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From Legends and Satires From Mediæval Literature, edited by Martha Hale Shackford; Ginn and Company; Boston; 1913; pp. 93-98.
The King had a castle made, after His own device, so that it would never dread the assault of any enemies. He set it on a white rock, thick and high, with good ditches all about, deep and wide. Men can never undermine this castle by any kind of craft, nor can any engine do it harm. The castle is ever full of love and grace for any one who has need of succor. Four towers it has, with fair battlements, and three courts. Heart cannot think nor can tongue tell all the bounty and the beauty of this castle. Seven barbicans are set so securely that no manner of shooting from without can cause harm. The castle is painted on the outside in three colors: a red burning color is above, towards the fair towers; the color of the middle portion is blue softer than indigo; and near the ground is green that never changes hue.
These colors cast such light both far and near that when men behold them it greatly comforts their sight. The castle, within, is ever blanched as white as any driven snow. Four fair streams flow out of a well in the middle of the highest tower and fill the ditches. So fair and so good is the water, that he who drinks of it has great bliss. A throne of ivory there was set in this tower, and seven steps lead upward, with great worship and honour. Never was a throne half so fair seen in this world; nor did prince or queen ever have so beautiful a one. It was made subtilely, 96 by wondrous design, and a rainbow steadfastly arched above it. The King’s Son made it for His own seat; never was there one so fair, nor shall there ever be.
This castle of solace and of succor is the blessed body of her who bore our Saviour, and is a refuge for all mankind. Whosoever flees thither shall find succor. The rock, white and fair and stable, is her heart in all its holiness, that made here serve God without fear, in sovereign purity of meekness and maidenhood. The green color, by the ground, that will last so well, is the truth of our lady, aye steadfast. The central color in the midst of this castle wall is enduring hope to attain the grace that saves mankind. The red color above, burning to the sight, is the burning love of God and man, that gives great light. No wonder if this castle is wholly white within, for the heart of that maiden was never defiled with sin. The four towers, great and strong, so fair to see, were ghostly strength and soberness, righteousness and skill.2 These four virtues drive out all manner of wickedness, and keep fast, within, all goodness.
The courts, one within another, in three stages, are clean maidenhood, motherhood, and true wifehood. There never was a woman except Saint Mary with all these three, but whosoever would be saved from sin, must have one of these. The seven barbicans we call the seven fair virtues, that suffered no vice to be in our Lady. Great meekness in her heart forever vanquished pride; envy could not abide her great charity; her devout abstinence destroyed all gluttony, and her clean maidenhood forbade lechery; wicked covetousness might never dwell in her 97 heart, because wilful poverty guarded that castle; patience was always watching, so that the sin of wrath could never have resting place. There was in her heart so much spiritual comfort that the sin of sloth could never dwell therein. The fair well of the castle, that ever fills the ditches, is grace in God’s mother, ever dear to sinful man. Thou who hast need of grace, go to the well-spring; whosoever has her help will never go to hell. Make the ditches of meekness and of good will, and the four streams of grace shall soon fill thee: one stream evermore shall wash thee clean of sin, another shall make thee steadfast against temptation, the third shall bear thee to bliss that is for aye. This well is evermore the spring of mercy and of pity. The throne of ivory is the soul of our sweet Lady; the seven steps leading thereto are the seven works of mercy; the rainbow of three colors bending over it is the might of the holy Trinity, covering her. No wonder if this castle is fair to see, since God, the sun of righteousness, would alight therein. He came through the closed gate just as the bright sunbeam comes and goes through the glass. All that man has need of is in this castle; he who has its help has happiness enough.
[98]2 The four cardinal virtues: Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, and Prudence.
The popularity of allegory, in Middle Ages, as a means of conveying religious and moral truth, led to the production of many very complex narratives and sermons. An acquaintance with “Piers Plowman” will reveal the character of these works where the reader is soon lost in the labyrinth of abstract names. “The Romance of the Rose,” translated by F. S. Ellis (Temple Classics, 3 vols., E.P. Dutton & Company, New York), is the most important example of secular allegory in the Middle Ages. “The Order of Chivalry,” a poem that defines the symbolism of the knightly habit, will be found in Miss Butler’s “Tales from the Old French,” Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1910, and also (as “Sir Hugh of Tabarie”) in E. Mason’s “Aucassin and Nicolette and Other Mediæval Romances” (Everyman’s Library, E. P. Dutton & Company, New York, 1909).
For discussion of the origin and development of mediæval allegory, the reader should consult
NEILSON, W. A. Origins and Sources of the Court of Love. See “Allegory” in the index. Ginn and Company, Boston, 1899.
LANGLOIS, E. Origines et sources du Roman de la Rose, chap. iv. Paris, 1890.
OWEN, D. Piers Plowman, A Comparison with French Allegories, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1912.
This extract from a long and very complex poem illustrates significant aspects of mediæval religious allegory. The poem itself was written in French by Robert Grossteste, Bishop of Lincoln, (who died in 1253), and was translated into English several times because of its great popularity. Beginning with an account of the Creation and of the Fall of Man, the poet went on to tell a parable of a Being who had one Son, 169 His equal in all ways, four daughters (named Mercy, Truth, Right, and Peace), and a thrall (named Adam), who was in prison. Mercy and Peace pleaded for the thrall’s release, but Truth and Right objected, so the thrall was punished. Mercy and Peace fled from the land, and the world (except Noah and his family) was drowned. Peace once more appealed for the ransom of the thrall, and the King’s Son, hearing the dispute of the four sisters, said He would put on the garments of the thrall and force Peace and Right to be reconciled, and the world would be saved. So Christ entered into the Castle of Love, and was born on earth for the redemption of mankind. An account of the life and passion and resurrection of Christ is given, and the poem concludes with a prayer that we may all be led by Him to everlasting bliss.
The best edition of the English version is
HORSTMANN, C. “The Minor Poems of the Vernon Manuscript,” Part I, Early English Text Society, No. 98. This edition contains a version made in the latter part of the thirteenth century, and also a version by a monk of Sawley, in Yorkshire. The present extract is taken from the Sawley monk’s translation (11. 361-452) because that version gives the allegory in more coherent and careful detail than do the other versions, which fail to explain some of the symbolism.