From Latin Pun to English Puzzle an Elizabethan Translation Problem

From Latin Pun to English Puzzle an Elizabethan Translation ProblemAuthor(s): Sarah LawsonSource: The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 27-34Published by: The Sixteenth Century JournalStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2539444 .

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Sixteenth Century Journal IX, 3 (1978)

From Latin Pun to English Puzzle An Elizabethan Translation Problem

Sarah Lawson London, United Kingdom

IN 1599 AN UNIDENTIFIED Englishman signed himself T.B. at the end of a little book translated from the Latin of a German author but bearing an Italian title. It is Historia de Donme Fatnose, or The Romaine lubile Which Happened in the Yeare 885 (Short Title Catalog 1070). The Donne of the title refers to Pope Joan,' who was said to have reigned in the ninth century. The essay begins with invective against the Jesuits, who are consistently called "Esauites." Much of the attack concerns their allegedly loose life: they pre- tend chastity; some among them are even women (and pregnant); young men, "wanton Ganyrnedes," are lured into the order by sexual means. These allega- tions are followed by a recounting of the scandalous tale of the female pope, who disguised herself as a man, won the triple crown, but then fell into vicious habits, and died in childbirth during a ceremonial procession through the streets of Rome.

After nine pages of reviling the Jesuits, T.B. gives us a wonderfully periodic introduction to Pope Joan.

About the yeare of our Sauiour Christ 855. Lotharius being Emperour, the sonne of Lewes called Pius, it happened to the holy sacred, and sacred holy Catholique and Apostolique See of Rome, to the Columnes pillers & standerd bearers, to the hinges & Cardinals (if so be there were any hinges to their doores or cardinals at that time) that their holy spirit, who in all their counsels is present euer, absent neuer, so as to erre, to be deceiued, to slide in any matter, they say of themselues they cannot, in some enormitie their spright serued them, deceiuing themselues, whether of ignorance or of purpose, or busied about other matters of more import, he suffered them in their creation and consecra- tion of a new high Priest, inwardly, outwardlye and most ridiculously to erre, and to be shamefully deceiued, in choosing without any discretion of sex a female Pope insted of a male. [ff. B2r and B2v]

That this episode should happen "to the Columnes pillers & standerd bearers, to the hinges & Cardinals" is a startling piece of whimsy more characteristic of Laurence Sterne than the Elizabethans.

' A most singular woman, in spite of the Italian pluraL The title is taken from that of a poem interpolated into the text. Only the part of the poem concerning Pope Joan is given.



28 The Sixteenth Century Journal

There are at least four other versions of this work, all earlier than T.B.'s translation. Two are in German, and two are in Latin. The conjectured author of the Latin versions is Hermann Witekind (1522-1603),2 a sometime rector of the University of Heidelberg, who first wrote lesvitas, Pontificvm Romanorvm Emissarios, Falso et Frvstra Negare Papam foannem VIII, Fvisse Mvlierem in 1588. This is the corresponding passage to the one quoted above.

Circa annum Christi 855. Imperatore Lothario, Ludouici Pij filio, accidit sacrosanctae catholicae & apostolicae Ecclesiae Romanae, columnis, proceribus & Cardinibus, vt Spiritus sanctus scilicet, quo in omnibus consilijs semper ipsis praesente errare & falli in nulla vnquam re se posse dictitant, enormiter hallucinatus, siue incogitantia, siue consulto, siue alibi occupatus, permiserit eos in creando nouo Pontifice inscite iuxta' ac ridicule errare & labi, eligentes sine sexuis discretione foeminam pro mare. [f. A4v]

Here we have the papal election happening to the "columnis, proceribus & Cardinibus." It is apparently Witekind who is whimsical and not the Eng- lishman. The strained play on Jesuits/Esauites now becomes more effective; in both German and Latin it is a better pun than in English.

In 1597 another Latin version appeared, the authorship also attributed to Hermann Witekind. In lesvitas, Singvlares S.S. Pontificiae Maiestatis Hoc Tempore Vindices, Falso et Frvstra Negare, Papam Ioannem VIII Fuisse Mvlierem3 we find:

Circa annum Christi 855, Imperatore Lothario, Ludouici Pij filio, accidit sacrosanctae catholicae & apostolicae Ecclesiae Romanae columnis proceribus & Cardinibus, (si quidem Cardinales illo seculo fuere) vt Spiritus sanctus scilicet, quo in omnibus consilijs semper ipsis praesente errare & falli in nulla vnquarn re se posse dictitant, enormiter hallucinatus, siue incogitantia, siue consulto, siue alibi occupatus permiserit eos in creando nouo Pontifice inscite iuxta' ac ridicule errare & labi, eligentes sine sexus discretione foeminam pro mare. [ff. Blv and B2r]

Here at least the wordplay on cardo, a hinge, and Cardinal, the church offi- cial, is made clear. Columnis can mean "most distinguished persons" as well as "columns," but procer, meaning "chief," is not applicable to architecture as cardo and columna are, and therefore serves to underscore the personal meanings of these words as opposed to their literal architectural meanings. Ecclesia lends itself to wordplay in any language, with its familiar double meaning of a

2 Although his name does not occur on the title page or colophon, the authorship is attributed to Hermann Wittekind by Michael Holzmann and Hanns Bohatta in Deutsches Anonymen-Lexikon (Weimar: Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen, 1902-1 928). All five versions are tentatively attributed to Hermann Witekind by the British Museum catalog.

3This title is also dated 1588 in Holzmann and Bohatta, but the title page gives the date as 1597. No place of publication is given in any but the English edition: "Imprinted at London for Edward White."



Latin Pun to English Puzzle 29

building and a body of worshippers. The common metaphor of a "pillar of the church" was in use at least as far back as Wycliffe. Witekind has simply carried it a step further by punning on other parts of the Ecclesia. The English version by T.B. becomes a little clearer. His "Columnes pillers and standerd bearers" looks like an attempt to capture some of this ambiguity. If Columnes is only an architectural feature, pillers is not, and standerd bearers has a certain "structural" flavor. For some reason T.B. has translated Ecclesia as See, thereby detracting from the possibilities of wordplay.

The two German editions of 1596 and 1598 differ somewhat.4 Only the edition of 1 598 is said (on the title page) to have been translated with the

consent of the author; the earlier German edition was translated from Latin by a certain Ursinus Eybenhold. The Eybenhold version of the passage runs:

Vmb das Jhar der Geburt 855. vnder Keyser Lothario/dess frommen vnnd Gottseligen Ludwigs Sohn/hat es sich begeben vnd zugetragen/bey der allerheiligsten/oder soll ich sagen heyllosesten/vnd allgemeinen Ap os tolischen R oem I sch en Kirchen/derselben Hauptsaeulen/vnnd fuernembsten Pflegern/dass der H. Geist scilicet, bey dessen Gegenwertig- keit sie sich rhuemen/dass sie nimmnermehr in keinerley weiss noch Weg/ weder fehlen noch jrren koennen/hab gewaltig gestrauchelt/er hab solchs auss vnbesunnenheit/oder mit fleiss oder anders Orths mit Geschaefft beladen/gethan/vnd also verhenget/dass sie vngereimbter vnnd laecher- licher weiss in erwehlung eines newen Bapsts gestrauchlet/vnd gejrret/in dem sey ohne vnderscheid dess Geschlechts ein Weib fuer ein Mann erkoset/vnnd erwehlet. [pp. 14-15]

Eybenhold, perhaps despairing of getting Cardinals and hinges into the same sentence, seems to have settled for another play on words altogether. Here the pun is on allerheiligsten, "all-holy," and heyllosesten, "most wicked." Eyben- hold also abandoned the pun on Jesuits/Esauites which runs through all four of the other versions.

The German version of 1598 reads:

Vmb das jar nach der geburt vnsers Herrn 855 vr der Keiser Lothario/ des Ludouici Pij sohn vnd Caroli magni enckel/hat sichs zugetragen/das die haubtseulen/die fuernembsten pfleger der allgemeinen Apostolischen Roemischen kirchen/die Cardinaele (so auch zU der zeit Cardinale gewesen) in erwehlung eines newen Pabstes/entweder durch jre selbs vnfuersichtigkeit/oder durch jres vermeinten Heiligen Geistes vbersehen vnd farlessigkeit/oder das er sonst anderswo zu schaffen gehabt/oder

4Confirmatio Gegen vnnd wider die Jesuiter/auss vielen alten Chronicis gezogen/ darinnen erweisen wirdt/dass sie als der Roemischen Baepst ausskundtschaffter mit ver- schwigener Warheit doerifen fuergeben/Johann diss Namens der Achte/sey kein Weibsbildt gewesen, trans. Ursinus Eybenhold (n.p., 1596), and Das die Jesuiter/des Paepstlichen Stuls zue dieser zeit fuernembste stuetzen/faelschlich fuergeben vnd vergeblich streiten Papst Johannes VIII sey kein weib gewesen (n.p., 1598). Neither of these titles appears in Holzmann and Bohatta.




auch das er fuersesslich durch die finger gesehen (dessen sie sich sonst rhuemen das er jnen in allen rathschlegen beistehe/sie in keinen ge- schaefften jrren lasse) dissmal groeblich vnd gar laecherlich ein weib fuer einen mann zum Papst gemacht haben. [f. Bijr]

In this redaction we have new information about Ludovicus Pius, but the ironic wordplay about the Roman Church is missing. The whole involved joke about cardo and Cardinal has been reduced to a mere mention of Cardinals and of there having been Cardinals at that remote time. There is no hint of the earlier play on words; indeed, in German there is not much point in yoking together Angel, "hinge," and Cardinal. It is as though the translator, reluctant to give up Witekind's joke, wants at least to mark the spot of the pun even if he cannot reproduce it.

A few examples from other parts of the texts will show the relationships of the five versions. T.B. has mistakenly translated Carthusianus as a personal noun and in the process has given us a clue to the text on which he based his translation. The sentence in the Latin versions of 1588 and 1597 reads: "Carthusianus Fasciculi temporum autor, vt prudentes iudicant, neutiquam contemnendus.. ." [ff. C2r and D3v, respectively]. T.B. has rendered it "Carthusiane the Author of the Fardell of times (as the wiser sorte doe iudge) not to bee contempned. . ." [f. D4r]. Both the German texts avoid this error. The earlier version, published in 1596, reads: "Ein Carthaeuser Moench/ welcher das fasciculum temporum, wie die Gelehrten woellen/soll gemacht haben . . ." [p. 46]. The 1598 German has "Ein Cartheuser moench/der das Fasciculus temporum gemacht. .." [f. Diijv]. This comparison shows that T.B. must have used one of the Latin texts for his version.6

One simple indication of T.B.'s source is in a confusion of dates. Both German editions and the Latin of 1588 have the date 1278 where T.B. and the Latin of 1597 have 1320 in this passage about Sigebertus Martinus Polonus.'

... postea Archiepiscopum Consentinum, ad annum Domini 1278 .... L1588; f. B2r]

Darnach Ertzbischoff zu Consent vmb das Jhar Christi 1278 .... [1596; p. 22]

'The German translator did not have far to look for puns. Plays on Angel/Engel and Slule/Seele come to mind, but he seems not to have chosen to use them. However, Engel and Seele are not specifically Roman Catholic matters whereas Cardinal is and columna might be.

6The author of Fasciculus Temporum was Wernerus Rolewinckius de Laer; it was printed in Cologne in 1474.

'I have been unable to learn anything about Sigebertus Martinus Polonus. I suspect that this may be a confusion of Sigebertus of Gembloux (ca. 1030-1 112) and Martinus Polonus (d. 1279), who became Archbishop of Gnesen (Gniezno, in Poland) in 1278. (Ulysse Chevalier, Repertoire des Sources Historiques du Moyen Age, Vol. II [Paris, Picard, 1907].) Both wrote about Pope Joan.




... nachmals Bischoff zU Consent gewesen/nach Christi geburt vmib das 1278 Jar. [1598; f. B4r]

... postea Archiepiscopum ConsentinuM, ad annumn Domlini 1320 . ..

[1597; f. B3v]

. . after Archbishop of Consentine, at the yeare of our Lord 1320 .... [1599; f. B4r]

T.B. seems to have mistranslated the adjectival form of Consentia.8 Again, he could have made this mistake only by translating from the Latin. On the basis of this and several similar congruencies of the English version of 1599 and the Latin of 1597, it seems safe to say that the second Latin version is the closest we have to the one T.B. used. (This comparison suggests that the German of 1598 was indebted either to the 1588 Latin version or the 1596 German edition, but further comparison of other points indicates that the primary source is more likely to have been the 1597 revised Latin version.) I have not been able to find any further versions of this essay published before 1599 although it is easily possible that one or more existed. Based on the information we have, the five versions seem to be related to each other in this way:

Latin (1588) revision Latin (1597)

German (1596; Eybenhold) 'German (1598) English (1599)

The very source of the title of Historia de Donne Famose does not exist in the 1588 Latin version and its 1596 German translation by Ursinus Eyben- hold. In them there is no break between the translated quotation of Boc- caccio's De Claris Mulieribus and the next matter, concerning Anthony, Arch- bishop of Florence. But in the Latin edition of 1597 and its German and English derivatives there is a lengthy passage in Italian headed "Historia de Donne Famose."

Extat idem Bocatij liber in linguam Germanicam versus a Medico ciulitatis Vlmae, & nuncupatus Ducissae Austriae, anno 1473. impressus in eadem vrbe typis antiquis & rudibus, itidem cum effigie parientis.

Antoninus archiepiscopus Florentinus in secunda parte Historialis sui.... [1588; f. B3v]

8Consentia was the modern Cosenza in Calabria.




Est ist dieses Bocatij Buch noch vorhanden/vnd von eim Doctor der Artzney zu Vlm in teutsche Spraach gebracht worden/der hats einer Hertzogin zu Oesterreich. praesentirt vnd zugeschrieben im Jar 1473. zu Vim getruckt/mnit alten vnnd sehr groben Buchstaben/mit sampt dem Gemahl vnd abcontrafactur der Gebererin. Anthonius Ertzbischoff von Florentz im andern Theil seiner Historien .... [1596; p. 32]

Extat idem Bocatij liber in linguam Germanicam versus 'a Medico ciuitatis Vlmae, & nuncupatus Ducissae Austriae, anno 1473. impressus in eadem vrbe typis antiquis & rudibus, itidem cum effigie parientis. Antoninus archiepiscopus Florentinus in secunda parte Historialis sui.... [1597; ff. C2v and C3v] 9

Dasselbig buch ist auch verdeutschet von eim Doctor der artzney zu Vlm vnd einer Hertzogin zu Osterreich zugeschrieben im jar 1473 vnd zu Vlm gedruckt mit alten vngestalten buchstaben samt dem gemael vnd gebilde der gebererin.

Mit diesen beiden maennern stimmen zu diese Welschen reime auss eim alten geschrieben buch genommen/dessen titul ist/Historia de donne famose -

Giouanni settimo, infra queste astute [lines identical to those of 1 597; no Latin translation]

Antoninus Ertzbischoff zu Florentz/im andern theil seines His- torialis.... [1598; f. C3r]

That same booke of Bocaces making, is turned into the Germaine tongue, of a Phisition in the Citty of Vimes, and Dedicated to the Dutchesse of Austria, in the yeare 1473. Imprinted in the same Cittie, with old Caracters & rude, and with all the picture of her bringing foorth her childe. To this doe agree certaine rimes consonant in Italian, out of an olde hande written booke taken, whose tytle, is, Historia de Donne Famose, and of famous Women.

Historia de Donne Famose Giouanni settimo, infra queste astute,

[the following lines are identical to 1 597 and 1598, and an English translation is appended].

Anthony Archbishop of Florence, in the second part of his his- tory .... [1 599; ff. C3v and C4r] .

'All of f. C3r is taken up with thirteen lines of Italian verse and a translation of it into Latin verse. It is headed "Hisce consonant rhythmi quidam italici, e libro vetvsto manuscripto excerpti; cui titulus est, Historia de donne famose. de claris mulieribus." The lines of Italian begin with "Giovanni settimo, infra queste astute," and continue with a resume of the pope's downfall.

Writers on the female pope sometimes disagreed about whether she had been called John VII or John VIII. The usual verdict was John VIII.




The fact that both Historia de Donne Famose and De Claris Mulieribus are mentioned together in the Latin of 1597 and the English of 1599 suggests that the English was translated from that version.

In the three later versions we find an extra sentence inserted at the end of a passage about Pope Joan and before a discussion of Petrarch.

Consimilia leguntur in Matthaei Palmerij continuatione Eusebij & Prosperi, quae incipit ab anno 449. desinens in anno 1471: Exemplar impressum Basileae 1549. [1588; f. Clv]

Dessgleichen wirt auch gelesen in Matthaei Palmerij ersetzung Eusebij vnnd Prosperi, welche anfacht von dem Jar 449. vnd sich endet im 1471. Jar/Exemplaria zu Basel 1549. getruckt findet man noch heutiges Tags. [1596; p. 43]

Consimilia leguntur in Matthaei Palmerij continuatione Eusebij & Prosperi, quae incipit ab anno 449, desinens in anno 1471: Exemplar impressum Basileae 1549. Nec differunt ab his ea quae de hac Papa dux Genuensis, Baptista Fulgosus, Palmerij coaeuus, annotauit in libro suo de memorabilibus dictis & factis, excuso Basileae anno 1541. [1597; f. D2v]

Nicht anders schreibet von jr Mattheus Palmarius/ein Florentiner/in der erstreckung der chronic Eusebij vnd Prosperi/die er anfaengt anno 449. vnd endet anno 1471. Ist zu Basel gedruckt 1549.

Eben dasselbige von disem weibe meldet Baptista Fulgosus/ein Hertzog zu Genua/im buch von gedenckwirdigen reden vnd thaten beruembter personen/gedruckt zu Basel anno 1541. [1598; ff. D2v and D3r]

The like things are red in Mathew Palmers continuation of Eusebius and Prosperus, which beginneth at the yeare 449. and endeth in the year 1471. The exemplarie was Printed at Basill 1549. neyther doe they differ from this, which of this Pope the Duke of Genua calde Baptista Fulgosus, of the same age that Palmer was of, noted in his Booke of Memorable sayings and deeds, set foorth at Basil in the yeare 1541. [1599; f. D3v]

I have labored this point somewhat because to appreciate the various attempts to translate the intricate introduction to Pope Joan it is necessary to know the relationships among the versions of the essay.

Because of the uncertain relationship between the German of 1597 and the two Latin versions, I suspect that there may have been at least one other intermediate version. Another uncertainty exists in the source of the English translation. In the passage introducing Pope Joan the English version contains both a double adjective - "holy sacred, and sacred holy" - and a paren- thetical comment - "(if so be there were any hinges to their doores or




cardinals at that time)." None of the other versions contains both these features. The 1588 Latin contains neither. The 1596 German version has a double adjective: "allerheiligsten/oder soll ich sagen heyllosesten." The 1597 Latin and 1598 German versions both have the parenthesis:

(si quidem Cardinales illo seculo fuere) (so auch zu der zeit Cardinale gewesen).

T.B.'s use of "holy sacred, and sacred holy" could be a fanciful invention of his own, or he might have been copying something. Since the only other double-adjective construction we have is not very close to "holy sacred, and sacred holy" it is possible that another version contained something closer to it. The double adjective in the otherwise unrelated German of 1596 and the English of 1599 is probably only a coincidence. A possible pun on holy/ wholly should not be overlooked. If it is a pun, it suggests that the double adjective was devised by the English translator and not translated from another language.

The English translation of Witekind's Iesvitas is, in this crucial paragraph about Pope Joan, barely comprehensible without a comparison with the original Latin. T.B., in trying to preserve the Latin wordplay, has constructed a surreal picture of the Roman Church, a structure consisting of architectural features, lords spiritual, and common hardware.



From Latin Pun to English Puzzle an Elizabethan Translation Problem

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