From Vérard’s printed book to the manuscript of Jean Bouchet’s Regnars traversant : reinterpreting animal satire
Résumé
In 1530, Jean Bouchet rewrote his Regnars traversant making a series of careful revisions to the text which was first published by Vérard in 1504 under the name of Sebastian Brant. These consisted of long passages in which « ravishing wolves » were attributed similar roles as those played by « duplicitous foxes » in the original work. Specifically, Bouchet introduced the character of the wolf to portray « bad city mayors » associated with the widely condemned vice of greed, in addition to the fox through which he targeted monks, laywers, and noblemen. This paper examines the radical transformation of the animal satire as a means by which Bouchet redefined the role of the writer as a militant figure who took a stand against cupidity as a driving force in society. Far from being an incidental alteration, this radical transformation of the animal satire forms the basis of his revisions.