Extract
[...] On the other hand, if Nature is seen as being able to be analyzed by scientists to be better understood, it no longer appears totally, in the Middle Ages, as all-powerful. The author, through his encyclopedia, shows that Man, as a thinking being, is capable of dominating it. The mention of animals such as dogs and horses at the end of the excerpt is not insignificant either as to the author's intention to further accredit what he wants to demonstrate. [...]
[...] The anecdote makes the particular extraordinary, all the more so when the hero is a king. These procedures therefore allow the author to present the exemplum not only as true but also and above all as a proof: indeed, when he writesAnd from this, certain knowledge was made at the time of the good King Alexandervii. To the use of the exemplum, and to complete its impact, is added a skillfully orchestrated narrative structure: indeed, with the dramatic framework set around the story of the poisonous maiden, the notions of toxicity, transformation, and political tactics contributing to maintaining a certain tension, suspense, to captivate the reader and make sure he remembers the messages transmitted as well as possible. [...]
[...] In any case, the transmitted knowledge passes through the filter of beliefs and cultural codes specific to each era. The essential thing is not in the veracity of what is transmitted, but in the perception that we have of it and in the use that we make of it. For the ultimate goal remains and will always remain that Man achieves "autonomy of thought"xiv, understand the meaning of his existence and his place in the Universe. [...]
[...] Nevertheless, at the time, it was precisely an essential component of customs and therefore of writings. This joins what Michel Pastoureau explains when talking about the importance of the imaginary, and we can make a parallel with the notion close to wonder: « The imaginary does not oppose reality in any way. It is part of it. If a researcher studies a given society and leaves out - in the name of science - everything that relates to the imaginary, he mutilates his investigations and analyses completely, and cannot understand anything about this society. [...]
[...] However, the association of these two terms reflects a religious vision in which the woman is often presented as a being who is sometimes fragile, sometimes influencable, sometimes deceitful, and in any case inferior to man. If the very first line of the excerpt mentions 'homs and woman', we quickly understand that it is above all a figure of style on the part of the author since the rest of the text is entirely devoted to telling by example how maidens - and not youths - have been transformed into instruments of death. III - The female figure in the service of the transmission of knowledge. [...]
