La versione occitana dello Pseudo Turpino

The Old Provençal version of the »Pseudo Turpino« (MS Add 17920 of the British Museum in London) is a unique testimony of the dissemination of the Caroline epic in the Romance context. On the basis of the first (incomplete) edition, the editor has embarked on a series of investigations serving the historical localization of the text and thanks to the perusal of a number of documents hitherto poorly understood has succeeded in establishing its genesis in the environs of the papal court at Avignon. Finally, the fortunate establishment of this particular state of affairs has led to the confirmation of hypotheses advanced at an earlier date but hitherto devoid of documentary evidence. Thus this new reading serves to delineate the origins of the text as a cross between mythological celebration and a propagation of the pilgrims' route to Santiago di Compostella.