Rutebeuf

(Rutebuef, Rustebeuf)

(fl. 1254–1285)

   Rutebeuf was a 13th-century French poet best known for his satirical verse and COMPLAINTS about his personal troubles as an impoverished JONGLEUR. Since there are no contemporary references to him, it is widely assumed that “Rutebeuf ” was a pen name. Thus nothing is known of Rutebeuf ’s life beyond what might be gleaned from his apparently autobiographical poems. If these can be relied upon, it appears that he was probably born in Champagne, but spent most of his life in Paris. His poems are clearly not intended for noble audiences, but are either religious in nature or seem to reflect the voice of the common people of Paris.

   Of some 56 extant poems attributed to Rutebeuf, the most frequently read today are the lyrics concerned with his own troubles. Among these are Le Mariage de Rutebeuf (ca. 1461), where he claims to have married an old, mean, and ugly wife with no dowry; and the Complainte de Rutebeuf, in which he recounts the unfortunate events that have brought him to the state of penury in which he finds himself. He addresses his complaint to the count of Poitiers, Alphonse—brother of King Louis IX (Saint Louis). Rutebeuf wrote a wide variety of other poems, from Hymns to the Virgin Mary and a SAINT’S LIFE concerning St. Elizabeth, to five FABLIAUX and numerous biting satires. The most common targets of Rutebeuf ’s satire are the mendicant orders, regularly lampooned for their corruption in the later Middle Ages.He was a strong advocate for the University of Paris, particularly the scholar Guillaume de Saint-Amour, in its mid-13th-century quarrel with the religious orders. But in addition to friars, Rutebeuf provides biting commentary on King Louis himself for his support of religious orders, on the pope, and on the nobility. But Rutebeuf concentrates not only on those in power. He satirizes merchants and lazy workers as well, and is particularly hard on women.

   Rutebeuf ’s Dit de l’Herberie is a dramatic monologue spoken by a quack doctor, and was probably intended for performance before a popular audience. This interest in dramatization also seems to have led Rutebeuf to write one of the earliest dramas in the French theater, Le Miracle de Théophile. The first play with the word miracle in the title, this short (700-line) theatrical piece is an early version of the Faust legend. In the play, Théophile is a materialistic priest who is cheated out of his fortune by an acquisitive bishop. Furious at the church, Théophile forsakes his allegiance to God and makes a contract with the devil in order to regain his wealth. Seven years later, Théophile repents his bargain, and through the miracle of the Blessed Virgin’s intercession he is restored to God’s grace.

   Rutebeuf wrote in a variety of different verse forms and was a technical master of prosody, especially in the popular French eight-syllable or octosyllabic lines. He was ruthless in exposing the failings of all social classes, and in attacking anything he saw as social abuses. In his satiric tone and his autobiographical complaints, Rutebeuf has most often been compared with the later, 15thcentury French poet François VILLON.

   Bibliography

   ■ Medieval French Plays. Translated by Richard Axton and John Stevens. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1971.

   ■ Regalado,Nancy Freeman. Poetic Patterns in Rutebeuf: A Study in Noncourtly Poetic Modes of the Thirteenth Century. New Haven,Conn.:Yale University Press, 1970.