Guillaume de Palerme ("William of Palerne") is a French romance poem, which has been translated into English. The French verse romance was composed circa 1200, commissioned by Countess Yolande (who is generally identified to be Yolande, daughter of Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut).[1] The prose version of the French romance, printed by N Bonfons, passed through several editions.
The English poem in alliterative verse, commissioned by Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford, was written circa 1350 by a poet named William.[2] A single surviving manuscript of the English version is held at Kings College, Cambridge.
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Guillaume, a foundling supposed to be of low degree, is brought up at the court of the emperor of Rome, and loves his daughter Melior who is destined for a Greek prince. The lovers flee into the woods, disguised in bear-skins. Alfonso, who is Guillaume's cousin and a Spanish prince, has been changed into a wolf by his stepmother's enchantments. He provides food and protection for the fugitives, and Guillaume eventually triumphs over Alfonso's father, and wins back from him his kingdom. The benevolent werewolf is disenchanted, and marries Guillaume's sister.
The werewolf as used in this story draws on later developments of that legend than such lais as Bisclavret and Melion, where the werewolf status is inherent, although his obeisance to the king, his father, corresponds to the same act in the other stories.[3] The werewolf's protection of the child probably stems from the ancedote found in both The Seven Sages and Gesta Romanorum.[4] But the werewolf's attack on his wicked stepmother corresponds to that of the werewolf on his false wife in Bisclavret and Melion, and Guillaume plays the same role as the king, protecting the werewolf after the attack.[5]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.