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Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose is a dense and detailed novel, with much to say about history, philosophy, and culture. Among its many pages, Eco is dedicated to providing his readers with an authentic and vividly detailed accounting of a mystery set in medieval Europe. The novel is packed with myriad references, imagery, and allusions to the complex inner workings of medieval culture, society, and history. The content used in the novel is purposeful, and makes strides to bridges the cultural context in which the narrative is taking place with our contemporary understanding.
There is much to dissect here, however I would argue that one of the more important themes conveyed by The Name of the Rose is the relationship between people and knowledge. Throughout the novel there are constant questions on the subject of knowledge acquisition, the nature of truth, and the process of knowledge preservation. All of this is related to the main method by which knowledge was stored and distributed in medieval Europe, manuscripts and books.
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As such, I will argue that the period in which Eco’s novel takes place was the turning point in our contemporary usage of books and knowledge.
To begin, when talking about books and manuscripts in this period Buringh and Van Zanden claim that “they were a crucial part of the information infrastructure and, in a way, the ‘hardware’ which stored all ideas”. In addition, they further claim that “the production and accumulation of books can therefore be used as a proxy for the production and accumulation of ideas”.
And this concept of manuscripts as a stand in for knowledge is a key theme in Eco’s novel. The novel tackles the relationship between the clergy, and the dissemination of knowledge through education and books. As was previously mentioned, the time the novel takes place in was a saw significant change in thought and knowledge dissemination in Europe. In The Name of the Rose, the story takes place in 1327, during the fourteenth century, in Italy. The 1300s are considered the time when the renaissance started taking their earliest steps in Italy. Furthermore the Renaissance is often associated with dramatic changes in the arts and knowledge in Europe. This reference is fitting considering the changes specific to bookmaking that would profoundly change people’s access to knowledge. Traditionally, manuscripts were produced from a monastery’s scriptorium by monks, for the purpose of being used by other monks and monasteries. This was because religious institutions and the clergy viewed books as essential, and lost lasting, tools for their spiritual duties. Fundamentally, the production of books was dependent on patrons, who would use their wealth to produce the limited number of books required due to their relatively low demand (Walsh, 2009, p 451 - 453). During the time of The Name of the Rose, the most accomplished manuscript producers of their day were the Benedictine monks, as their scriptoriums were wealthy and capable of investing money into production. The Name of the Rose makes a purposeful decision referencing the power and prestige given to his setting by having the abbey be Benedictine. Yet, this influence and prestige would eventually end directly because of changes in book manufacturing.
According to Timothy Shonk (1985), in his article “A Study of the Auchinleck Manuscript: Bookmen and Bookmaking in the Early Fourteenth Century”, by this time the job of transcribing and making books had begun shifting away from clerics and monks, and into the hands of professionals. Contemporary universities now are, for the most part, secular institutions with a for profit model. It would be this new model of for profit knowledge distribution in book production would radically change the way people became educated. As Griffiths (2007) states in Book Production and Publishing in Britain 1375-1475, many of the reforms that would spur the large market for books were related to the growth of the university education system in the prior century. Griffiths (2007) further elaborates, “The demand of teachers and students for texts, commentaries and reference books could partly be met by borrowing (for instance, from monastic libraries) and the second hand trade, but there was much need, in university towns such as Paris, Oxford and Bologna, of new copying”. And this led to a new sort of entrepreneur, 'Stationers', in the production of copying books they received for resale. These forces would modernize, and secularize, information can be seen as background to Eco’s novel. However, there is more direct implications for the Church’s role as arbiter of knowledge.
Conway’s (2013) work even briefly touches on how literary works of the time already had robust and rich references within the literary culture. This can be attributed to the fact that the intellectual community that wrote them were fairly close knit, and had an interest to maintain the status quo. According to Brown (2011), the act of bookmaking itself was a spiritual endeavor, where the scribe viewed themselves as an implement for the divine, and it was connected to spiritual work. In The Name of the Rose, the ultimate motivation for the murders being committed by the old monk Jorge of Burgos was to keep knowledge that he viewed as harmful to the church secret. But most interestingly, the book he most considers dangerous is Aristotle’s second volume of Poetics, concerning comedy. It should be mentioned that early retail books, available for purchase by the public, were poems and entertainment, such as those in the Auchinleck Manuscript. Considering this, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that a book that could undermine the church’s hegemony on knowledge, and that symbolizes forbidden knowledge could be something that would be enjoyed by the general population. However, Jorge was far more concerned with the supposed intellectual corruption of the clergy, than maintaining an intellectual system. I would assert that in Jorge’s view, upholding this intellectual and political system would maintain order and society. According to him, the reading of materials that would contradict or fall outside of the official stance of the church and clergy would cause apocalyptic ruin. Jorge’s fear of changing mindsets within the clergy reflects actual change within the clergy. These changes, or reforms, in the church would have major consequences for knowledge, production, acquisition, and distribution, which would profoundly change society. Take for example women who would begin to enter the church, not as Nuns, but as women who could own property and receive an education.
In addition, there used to be tension in the ideal of bookmaking, as there was a view that annotating the work personally would be vain and foolish. However, this was at odds with a prevailing sentiment of book ownership. The thing about medieval books and manuscripts, is that they weren’t static entities. Kathryn Rudy (2016) states “the manuscript was not a static entity, but rather an object whose content and structure were dynamic.” She further elaborates how the manuscripts could, and were, altered with annotations and notes, as books would often outlive their owners. The books weren’t as they were originally inscribed anymore, and they knowledge is subtly altered. You can see this conflict is echoed in The Name of the Rose, when William argues Jorge in Eco’s novel, he too condemns the human sentiment of comedy and human nature of the self in the presence of divine work.
By the end of the novel, the actions taken by Jorge at the monastery would ultimately cause the destruction innumerable works and masterpieces. However, the forces that he feared were already in motion by the end of the novel. His actions cause the destruction of irreplaceable knowledge. Yet, he would be unable to prevent the massive change, or subversion in his view, of society he sought to prevent. Even if Aristotle's second volume of Poetics was destroyed, increasing access to commercial book making, wider access to education, and reform within the clergy itself would spread reading throughout the general population. The destruction symbolically echoes the burning of the library of Alexandria, as well as the practice of repressing knowledge. It also marks the end of the Benedictine abbeys hold on knowledge. The labyrinthine library was constructed as much to discourage reading as it was to store its manuscripts. Finally, this destruction of knowledge parallels the state of book manufacturing right after the novel ends. In the mid-fourteenth century, manuscript and book making would see a sharp decline due to the deaths caused by the plague. During the plague it, without the context of hindsight, it would appear as if the difficulties of the past would continue. However in the years that would follow, bookmaking would see a rapid rise in production and popularity regardless, caused by favorable socio-economic conditions. The power of bookmaking would change the world, and further support the eventual emergence of the printing press in the mid-fifteenth century.
In conclusion, there is much to engage with in The Name of the Rose in regards to meaningful subtext. In regards to the literary arts, history, and philosophy there is much to be dissected in regards to the nature of knowledge and books in Umberto Eco’s novel. The background and setting of the novel are deeply seeded in the time and place where significant change uprooted the clergy’s monopoly on libraries and education. In addition, the central antagonist Jorge of Burgos represents the anxieties of both these external and internal changes, and responds to them in a way that was consistent with the view that ‘subversion’ would lead to the ruin of society. Furthermore, the novel touches on the complications regarding the progress of the advancement of knowledge. With both natural and manmade disasters setting back the production, and storage of books for generations. However, despite the difficulties of the past, the novel acknowledges the progress made by diligent intellectuals to advance literature and knowledge.
Nature Of Knowledge And Books in Umberto Eco’s The Name Of The Rose. (2024, Feb 24). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/nature-of-knowledge-and-books-in-umberto-eco-s-the-name-of-the-rose-essay
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