Two Notes on the Text of the Proem of Henry of Avranches’ Poem to Emperor Frederick II (R 11, 4 and 14)

In the poem at issue in this article (R 11) Henry of Avranches endeavours to win the patronage of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II: here Henry accordingly claims to be «the greatest poet on earth». This poem’s prologue also affirms the «divine» nature of poetry. However in the text that we are given by Winkelmann and Marguin- Hamon, this very important proem is disfigured by two metrical hideosities (R 11, 4 and 14). The present article proposes two small corrections that convert these lines from blotches into bijoux.