Very little is known about Jacquemart Gielée, who around the years 1288-1292 wrote Renart le Nouvel. All we know at present is that he hailed from Lille, in Flanders, and that, inspired by the popularity of the great beast epic, the Roman de Renard —whose first part appeared half a century earlier—he transformed the animal hero, endowed him more fully with human instincts and created in the Picard dialect a masterpiece of satire and allegory. The sly, roguish Renard has become a master of intrigue and hypocrisy; he is the personification of all the vices of the clergy, the court, and the bourgeoisie, Together with Renard le Bestourné and le Couronnement de Renard, Renart le Nouvel constitutes a second cycle of the animal epic. - [Author]

Language: English