Welcome to Litsy!

(Illustration is from a 1405 illuminated manuscript. Link in comments.)

So I read this because Chaucer translated it (from Middle French to Middle English). There are a number of beautiful medieval manuscripts still around. This playful story about a lovesick youth trying to get back to his beloved rose in the garden, and all its graphic innuendos and playful philosophy, was a big hit in its day. Some dry spells, but I enjoyed it.

The painful side consequences of downtown jury duty. (Campesina Cafe, downtown Houston)

Here's a photo of Poitiers Castle's Great Hall, a place Guillaume de Lorris probably knew, as the protégé of Alphonse de Poitiers. Unfortunately, there's hardly any garden left...

@Graywacke

Getting going with some 13th-century literature, and the philosophies of love. Chaucer translated this into (Middle) English. It also influenced Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and everyone else in Europe‘s intellectual creative zeitgeist of this era. @Dilara

I received my copy of Le roman de la rose yesterday. Here it is next to a (small) apple, to give an idea of the book's thickness. It's not very obvious on the photo, but the background of the miniature reproduced on the cover is exactly the same as the decoration on the mug I bought at the Palais des papes in Avignon!

@Graywacke