The Works of Chardri: Three Poems in the French of Thirteenth-Century England

The Life of the Seven Sleepers, The Life of St. Josaphaz, and The Little Debate
Translated by Neil Cartlidge

FRETS vol. 9 (MRTS vol. 462) ACMRS Press, 2015

The thirteenth-century writer who called himself  “Chardri” (perhaps an anagram of “Richard”) wrote two saints’ lives, the Set dormanz (The Seven Sleepers) and Vie de saint Josaphaz (The Life of St Josaphaz) and a disputation between a young man and an old one, Le Petit Plet (The Little Debate). All three, much praised by scholars as examples of unpretentious piety, youthfulness, charm and humor, are among the most attractive and accessible works in the extant corpus of French works written in medieval England. Surprisingly, they have never before been translated into English, even though they have associations with important works in English, for example, The Owl and the Nightingale. FRETS is delighted to bring this highly significant writer to the attention of a wider audience.