22—
Citizens and Noncitizens (Book VII)

The Choice of the Program

By virtue of their size, format, and architectural enframement the illustrations for Book VII (Figs. 74 and 75) rank with the frontispieces (Figs. 46–49) as the most important in the cycle. The program itself again shows Oresme's efforts to present visually arresting and contemporary paradigms of central Aristotelian concepts. In Book VII of the Politics Aristotle returns to the definition of the ideal state and its citizens, discussed previously in Book III. According to Ernest Barker, a correct ordering of the Politics would place Book VII immediately after Book III.^[1] Such an arrangement would continue the discussion of citizenship within the context of the classification of the six forms of government. As noted above, in Books IV, V, and VI Aristotle is concerned with the morphology, pathology, and organization of actual states. Books VII and VIII then return to "the theme of political ideals" and outline "an ideal state."^[2] Again the problem of the overlapping and discontinuous subject matter of the Politics presents problems to the person responsible for choosing from each book a suitable and visually representable theme.^[3] Among the topics discussed by Aristotle in Book VII, the important questions of the size, population, and planning of the ideal state may have appeared too difficult to depict visually. The representation of another theme, the system of educating future citizens of the polis, is reserved for Book VIII. The remaining subjects of Book VII, pictured in Figures 74 and 75, are the definition and discussion in Chapters 15 to 20 of the groups who are and who are not citizens of the ideal state.

Oresme had an even more difficult task than usual in translating into contemporary terms Aristotle's concept of citizenship founded on the experience of the polis, the Greek city-state. In his redefinition of the term as cité , Oresme had to adapt it to the very different form of the emerging nation-state and its institutions. He also had to consider the church as another form of cité both in itself and in relationship to secular forms of government. Not surprisingly, Book VII contains some of Oresme's longest commentaries on crucial issues.^[4] Although Figures 74 and 75 can communicate only a small part of Oresme's views, the format and verbal underpinnings of the illustrations signal to the reader the importance of the contents of Book VII.

[Full Size]

Figure 74
Above, from left : Genz d'armes, Genz de conseil, Gent sacerdotal;  below, from left:  Cultiveurs
de terres, Genz de mestier, Marcheans. Les politiques d'Aristote,  MS  B.

[Full Size]

Figure 75
Top, from left : Genz d'armes, Genz de conseil;  center, from left : Gent sacerdotal, Cultiveurs
de terres; bottom, from left : Genz de mestier, Marcheans. Les politiques d'Aristote,  MS  D.

The Formats of the Illustrations

The model for Figure 74 is the illustration of Book IV (Fig. 64). A similar two-register structure divided laterally into three compartments is a common feature, as is the use of an architectural enframement composed of gold arches that end in bosses and are decorated with corner lozenges. The increased dimensions of Figure 74 reduce the normal size of the initial of the introductory paragraph, which is not rubricated. A new feature of Figure 74, the rubricated inscriptions above the upper frame and in the lower margin, will be discussed shortly.

A rubricated inscription also appears above the enframement of Figure 75. The reformatting and re-editing of D bring about a change in the structure of this illustration, which now occupies the entire folio. The model for Figure 75, executed by the Master of the Coronation Book of Charles V, probably after consultation with Oresme and Raoulet d'Orléans, is the format of the full-page bifolio frontispiece of the Politiques in MS D (Figs. 48 and 49). The same type of architectural enframement and border decoration is repeated in Figure 75. Even more significant, instead of the two zones of Figure 74, Figure 75 adopts the three-register format of Figures 48 and 49. Most unusually, the summary paragraph appears before Figure 75; it is the only verbal component of the second column of folio 262v, the folio preceding Figure 75.

What motives may have influenced the choice of models for Figures 74 and 75? First, a reasonable inference is the availability to each miniaturist of an actual model book. Then, the miniatures' reference to the similar layout and format of an earlier illustration may have been intended to promote the reader's association of the contents of Book VII with the earlier ones. Thus in the case of Figure 74, Book VII relates to Book IV; Figure 75, to Book I. Since the bifolio frontispiece of D (Figs. 48 and 49) contains the only other full-page and three-register illustrations of the cycle, it appears that Figure 75 gains in status and importance over Figure 74. Yet the change in format brings about certain problems in the reading of Figure 75 apparently unforeseen by the translator and scribe.

External and Internal Inscriptions

The rubricated sentences of the upper and lower margins of Figure 74 indicate that the scribe had to insert unplanned explanations as supplements to the internal inscriptions after the miniature was completed. The uneven spacing of the rubricated portions in the upper border is due to the prior placement of the ivy-leaf rinceaux . These verbal reinforcements represent a new level of graphic intervention and authority in the structure of text-image relationships within the manuscript. Oresme may have responded to his own judgment, or to a wider criticism, that the usual system of graphic and visual interface did not communicate essential points. Furthermore, the introductory paragraph, an important link between text and image, does not mention the specific subject of the illustration: "Ci com-

mence le .vii.^e de politiques ouquel est determiné comment la policie qui est tres bonne simplement doit estre instituee et contient .xxxix. chapitres" (Here begins the seventh book of the Politics in which [it] is determined how the form of government that is simply very good must be instituted; [the book] contains thirtynine chapters).^[5]

To make clear the significance of the groups represented in the upper register of Figure 74, the following phrase appears on the same folio: ".iii. estaz qui sont partie de cité ou citoiens" (three estates who are part of the city, or citizens). The counterpart to this explanation is placed in the bas-de-page: ".iii. manieres de gens qui ne sont pas citoiens ne partie de cité" (three types of people who are not citizens or part of the city). Unlike the location of these rubrics directly above the top register, the second insertion is separated from the lower register by seven lines of text comprising the introductory paragraph and the headings of the first three chapters. This distance, which obscures the relationship of the rubricated phrase to the part of the image specified, again reveals the unplanned nature of the graphic intervention.

Another indication of problems concerning the verbal explanations of the concepts represented in Figure 74 appears in the disparities between the inscriptions of the upper and lower register. Since no space was reserved in the upper zone for identifying inscriptions, the words are written in large black letters over the gold arcades. Their size and irregular placement constitute a second graphic intrusion that contrasts with the neat rectangular areas set aside above the arches at the top of the lower register. The brown ink and symmetrical placement of the lower three inscriptions show that the illustration was planned to incorporate them.

The external inscriptions of Figure 75 are even more dramatic than those of Figure 74. For one thing, the full-page format of the former totally divorces it from the text, so that only internal inscriptions identify the six groups. Furthermore, instead of the two-part organization of Figure 74 in which three groups are placed on each level, in Figure 75 the division of the illustration into three registers with two groups of figures on each level alters the basic relationships among them. As the rubrics explain, in Figure 74 citizens appear on top, noncitizens below; yet this simple order no longer exists in Figure 75. The meaning of these terms will be discussed shortly.

In Figure 75, following Oresme's instructions, the scribe Raoulet d'Orléans comes to the rescue. In a two-line rubricated message placed above the architectural setting, he explains:

.vi. manieres de gens dont les .iii. sont parties de cité ou citoiens et les autres .iii. ne sont pas citoiens ne partie de cité. Et pour cognoistre eulz qui ne sont pas citoiens ne partie de cité je les ay escripz de vermeillon.

(Six types of people of which three are parts of the city, or citizens, and the other three are not citizens nor part of the city. And to recognize those who are not citizens or part of the city, I have written them in red.)^[6]

Indeed, the internal inscriptions that identify the second group of three divided between the second and third registers are written in red: cultiveurs de terres (farmers), genz de mestier (craftsmen), and marcheans (merchants).

Raoulet d'Orléans and Oresme collaborated on another extratextual device to explain the subject matter of the revised frontispiece. For the only time in the cycle, an introductory paragraph is inserted before, rather than after, the illustration. In the second column of folio 262v, which is left blank after the completion of Book VI, the following revised paragraph appears:

Ci apres commence le vii^e –viii^e de politiques dont cy est l'ystoire en laquelle a .vi. manieres d'estaz de genz, dont les .iii. sont partie de cité ou citoiens, c'est assavoir genz d'armes, genz de conseil et gent sacerdotal; et les autres .iii. manieres de genz ne sont pas citoiens ne partie de cité, c'est assavoir cultiveurs de terres, gens de mestier et marcheanz. Et determine Aristote en ceste .vii.^e livre comment la policie qui est tres bonne simplement doit estree instituee. Et contient .xxxix. chapitres.

(Hereafter begins the seventh to eighth [book] of the Politics , of which this is the illustration [story], in which there are six conditions or estates of people, of which three are part of the city or citizens, to wit, men-at-arms, counsellors, and clerics. And the other three types of people are neither citizens nor part of the city. That is to say, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. And Aristotle determines in this seventh book how the form of government that is simply very good should be instituted. And [it] contains thirty-nine chapters.)^[7]

As the first element of the introductory paragraph, a very important feature of this summary is the exceptional reference to the ystoire . The detailed explanation of the contents apparently compensates both for the separation of the illustration from the text and for the conflation in the second register of citizens and noncitizens. Oresme must have considered it more important to discuss the illustration before the text, which, as in B , is summarized briefly after the description of the ystoire . Another extraordinary element of this summary paragraph is that to catch the reader's attention Raoulet underlines every word in red. Although Oresme composed the paragraph, Raoulet may well have suggested its placement and underlining. In short, the rubricated information on top of Figure 75 and the summary paragraph that precedes it constitute the improvised extratextual information necessary to explain the confusing format of the altered three-register illustration.

Definitions of Terms

What, then, are the key terms highlighted in the rubricated phrases? As mentioned above, in terms of contemporary political structures and institutions, the words cité and citoiens need both careful generic and specific definition. Oresme defines

the different meanings of cité in a lengthy commentary in Chapter 3 of Book III. Among the different meanings of the term acknowledged by Oresme as legitimate is the following:

Item, cité est dicte plus proprement des hommes, et pour ce, il fu dit ou premier chapitre que cité est une multitude de citoiens par soy souffisante. Et tele cité est dicte une, non pas pour le lieu ne pour les gens, mes pour limite de la policie, sicomme il appert en ce chapitre.

(Item, "city" is applied more properly to people, and for this reason: it was said in the first chapter that a city is a multitude of citizens sufficient unto itself. And a given city is said to be one, not according to the place, nor of the people, but according to its jurisdictional limits, as is stated in this chapter.)^[8]

In the same commentary, Oresme goes on to a further definition of cité :

Apres je di que selon la propre significacion dessus mise, cité peut estre dicte d'une multitude de citoiens habitans en un lieu et en une cité, a prendre cité selon la pre miere significacion. Et selon ce dit l'en que Paris est une cité, Rouen est une autre cité, etc.

(Afterwards I say according to the proper meaning set out above, "city" can be used of a multitude of citizens living in one place and in one city, taking "city" according to the first meaning. And accordingly, one speaks of Paris as a city, Rouen another city, etc.)^[9]

From this point Oresme gets to a vital expansion of the term:

Item, chescune multitude de citoiens qui se gouverne par une policie et par uns princes ou par un prince peut estre appellee cité; car policie est la forme de la cité et qui la fait une, comme dit est. Et en ceste maniere, tout un royalme ou un pais est une grande cité, qui contient pluseurs cités partiales.

(Item, each multitude of citizens that is administered as a unit by one or more rul ers can be called a city, for the form of government is the form of the city and what makes it a unit, as it is stated. And in this manner, a whole kingdom or a country is one large city, comprising several individual cities.)^[10]

As an example of cité Oresme thus includes the emerging nation-state, of which the kingdom of France is an example. In transferring the concept of the polis to the nation-state, in Book I Oresme states that the "natural and mutual affinity of

the French makes them seem like members of one lineage." Oresme mentions in glosses on Book VII as a distinctive French tradition the legend of the fleur-de-lis, as well as the unifying factor of a common language.^[11] In the spirit of the translatio studii Oresme also speaks in Book VII of France as the inheritor of the extensive powers and heritage of the Persian, Greek, and Roman empires: "Item, aucune foiz tele majesté fu en Perse et puis en Grece et puis a Rome et apres en France" (Item, at one time such majesty was in Persia, and then in Greece, and then in Rome, and later in France).^[12] Oresme refers to specific French royal political and administrative institutions, including, in Book VII, "the assizes and exchequer."^[13]

Thus, while Oresme adheres faithfully to the Latin translations of the Politics in the text, his glosses and commentaries on Books III and VII extend the definitions of Aristotle's city-state to include larger, unified political entities: ancient imperial Rome, its medieval descendant, the Holy Roman Empire, and the institutional church. In his long commentary on the proper size of a cité in Chapter 10 of Book VII, Oresme discusses further the criteria for assessing the types of regimes that possess the qualities that make them governable.^[14] In this context, Oresme again invokes the analogy of the body politic to limit the size of a kingdom. The reader can also conveniently locate Oresme's ideas on cité in the index of noteworthy subjects, where nineteen separate entries bring together crucial aspects of the term. Nine of these references derive from Book VII.^[15] Oresme also voices his views about competing medieval institutions. The translator's 150 references to the church in his glosses show that he accepts the inclusion by earlier commentators on the Politics of the institutionalized church as a form of Aristotle's city-state.^[16] In Book VII particularly Oresme explicates several issues of special interest to Charles V. Among these he deals at length with the question of the power and jurisdiction of the papacy vis-à-vis royal sovereignty.^[17] All in all, as a champion of moderate Gallicanism, Oresme limits papal initiative, advocates church councils as an instrument of reform, and promotes the independence of the French kings in temporal matters.^[18]

Like cité , the word citoien is not a neologism but has a technical meaning in the Politiques different from medieval usage of the term as a resident or inhabitant of a town.^[19] Oresme supplies a definition of citoien in both the glossary of difficult words and the index of noteworthy subjects. In the former he states:

Citoien est celui qui a puissance de communiquer en aucun temps en princey consil iatif ou judicatif; ce est a dire qui peut aucune foiz avoir vois et aucune auctorité es conseulz ou es jugemens de la cité ou de partie de elle.

(A citizen is he who has power to share at some time in deliberative [consiliatif ] or judicial government; that is, one who can sometimes have a voice and some authority in the councils or courts of the "city" [state], or component thereof.)^[20]

The last reference to citoien in the index leads directly to the rubricated phrase on the upper margin of Figure 74: "Eu ou .xix.^e chapitre appert quelz sunt citoiens et quelz non, et que en policie tres bonne .iii. estas sunt citoiens, ce est assavoir gens d'armes et gens de conseil et gent sacerdotal" (And the nineteenth chapter relates who are and who are not citizens, and that in a very good form of government three estates are citizens, to wit, men-at-arms, counsellors, and clerics).^[21] In left-to-right order the reader could then make the connection with the three groups of the upper register, where the superimposed inscriptions confirm their identity. Of these the first and third find a place in the index, while Oresme extensively defines the adjective sacerdotal in the glossary.^[22] From these references Chapter 16 of Book VII emerges as a source that immediately explains the context for the citizenship of these three groups. Aristotle states that to ensure the work of an ideal state, six types of services have to be provided. These consist of agriculture, arts and crafts, defense, land ownership, public worship, and political deliberation and civil jurisdiction.^[23] Although certain functions necessary to the life of a state are fulfilled by all six groups, only three of these are entitled to citizenship. In this scheme, the citizens are those groups entrusted with defense, political deliberation, and public worship. The gens d'armes or warriors fight for the state; the gens de conseil perform judicial or deliberative functions; and the gent sacerdotal take care of religious worship.^[24] These groups contribute to attaining the best way of life for the state; the requisites for such a contribution are knowledge, education, and leisure for living the good life according to the practice of moral virtue.

The other three estas are also necessary to promote the life of the ideal state but are not entitled to citizenship. Aristotle insists that those engaged in the other three essential services—agriculture, arts and crafts, and trade—do not have the leisure or knowledge to contribute to "the best way of life." These three groups, cultiveurs de terres, genz de mestier , and marcheans are pictured in the lower register of Figure 74 and in the right half of the second and in the lowest zone of Figure 75. Eight out of fourteen references to cultiveurs de terres in the index of noteworthy subjects cite locations in Chapters 17 to 22 of Book VII. In all but one entry Oresme gives reasons why, despite the vital need this group fulfills in providing food for the state, it is excluded from citizenship.^[25] In Chapter 17 the reader could find a familiar argument that this group does not have the time necessary to participate in political activities.^[26]

The same holds true of the other two noncitizen groups. Of the five references to gent de mestier in the index of noteworthy subjects, three derive from Chapters 17 and 19 of Book VII. In a gloss on Chapter 17 Oresme explains that craftsmen and artisans lack both the leisure to participate in political activity and the necessary moral virtue.^[27] Moreover, the gent de mestier are also excluded from service as judges and from holding priestly office.^[28] The third group of noncitizens, the marcheans , are mentioned neither in the glossary nor in the index of noteworthy subjects. The reasons for their exclusion from citizenship are similar to those offered for the cultiveurs de terres and gent de mestier .^[29] In short, Figures 74 and 75 provide ample textual links for defining the generic terms cité and citoien as well as their specific parts, functions, and opposites.

Visual Structures

While the formats of Figures 74 and 75 have already been discussed, other features of their visual structures deserve comment. As a whole, the illustrations offer paradigms or models of the body politic arranged in a hierarchical sequence. Following established conventions, the top zone of Figure 74 corresponds to high or positive values; the lower register, to contrasting negative spiritual, social, and political ones. When, as in Figure 75, a middle zone is added, the basic antithesis embedded in the two-register structure threatens the paradigmatic definition of the body politic.

The settings of both Figures 74 and 75 offer simplified memory structures in which the reader could place in an ordered sequence concepts emphasized in the text. As noted above, however, extratextual inscriptions reinforce or correct textual sequence and order. In both miniatures architectural elements repeated and combined within an internal enframement imply containment within the embracing and limited physical space signifying the cité . The repeated gold arcades of the six compartments of Figure 74 emphasize the common space inhabited by the six groups.^[30] But the internal frames that divide each compartment create an impression of a separate existence for each group. Like the poor, middle class, and rich in the illustrations of Book IV (Figs. 64 and 65), the six groups of Figure 74 are defined in terms of social and economic status. But the setting repeated from the Book IV programs is not entirely appropriate for that of Book VII. The earlier pairs foster a parallelism among groups placed in the same left-to-right order in the upper and lower registers that is not applicable to those in Figures 74 and 75. Moreover, the miniatures of Book IV confer an honorific value to the central compartment as an embodiment of the mean that in Figures 74 and 75 is not appropriate for the occupants of this location. Finally, the simplified setting of Figure 74 does not in itself communicate the notion of the ideal state. In contrast, the expanded architectural features of Figure 75 that recall a similar element of the frontispieces (Figs. 46–49) convey the model aspect of the visual paradigm. Most prominent are the gold pinnacles of the upper frame capping the arcades repeated in each register.

Unlike the groups in Figure 74, those in Figure 75 are no longer separated by internal frames. The effect of this change is to emphasize the unity, rather than the division, among groups. To tie these groups together the Master of the Coronation Book inserts a linking element in the center of each register. In the top zone a sword bridges the gap between the gent d'armes and the gent de conseil ; in the middle one a crozier fulfills a similar function; and in the bottom register, the liripipe , or dangling hood, of a merchant and a stony ridge tie that group to the gent de mestier . A further linking device is the glance that at least one member of the group on the left casts toward the right-hand group.

In Figure 74 the Master of Jean de Sy varies the positions of each of his six groups. All occupy a narrow, stagelike ground plane against which they are silhouetted in contrasting red and blue tones that alternate with rose, gray, and green

ones. The scale of the figures is kept proportionate to the height of the compartment. Especially in the lower register they gain individuality because of the space left between them and the way they interact. In the upper register two frontal groups on left and right flank the central gent de conseil , subdivided into three standing and three sitting figures who face each other. Below, the scheme is inverted: the central group of the gent de mestier stands in frontal positions, while the groups on either side turn toward each other. By these devices, as well as varied hand gestures that convey communication among group members, the Master of Jean de Sy avoids a strictly diagrammatic lineup.

As in Figure 74, the three groups of citizens in Figure 75 tend to be greater in number than the noncitizens. In fact, the greater dimensions of the full-page illustration permit the inclusion of more figures per group. On all three levels the proportion of figures to space make them dominate the picture field. The heavy modeling of their sharply outlined grisaille figures accentuates their corporeality. Placed on a narrow green ground plane, they stand out against the alternating red-blue-red backgrounds. Accents of gold pick out identifying attributes of the citizen groups. The composition of Figure 75 also clearly contrasts the tightly knit groups of the three citizen classes and the more loosely strung out noncitizens. The former cluster together to perform their essential political functions. Although the latter also communicate with one another, only their work defines their function. Despite his dry style, the Master of the Coronation Book conveys the notion of the six classes as united groups rather than as separate individuals.

Costumes and Attributes

As in previous illustrations, costumes and attributes differentiate one class from another and relate the institutions discussed by Aristotle to those of contemporary society. A precedent for such a representation occurs in a miniature of the Morgan Avis au roys (Fig. 76) illustrating four classes necessary for the support of a kingdom. From left to right are depicted an agricultural worker, a craftsman roofing a house, and the learned professions represented by two men conversing and a man-at-arms. No distinction is made, however, about their respective political status.

In Figures 74 and 75 clear articulation of the citizen groups is particularly important for both generic and specific visual definitions. In this process certain important revisions occur between Figures 74 and 75. For example, the gent d'armes in Figure 74 wear civilian, knee-length, belted jackets and carry swords and spears. Their weapons, upright postures, and hand gestures identify their function as potential defenders of the cité : in modern terms, reservists rather than professional soldiers. In Figure 75, however, the gent d'armes make up an organized fighting force. Their armor, helmets, and weapons (including a crossbow) emphasize that they are a professional army. The gent de conseil of Figure 74 also differ from the equivalent group in Figure 75. The former comprises three standing figures, who may be exercising a deliberative function. The one on the right wears the distinctive domed hat associated with the rich class in the illustrations of Book

[Full Size]

Figure 76
The Classes Necessary to the Realm. Avis au roys.

IV (Figs. 64 and 65). The other three figures are seated on a bench in earnest discussion. Previous illustrations, particularly the frontispieces (Figs. 46–49), suggest that the bench signifies a judicial or legal function. Figure 75 makes these roles more explicit. Two figures at the left stand next to a larger group seated on a bench. The two ermine strips on the mantle of the first standing figure identify him as a member of the royal family.^[31] His deliberation with the figure facing him abuts the legal or judicial activities of the larger group. The connection between the two groups reveals the dual function of this class. The gent sacerdotal also undergo a change in identity. In Figure 74, the tonsures and brown robes of the figures at the extreme left and right indicate members of monastic orders. Only the cleric wearing the black rectangular headdress is distinguished in rank from the rest. In contrast, high ecclesiastical rank is emphasized in Figure 75, where two full-length bishops predominate and a third is partially visible among the background figures.

Fewer changes between Figures 74 and 75 take place among the noncitizen groups. Two of them are identical to the poor class of Book IV (Figs. 64 and 65). With the addition of one figure and a slight variation of implements, the povres of Bonne policie reappear as the cultiveurs de terres of Book VII in the upper register of Figure 74 and the central zone of Figure 75. Similarly, the three povres of Mau-

vaise policie in Figures 64 and 65 materialize as the genz de mestier in Figures 74 and 75. The former adds one figure; the latter, two. Except for the blacksmith, in both series this class is associated with the building trades. Particularly striking is the change in the appearance of the genz de mestier . Whereas the three figures in Figure 74 project an innocent appearance as they casually display the tools of their trade, their rigidly lined-up counterparts in Figure 75 seem to wield their firmly gripped implements as weapons. Rather than the rich in the Book IV illustrations, the marcheans of Book VII bear some resemblance to the pair represented in Book VIII of the Ethiques (Fig. 38). In both Figures 74 and 75, however, two pairs of merchants are depicted in separate exchanges. The man on the right of the first pair pays for a garment he purchases, while the pair in Figure 74 shake hands on a transaction involving two pigs. Their counterparts in Figure 75, however, add a third member, and the animals involved in the exchange are two sheep. The alterations made in Figure 75 pointedly refer to transactions in the wool trade.

The Appeal to Historical Experience

The updated costumes and attributes of the figures in the illustrations of Book VII raise the question of how closely Oresme wished to tie Aristotle's definitions of cité and citoien to the political life and institutions of contemporary France. As Susan Babbitt convincingly explains, in Book VII Oresme equates Aristotle's identification of the polis and the good life with the kingdom of France and the city of Paris.^[32] As noted above, Oresme states that France has a distinctive heritage, language, and institutions that make it an extended form of the polis.

How then do Figures 74 and 75 reflect Oresme's views on certain of these issues as explained in his glosses? The first question to ask is whether the cité and citoiens pictured in them contain deliberate references to contemporary France. The architectural setting certainly defines an ideal political order, a communitas perfecta . Furthermore, all six classes are represented in the population and social organization of Oresme's time. Yet the identification is complicated by readers' associating the illustrations of Book VII with the medieval theory of organizing the perfect society into three orders or estates. Georges Duby cites a classic formulation of this organization:

Triple then is the house of God which is thought to be one: on Earth, some pray [orant ], others fight [pugnant ], still others work [laborant ]; which three are joined together and may not be torn asunder; so than on the function [officium ] of each the works [opera ] of the others rest, each in turn assisting all.^[33]

Several elements in Figures 74 and 75 suggest a conflation of Aristotle's six classes with the three-orders scheme. First, the external inscriptions use the word estas , or estates, to describe the citizen and noncitizen classes. Second, the three-register

format of Figure 75 suggests adherence to the tripartite scheme of the orders. Then, the hierarchic character of the three estates finds resonance in the Aristotelian system in which the noncitizen classes are subordinate to the politically and socially empowered citizens. Both the two-register and three-register formats encode an analogous hierarchical system, in which the politically powerful inhabit the upper sphere; the powerless, the lower zone. Furthermore, the six Aristotelian classes can be assimilated to the three-estate orders. The warrior class, which had the obligation of offering military aid, can be identified with the gent d'armes ; the clergy, or oratores , with the gent sacerdotal ; and the cultiveurs de terres with the laborers who support the efforts of the other two classes. Furthermore, the other estas in Figures 74 and 75 can be accommodated in later versions of the three-orders system, such as the Policraticus of John of Salisbury.^[34] In this influential treatise, the category of agricultural workers expands to include various ways of earning one's living, such as the arts and crafts.

Despite the similarities between the three-estates system and the representation of Aristotle's six classes in Figures 74 and 75, there are some important differences. Where in the former system do the genz de conseil belong? Furthermore, the order in which Aristotle's six categories is presented in the illustrations does not conform to that of the three estates of the medieval system. In this scheme the clergy comes first and the nobility second. Also, a considerable distance separates the broad, theoretical associations of the three estates and specific royal and political institutions of fourteenth-century France. For example, in terms of French contemporary political practice, the third estate, which included merchants, was entitled to send representatives to the meetings of the Estates General. In short, readers may have associated the three-orders theory in general with the Aristotelian classifications in Figures 74 and 75, but the specifics of the latter remain distinct.

What other clues does Oresme provide in associating the representation of Aristotle's six classes in the ideal cité of Figures 74 and 75 with contemporary France? Such a detail as the royal member of the genz de conseil in Figure 75 aids the reader in associating this group with institutions of the French kingdom. Oresme speaks glowingly in a long commentary on Chapter 32 of Book VI of the advantages to a prince of choosing and listening to virtuous counsellors. As Jean Dunbabin points out, in certain glosses in the Politiques Oresme encouraged widened participation in the legislative process.^[35] Oresme may have been thinking of his own role as counsellor, while the king may have recollected his dependence on the royal council during the crises of 1356 to 1358, as well as the election of the chancellor by this body as a response to the recommendations in his translation.^[36] Likewise, the redefinition of the gent sacerdotal in Figure 75 could encourage an association of the bishops and other high-ranking officials represented (and the absence of the pontiff himself) with Oresme's pleading for a church council as a means of both reform and limiting papal power.

The primary readers of the Politiques could also make negative associations between the groups represented and the threats to royal authority during the political crises of the 1350s. The meetings of the Estates General during this decade presented a potentially very dangerous attack on many areas of royal authority and

prerogative. Particularly in Figure 75, the weighty groups of the noncitizens may have recalled to Charles V and his counsellors the many meetings of the Estates General from 1356 to 1358, the years of greatest crisis. During this time the three noncitizen groups could also evoke thoughts of overt civil rebellion that confronted Charles as regent. For instance, the cultiveurs de terres could recall the peasant revolt of the Jacquerie. The gent de mestier and the marcheans could suggest the resistance of Paris to Charles's rule between 1356 and 1358 under the leadership of the powerful Etienne Marcel, provost of the merchants. Marcel was actively engaged in the wool trade, depicted in Figure 75 as the activity of the marcheans . The menacing representation of the gent de mestier may have recalled their attack on the Dauphin's palace during his near-assassination in February 1358. Again, the presence of the building trades recalls Oresme's mention in a gloss on Chapter 5 of Book VII that masons were among the groups of day laborers who were covetous, malicious, and unjust. As noted in Chapter 19 above, a possible confirmation of these negative associations are Charles V's letters patent of 25 September 1372, in which regulation of the bodies of Parisian craftsmen was vested in a royal official, the provost of the city.^[37]

In short, the visual definitions of cité and citoien in Figures 74 and 75 invite reference to the institutions and class structure of contemporary France. The format of the illustrations (particularly that of Fig. 75) emphasizes the ideal or paradigmatic character of the two concepts. Yet the updating and concretization of the definitions invite both translation of and comparison to contemporary institutions. Despite certain fundamental differences, the six classes represented also suggest an analogy to and assimilation of the hierarchic three-estates organization of medieval society. Oresme may have left to the reader the process of reconciling his definitions of these concepts with their own historical, political, and social experience. Or the occasion of oral explication of Book VII may have afforded an opportunity for him to reconcile the Aristotelian definitions with the very different institutions of his own day.

Collaborative Practice and Its Interpretation

The illustrations for Book VII reveal valuable information about the roles and cooperation of the translator and scribe in the production of Charles V's copies of the Politiques . The choice of the illustration of Book IV from MS B as a conceptual and pictorial model for Figure 74 and a shift to the frontispieces of MS D for Figure 75 probably represent such a collaboration. A similar working together results in the insertion of a revised introductory paragraph and external inscriptions for Figure 75. The credit that Raoulet d'Orléans bestows on himself for his graphic solutions to problems caused by an altered visual structure reveals the important role of the scribe in correcting and supervising the execution of the manuscript. Raoulet's status is amplified by the prominence he gives himself in the colophon at the beginning of D and his recording of his adjustment of Oresme's additional gloss to Book III. This evidence of Raoulet's importance ac-

cords with our knowledge from other manuscripts of his self-confidence and independent literary activity.^[38] The revised introductory paragraph in D sheds further light on Oresme's role as inventor of the program of illustrations. His motives for these explications may have been prompted by the importance of the concepts defined in these illustrations, as well as by the changes in their formats.

Perhaps the difficulty Oresme experienced in translating Aristotle's generic terms for polis and citizenship made the visual structures of either Figure 74 or Figure 75 inadequate in themselves to construct parallel social and political equivalents signified by the French words cité and citoien . The need for the reinforcements of the internal and external inscriptions suggests a disjunction between the complex verbal arguments of Aristotle's text and Oresme's lengthy commentaries and the inherently limited visual means available for the translation of such concepts.

The question of how the primary audience understood the illustrations of Book VII is also difficult to answer. Part of the problem is how they perceived the six classes in social and political terms. Except for the larger inscriptions of the upper register in Figure 74, the miniaturist's treatment of the citizens and noncitizens is evenhanded. The changes in the depiction of the six groups in Figure 75, however, emphasize the power of the citizen groups and the social inferiority of the noncitizens. A certain menacing quality in the representation of the politically powerless groups emerges from a modern reading of the illustration. As always, it is impossible to evaluate such an interpretation as an instruction from Oresme to the Master of the Coronation Book, an intentional or accidental consequence of the miniaturist's style, or a subjective reaction. Since for the most part Oresme's glosses do not contradict Aristotle's negative comments about the noncitizens, it is reasonable to assume that the illustrations convey a continued justification for the hierarchical organization of society and the exclusion of these three groups from political life.