The Writer's Gift or the Patron's Pleasure?

The Writer's Gift or the Patron's Pleasure? argues that the French King Charles V’s unprecedented enthusiasm for the literary commission triggered a crucial, multi-generational debate within the book community about how a work’s status as solicited or unsolicited affected its value and purpose.

Introduction: Rethinking Literary Patronage in a Medieval Context
1. King Charles V’s Sapientia Project: From the Construction of the Louvre Library to the Books He Commissioned
2. The Writer’s Work: Translating Charles V’s Literary Clientelism into Learned Terms
3. Guillaume de Machaut’s Fictions of Engagement
4. Eustache Deschamps on the Duties and Dues of Poetry
5. The Pursuit of Sponsorship: From Christine de Pizan’s Troubled Dealings with Louis of Orléans to Marketing Nostalgia
6. The Curse of the Commission: Christine de Pizan on Sacrificing Charles V’s Biography
Conclusion
Bibliography