ABSTRACT
Urbanus magnus is undoubtedly a complex text, but it is important because of what it reveals about the development of conduct literature, the codification of manners, and everyday life in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. With increasing awareness of the text, modern scholars have tended to accept without question not only that Urbanus magnus is a prime example of courtesy literature, but that it stands at the genesis of the genre. It is for this reason that I have examined the text from a thematic perspective, which has led to the conclusion that Urbanus magnus both may and may not be classified as courtesy literature. This may seem to be an unsatisfactory conclusion, but it is inevitable given the complex and often confused compositional nature of the text. Certain sections undoubtedly fit neatly into the early development of courtesy texts, but the text as a whole does not. The thematic analysis of the text, along with the examination of the extant manuscripts, provides greater depth of knowledge of Urbanus magnus to the reader. Second, it reveals the varied and diverse sources for and influences on the text, which render it almost like a jigsaw puzzle, pieced together from contemptus mundi literature, Facetus poems, contenances de table texts, and medical treatises, such as the Regimen sanitatis Salernitatem. Importantly, Urbanus magnus exemplifies the fact that many medieval texts are not singular artefacts. Before the printing age, texts evolved. The composition of the text and the manuscripts’ dissemination both indicate that medieval people were quite prepared to take something and change or adapt it to suit their needs. Indeed, the development of the text reveals its continued usefulness, albeit in different settings.
