The Cleric on the Warpath

This chapter analyses theologian and poet Alan of Lille’s (d. 1202–1203) prosimetrum On the Lament of Nature ( De planctu Naturae ), highlighting Lady Nature’s critique of moral and social decline in twelfth-century society, particularly focusing on issues of sexuality and the alleged departure from traditional gender norms. Nature, speaking as both a moral preacher and a language teacher, links grammatical gender with biological sex, condemning same-sex relations, transsexualism, and infidelity as violations of natural and ultimately divine order. Alan’s work expresses strong disapproval of contemporary social and erotic ways of life, expressing hope for a spiritual renewal while ultimately dwelling on the era’s perceived moral decay, including “the plague of adultery” at the heart of much twelfth-century lyric and epic gallantry.