The beauty of Absolom Manipulation of detail and construction of meaning in two late-medieval mises en prose

The mises en prose of the later Middle Ages are at last being explored for what they tell us about the ideological and aesthetic preoccupations of prosateur and patron. To concentrate, however, as has been usual, only on larger transformations can mislead. The study of the detail of mise en prose – at the level of lexis and syntax – reveals conscious and careful textual manœuvres designed to fit the new version to the preconceptions or the preferences of a court. This essay addresses two Burgundian mises en prose.