romance text in its manuscript form;
- ability to analyze the relationships between two witnesses of the same text;
- ability to use the discipline's bibliographic tools.
Competencies (advanced level):
- ability to independently approach and critically analyze a philological problem;
- ability to identify and address a linguistic issue related to a medieval text.
Transferable skills (basic level):
- ability to present the discipline's subject matter—both orally and in writing—without errors, using appropriate vocabulary and syntax;
- ability to analyze a text by situating it within its historical-literary context.
Transferable skills (advanced level):
- ability to read and transcribe a manuscript;
- ability to analyze a text by placing it within a broader context, drawing connections to other texts and applying knowledge and skills acquired elsewhere to its commentary.

Basic philological-linguistic knowledge is expected following a Bachelor's degree in Humanities or Foreing Languages

Lectures; seminar discussions; individual study.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or Special Educational Needs (SEN) may request dedicated services and tools by contacting the Career Development and Student Services Staff and by consulting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studentidisabilie-dsa.
Once they have contacted the University Staff, students with disabilities, SLD, or SEN must also contact the course instructor to agree on the exam arrangements at least 15 days before the exam; some of these arrangements must be approved by the instructor in advance.

Learning will be assessed both during the course and through a final exam. The evaluation will be based on the following points:
1. During the seminar, students are expected to actively participate in the lectures and discussions;
2. Students will be required to prepare an edition specimen of an unpublished medieval text, which will be presented and discussed in class;
3. Students must study a general reference volume, to be agreed upon with the instructor;
4. Students must submit a brief report (approximately 2 pages) on a book or a selection of articles read independently, as agreed with the instructor;
The oral exam will conclude the assessment process, during which the student will present the work they have carried out.

The seminar for the academic year 2026–2027 will focus on a text of crucial importance to the history of Romance literatures and to the development of the philological method itself as applied to vernacular texts: the Alexis Song.
Alexis is a saint whose life has been recounted in numerous versions in the main Romance languages. The oldest is the French ‘canzone’, composed in the 11th century and preserved in a number of very ancient manuscripts (dating from the early 12th century). To provide some context: whilst listening to a version of this hagiographic text recited by a jester, Pietro Valdo felt a calling to conversion; one of the oldest manuscripts (codex L) can be traced back to the circle of an exceptional figure, Clémence de Barking.

The first part of the course will cover the following topics:
- The Romance lives of Saint Alexius and the Latin sources;
- Metre and form of hagiographic poems (origins and the 12th century) and their transformations;
- The monastic environment between the 11th and 12th centuries, the circulation of texts, and the production of manuscripts;
- Women readers and writers in Normandy and England in the 12th century;
- An introduction to textual criticism and the stemmatic method;
- The manuscript tradition of Alexis.

The second part of the course, which will take the form of a seminar, will involve students studying a manuscript from the Alexis tradition. In particular, we will focus on the ‘lower branches’ of the manuscript tradition. The original poem has, in fact, been subject to rewritings that alter its original form (from the stanza to the laisse, from assonance to rhyme), resulting in prose versions.

n order to achieve the basic-level knowledge, skills, and competencies, the student is expected to demonstrate the ability to:
- (Knowledge and understanding):
Have acquired a fundamental understanding of the topics covered in the course and in the assigned bibliography; be able to comprehend a medieval Romance-language text.
- (Ability to apply knowledge and understanding):
Be able to work with an unpublished medieval Romance-language text, placing it within the literary context of its time.
- (Judgment and critical thinking):
Be able to discuss editorial choices based on class discussions.
- (Communication skills):
Be able to clearly present—using proper Italian and disciplinary terminology—the knowledge acquired during the course and through independent study, as well as justify editorial choices.
- (Learning skills):
Be able to use the methodological tools provided in class or prepared for independent philological study and work.