Le roman de la rose (The Romance of the Rose), by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, survives in more than two hundred manuscripts, many of them illuminated; it was a medieval ‘best seller’ and part of it was translated by Chaucer (The Romaunt of the Rose). Near the start of the romance comes a much-quoted description of medieval dancing that includes a carole and entertainments of display. Illustrators in succeeding centuries, rather than adhering to the text, often recreate the dancing to match practices from the time of the illustration. This paper focuses in particular on illustrations of the dance in manuscripts held by the Bodleian Library.
Jeremy Barlow