Renart le Contrefait, the last form that the Roman de Renart took in the Middle Ages, is presented in two versions of very unequal length, often identical, sometimes also completely different. The first, which we will call A, is contained in a single ms. (A = Bibl. nat., fr. 1630, anc. 7630 4, De la Mare 284) and comprises approximately 32,000 lines; the second, version B, is divided into two volumes (B1, Vienna 2562, copy in Bibl. nat., fr. 3 69; B2, Bibl. nat., fr. 370, anc. 6985, Lancelot 4) and counts exactly 41,148 lines, in addition to a fairly long section in prose (more than 60 leaves) placed at the end of the ms. B1. The author, a cleric from Troyes, who because of bigamy, that is to say concubinage, in his particular case, had to renounce the clergy, then became rich in the spice trade, previously carried on by his father; he wanted in writing Renart the Counterfeit, not, as has been said so far, to imitate the Romance of Renart, but to imitate Renart, to take on his mask, his character... [Author]

Language: French