Sunday, July 26, 2026

 

Valerian Maximus?

Galway Kinnell (1927-2014), The Poems of François Villon. New Edition. Translated with an Introduction and Notes (Hanover: University Press of New England, 1977), pp. 36-37 (Le Testament, lines 159-160) with note on p 227:
Valere pour vray le baudit
Qui fut nommé le Grant a Romme.

This is vouched for by Valerian
Who was called "The Great" in Rome.

Valerian: Valerian Maximus. However, the story isn't from his writing but from Jean de Salisbury's Policraticus. It also appears in Augustine's City of God and the Jouvencel of J. de Bueil.
For Valerian read Valerius. An unfortunate blemish in a fine translation.

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