In this study, Steven Botterill explores the intellectual relationship between the greatest poet of the fourteenth century, Dante, and the greatest spiritual writer of the twelfth century, Bernard of Clairvaux. Botterill analyses the narrative...
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In this study, Steven Botterill explores the intellectual relationship between the greatest poet of the fourteenth century, Dante, and the greatest spiritual writer of the twelfth century, Bernard of Clairvaux. Botterill analyses the narrative episode involving Bernard as a character in the closing cantos of the Paradiso, against the background of his medieval reputation as a contemplative mystic, devotee of Mary, and, above all, a preacher of outstanding eloquence. Botterill draws on a wide range of materials to establish and illustrate the connections between Bernard's reputation and his portrayal in Dante's poem. Botterill's fresh approach to the analysis of the whole episode will provoke the reader to re-evaluate the significance and implications of Bernard's presence in the Commedia
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015)
1. (Re- )reading Dante: an unscientific preface -- 2. The image of St Bernard in medieval culture -- 3. Bernard of Clairvaux in the Commedia. Life after Beatrice (Paradiso XXXI). Mellifluous Doctor (Paradiso XXXII). Faithful Bernard (Paradiso XXXIII) -- 4. Bernard in the Trecento commentaries on the Commedia -- 5. Dante, Bernard, and the Virgin Mary -- 6. From deificari to trasumanar? Dante's Paradiso and Bernard's De diligendo Deo -- 7. Eloquence -- and its limits
