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Although the works of Homer remained unknown in Western Europe for much of the Middle Ages, their reappearance was welcomed enthusiastically in France toward the end of the fifteenth century by the small band of scholars capable of reading Greek. The founding of the College des lectures royaux in 1530 gave a fillip to Homeric studies, and partial editions of Homer were printed in Paris, aimed at a student audience. French translations also helped to bring the poems to a wider audience. However, the question of the interpretation of Homer was central to the reception of the two epics, and, after examining the publishing history, this paper sets out to assess how succeeding generations of scholars set about reading and teaching the prince of poets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to a popular legend in the Middle Ages, toads were used as the arms of the king of France before Clovis's conversion to Christianity. This paper follows the evolution of these symbolic toads in literary, juridical, and historical texts, as they adapt to changing political environments in the Renaissance. In general, the toads were used to compare negatively with the virtuous lilies during the Middle Ages in France. As monarchical power became more absolute, writers tried to adapt the toads to this new political context, but the toads tended to disappear in France while they flourished in other countries, such as the Spanish Netherlands, where they were sometimes exploited as part of a polemic against the French. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]