Brense/Breuse in the context is clearly a character and seems familiar -
I would suspect Breusse is the correct reading. I don't have time to
look him up further but suggest consultation of Langlois: Table des Noms
propres dans les Chansons de Geste - a subject area very much up
Panizzi's street. Jane
> ----------
> From: George FERZOCO[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 30 March 1998 10:19
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: " Brense sans pitie' " -- ?
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> I have recently spoken with Denis Reidy, responsible for the British
> Library's
> Italian holdings, and he has asked me to ask you for some advice. Can
> anyone
> identify or explain what is meant by the words " brense [or perhaps
> 'breuse']
> sans pitie' " in the following passage, drawn from lecture notes by
> Anthony
> Panizzi? (The transcription is a working version.)
>
> * * * * * * * * * *
>
> But the superiority of chivalrous love, of that sentiment which cast a
> veil over
> that passion which appeared naked in Greece and Rome, cannot be
> denied. A feudal
> lord, or a knight might be as brutal and profligate as any ancient
> hero, or as
> Giove himself; yet he could not properly boast of it, no more than he
> could boast
> of his skill in lying in ambush; a skill in which Homer's heroes
> prided
> themselves just as much as they did in their carrying away ladies by
> force and
> reducing them to slavery. Any person who was guilty of any such thing
> was
> necessarily a coward according to the laws of chivalry. In the
> beautiful old
> Romance *Amadis de Gaula* the hero says to one of his brother
> cavaliers: "Do not
> be afraid; where ladies are not respected, knights are
> good-for-nothing". *Brense
> [breuse?] sans pitie'* is in all romances represented both as a
> traitor and a
> coward. A brave man could not wish to satisfy his passions by using a
> force,
> which, there being no chance of its being resisted could not confer
> any honor.
> But who is the man insensible to praises and preference from the lady
> of his
> heart? Any coward, any villain could buy a lady ...
>
> * * * * * * * * * *
>
> I do hope one or more of you will be able to solve this problem. In a
> world where
> 'scholars' are forever asking librarians like Denis to help them, it
> would be
> nice for a change to be able to assist such a courteous, learned and
> ever-helpful
> colleague.
>
> George
>
> George Ferzoco tel ++ 44 (0)116 252 2654
> Director of Studies for Italian fax ++ 44 (0)116 252 3633
> University of Leicester e-mail [log in to unmask]
> School of Modern Languages
> LEICESTER LE1 7RH UNITED KINGDOM
>
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