Between heresy and orthodoxy: Language play and textual interpretation in Medieval Latin writings on Nemo

Abstract

The article examines two cases of parodic reinterpretation of biblical texts through linguistic play on the negative pronoun nemo ‘nobody’, as reflected in medieval religious Latin literature. The author discusses two works from the second half of the 13th century: Historia de Nemine, attributed to a certain learned French monk named Radulph, and Reprobatio nefandi sermonis editi per Radulphum de quodam Nemine heretico et dampnato…, written by Stephen, a monk from the Monastery of Saint George in France. Despite the common technique, the works belong to different literary genres. Thus, in Radulph’s playful sermon, as a result of reinterpretation of the pronoun nemo as a proper name, the biblical and liturgical texts cited by the author unexpectedly acquire a new, often comical, meaning, since among the canonical characters of the Holy Scripture there appeared a certain Nemo — a mystical being equal in nature, status, and power to Jesus Christ and God the Father. Apart from Cardinal Caetani, Radulph also had other high-ranking patrons. However, the monk Stephen considers Radulph’s work a terrible heresy and a threat to the Christian faith. Stephen calls Radulph and his followers members of the “Neminian sect”, declares them heretics, and demands their public condemnation and burning at the stake. Stephen’s refutation of Radulph’s preaching is built, on the one hand, on criticism of Radulph’s playful reinterpretation of certain biblical passages, and, on the other hand, on his own interpretation of similar passages containing the pronoun nemo, taken from liturgical texts, the writings of the Church Fathers, and Classic authors. As a result, the image of Nemo acquires a sharply negative characterization in Stephen’s treatise. Thus, the language play and text interpretation underlying both treatises become not only a means of creating new, parodic theological discourse in medieval Latin literature, but also attribute to the texts — depending on their orientation — a different genre nature, allowing the latter to be classified either as a parody or as an encomium.