BEGINNING OF THE RENAISSANCE? PHILOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR IN EARLY FRENCH PRE-UNIVERSITIES

The article will demonstrate how early French pre-universities in the Loire valley began to look at texts written by Roman writers such as Horace, Ovid and Virgil with aim of interpreting explaining text texts, without trying search for ‘hidden meanings’. focus on philological Ovid-commentary William Orléans (c1200), this being a clear example way thinking. This approach classical ‘pagan’ provoked strong reaction that finally resulted an allegorising interpretation often elimination from school curriculum. was situation which humanists protested against.