About
Jean Bodel likely wrote Les Congés in 1202, when he contracted leprosy and withdrew from all he knew in Arras. His Congés is the first of a genre that would be copied by others, including Baude Fastoul, Adam de la Halle, Rutebeuf, and François Villon. These congés, or poems of leave-taking, are a combination of will and testament and farewell.
Despite its influence, Les Congés had not been translated into English, nor was it available as an electronic, searchable edition. We are providing access to that important work for the first time.
This electronic edition of Jean Bodel’s Les Congés was created by Lynn Ramey with the aid of Rachel Sapp. We used the MLA guidelines for creating scholarly editions as the framework for this site.