ABSTRACT
The tradition of medieval French translations of the Consolatio is by far the richest and most complex of all: to date, thirteen different works have been noted and described, and more than a handful of these have appeared as printed editions. The translations include works that are signed, unsigned, anonymous, forged, literary, semi-literate, conscientiously translated, heavily padded with interpolations, in verse, prose, and verse-prose; they are translated into a variety of dialects. One of the major obstacles to furthering scholarship on the tradition of medieval French Consolatio translations has been the problem of inventory, both in the number of manuscripts and in the number of translations. Very little work has been done on the Latin manuscripts which the various translators used to produce their translations. The chapter deals with a summary statement on the medieval commentaries on Boethius’ Consolatio and on the earlier translations or paraphrases.
