Le roman de la rose

However, he came from well-to-do and respected parents. This did him too much honor for him, as a Poet, not to boast of it.

God has led me through many perils without misfortune,
God has given my family honor and wealth,
God has granted that I serve the greatest people of France,
God has brought me through youth and childhood without reproach.

This is what he says in his Codicille a short literary testament or supplement; and what was a prodigy for a Poet: he had a small country house, or at least a retreat, in one of the suburbs of Paris.

Jean de Meun had more vivacity than Guillaume de Lorris: he was as good a Poet, but he did not have as many manners and sentiments as his predecessor. The beauty of the Romance that fell into his hands gave him the occasion to continue such a fine beginning. He did it with such success that this book, the oracle of our ancestors, is still enjoyed today by people of wit who have the time to read it and the ease to understand it.

This latter Author was the delight of the Court of Philip the Fair by the grace of his wit, which gave him entry everywhere: And although satirical, and perhaps even a bit gossipy, he was loved by the Ladies; doubtless because he knew how to amuse them with his outbursts and by the playfulness he spread through his conversations. For at least that much is needed to be in their good graces.

Some Authors have believed that he was a Monk; but I doubt that he embraced the religious state. He speaks too much against Monks to believe that he was ever one of theirs. I even believe he was only a layman: his service to the Great, and the adventures that happened to him at Court, prove it enough. Jean de Meun nonetheless had studied Theology, Philosophy, Chimie Alchemy/Chemistry, Astronomy, Arithmetic, and had read good books.

But what should be surprising is to see him speak ill of the sex women, although he was at Court and lived in celibacy, at least at the time of his Romance. If he had only uncovered certain trivialities, of which the Ladies