The role of poetry in the transmission and shaping of knowledge in late medieval France.Covering the period from the late thirteenth to the early sixteenth century, Poetry, Knowledge, and Community examines the role of poetry in French culture in transmitting and shaping knowledge. The volume reveals the interplay between poet, text, and audience, and explores the key dynamics of later medieval French poetry and of the communities in which it was produced. Essays in both English and French are organised into three inter-related sections, "Learned Poetry/ Poetry and Learning", "Poetry or Prose?", and "Poetic Communities", and address both canonical and less well-known French and Occitan verse literature, together with a wide range of complementary subjectareas. The international cast of contributors to the volume includes many of the best-known scholars in the field: the introductory essay is by Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet (Université de Paris IV, Sorbonne), and keynote essays are provided by David F. Hult (University of California, Berkeley), Michel Zink (Collège de France), and Nancy Freeman Regalado (New York University). Edited by REBECCA DIXON (University of Manchester) and FINN E. SINCLAIR (University of Cambridge), with Adrian Armstrong (University of Manchester), Sylvia Huot (University of Cambridge), and Sarah Kay (University of Princeton). CONTRIBUTORS: Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Mishtooni Bose, Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet, Rebecca Dixon, Thelma Fenster, Denis Hüe, David Hult, Stephanie Kamath, Deborah McGrady, Amandine Mussou, Nancy Freeman Regalado, Jennifer Saltzstein, Finn E. Sinclair, Lori J. Walters, David Wrisley, Michel Zink

Preface - Finn E. SinclairIntroduction: L'Amour de Sophie. Poesie et savoir du Roman de la Rose a Christine de Pizan - Jacqueline Cerquiglini-TouletPoetry and the Translation of Knowledge in Jean de Meun - David HultApprendre a jouer? Fonctions de la partie d'echecs des Esches amoureux - Amandine MussouJean Gerson, Poet - Mishtooni BoseGerson and Christine, Poets - Lori J. WaltersLes Razos et l'idee de la poesie - Michel ZinkA Master, a Vilain, a Lady and a Scribe: Competing for Authority in a Late Medieval Translation of the Ars amatoriaamatoria - Deborah McGradyDeversifying Knowledge: The Poetic Alphabet of the Prose Pelerinage de la vie humaine - Stephanie KamathProsifying Lyric Insertions in the Fifteenth-Century Violette [Gerard de Nevers] - David WrisleyThe Movement from Verse to Prose in the Allegories of Christine de Pizan - Suzanne Conklin AkbariThe Songs of Jehannot de Lescurel in Paris, BnF MS fr. 146: Love Lyrics, Moral Wisdom and the Material Book - Nancy Freeman RegaladoRefrains in the Jeu de Robin et Marion: History of a Citation - Jennifer SaltzsteinLe prince chez Meschinot, mise en forme d'un objet poetique/ politique - Denis Hue` - Thelma FensterConclusion: Knowing Poetry, Knowing Communities - Rebecca Dixon