The Name of the Rose is a novel written by Umberto Eco. Released in 1980, it is Eco's debut novel and tells of a murder in an Italian monastery and its investigation by a learned friar. It has become one of the best-selling books and has won numerous awards (including the Strega Prize and the Prix Médicis Etranger).
Characters[]
- William of Baskerville - an Franciscan/English friar and the main character of the novel
- Adso of Melk - the narrator of the novel, a Benedictine monk
- Abo of Fossonova - the abbot of the Benedictine abbey
- Remigio of Varagine - the cellarer of the Benedictine abbey
- Salvatore of Montferrat - a deformed monk who speaks a nigh-unintelligible gibberish-language made up of various languages
- Jorge of Burgos - a blind and cantankerous monk who frequently makes doomsday predictions. A homage to the author Jorge Luis Borges.
- Bernardo Gui (or Bernando Guidoni) - a Dominican Inquistior working for Pope John
- Michael of Cesena - a devout Minorite and their ostensible leader. An ally of the Emperor.
- Nicholas of Morimondo - the glazier of the abbey
- Severinus of Sankt Wendel - the abbey's herbalist
- Malachi of Hiddelsheim - The librarian of the abbey.
- Berengar of Arundel - the assisstant librarian. A "friend" of Adelmo, the first victim. The third victim.
- The woman - a young girl who Adso "befriends" and who is presumably burned as a witch
- Ubertino of Casale - a real Medieval author who briefly appears in the narrative
- Cardinal Bertrando del Poggetto - a Dominican Cardinal working for Pope John
- Aymaro of Alessandria - a gossiping monk
- Alinardo of Grottaferrata - the oldest monk in the abbey
- Adelmo of Otranto - the first victim, a young monk known for his illuminations
- Venantius of Salvemac - the second victim
Publisher's summary[]
Seven Deaths in Seven Days and Nights of Apocalyptic Terror
The year is 1327. The place is a wealthy Franciscan abbey. And the crimes committed here are beyond the wildest imaginings. It will be the task of English Brother William of Baskerville to decipher secret symbols and dig into the eerie labyrinth of abbey life to unravel the mystery. His tools: logic, intelligence, with, and a ferocious curiosity. His enemy: a murderer with the awesome features of the Antichrist...
Plot[]
Before beginning the memoirs of one Adso of Melk, the author recounts the tale of how he first discovered the manuscript. While waiting to meet a friend in Prague shortly before the city was invaded by the Soviets, Eco discovered a book written by Abbé Vallet which contained a lengthy manuscript written by the afformentioned Adso. Though Eco managed to translate some of the book, it was taken by his friend after their relationship ended abruptly. While trying to find more about Adso's manuscript, Eco could find next to nothing on it and began to presume that it was an elaborate forgery. This was until he discovered a work on chess which quoted from Adso's works - indeed, from the so-called "Vallet manuscript". Though the memoirs are "shrouded in many, shadowy mysteries", Eco managed to produce a translation of them and now presents them to the reader.
Prologue[]
While sitting in a jail cell, the elderly Adso of Melk begins recounting the tale of his travels with William of Baskerville. Before starting his tale, he creates an image of William - a very learned old monk who considers himself a student of Robert Bacon and quotes William of Ockham - and paints another picture of the historical events that led to their voyage to a Benedictine monastery in Italy. For many years, Pope John XXII had battled with the Franciscans over the question of apostolic poverty. William planned to use the monastery as a neutral ground for ambassadors of both to debate this topic.
First Day[]
As November of 1327 ends, William and Adso reach a monastery (which Adso refuses to name in his manuscript) in the north of Italy. As the monastery comes into view, they notice the cellarer of the monastery searching for a horse. William is able to deduce exactly where the horse is from clues he saw while approaching the monastery before entering into the monastery.
Once inside the monastery, the abbot (named Abo) speaks with William. Having heard of William's help in solving various crimes, Abo asks the Baskervillean to help solve a crime within the abbey. At night, one of the monks was presumably pushed from the top of the Aedificium (the abbey's extremely immense and somewhat famous library) and found dead the next morning. When William asks if he can see the Aedificium, Abo refuses to allow him full access to the library. Despite this, William agrees to help find the murderer.
While walking through a doorway, Adso has an extremely vivid (and possibly prophetic) religious vision of Jesus and Satan. After recovering from this vision, Adso (alongside William) first encounters a deformed monk named Salvatore who speaks absolute gibberish. William attempts to speak with Salvatore but finds it extremely difficult and leaves to meet with an old friend named Ubertino who is staying within the monastery. On meeting with Ubertino, the two talk about the past. This quickly becomes an argument which ends with Ubertino making predictions about the end of the world. Shortly after leaving Ubertino, the two visitors meet the abbey's herbalist Severinus. William and Severinus speak of various herbs and ancient texts before briefly discussing the murdered monk.
After this discussion, William and Adso visit the Aedificium. While in the Aedificium, William speaks with the librarian Malachi on the works within the library before examining some of the dead monks' works. They find that he was an extremely gifted illustrator and largely drew illogical and fantastical things. A comment from Malachi brings laughter to many of the librarians. This draws the attention of the blind monk Jorge, who claims that illogical images are a part of Satan's grand designs. This begins an argument that Jorge loses.
As vespers begins, William meets with the glazier of the abbey (one Nicholas of Morimondo). William shows his pair of glasses (an extremely rare and valuable invention in those days) to the glazier and speaks with him on politics, glass, and the library. From Nicholas, William learns that the librarians put hallucinogenic substances in the lamps of the library at night. After speaking with Nicholas, William reveals to Adso that he believes that the "murdered" monk simply committed suicide. Despite this, he still wishes to investigate the circumstances of his death to find out what pushed him to commit such a grave sin. Vespers soon ends, and the two visitors to the abbey enter into the refectory for dinner. During dinner (a somewhat plentiful feast), Jorge starts another argument and William deduces that there is a door to the Aedificium that is being kept secret from him.
Second Day[]
The next day, as the monks begin waking up, the body of one of their number is found submerged in a vat of pig blood left behind from the slaughtering of the pigs from the previous day. William and Severinus examine the body and find that the victim did not die from drowning in the blood. While the body is moved from the vat to the balneary, Adso finds a footprint in the snow between the vat and the Aedificium. This leads William to theorize that both victims died in the Aedificium. Severinus soon returns from his examination of the corpse and reveals that he found no evidence of poisons within the corpse. William attempts to question Severinus about which poisons the monks could find within his garden but Severinus attempts to avoid truly answering the question.
During the service at prime, William watches over the monks to see if any of them have been affected by the recent murders. He finds that Benno and Berengar appear to be nervous and sets out to interrogate both of them. Benno speaks of an argument between various monks (including Jorge and Venantius) on laughter while Berengar reveals that he was visited by Adelmo's ghost (with whom he might have had a homosexual affair, something that was considered a graven sin in these times) around the time of the monk's death. According to Berengar, the ghost spoke of the fires of hell - seemingly as a way to seek penitence before returning to these fires. Though William believes that Berengar was visited by Adelmo, he does not believe that it was his ghost but rather that the real Adelmo visited Berengar shortly before his death. After this revelation, William and Adso speak about true and false penitence.
While on the way to the scriptorium, William and Adso spot Salvatore fighting with the chief cook. Salvatore attempts to get William to defend the honor of the Minorites after the cook besmirches them. While talking with William about the cellarer, the cook reveals that Salvatore has some access to the abbey at night but refuses to elaborate when asked. Shortly after this encounter, the two monks are found by Aymaro of Alessandria. The gossiping monk briefly speaks with them on local politics (claiming that the abbey has given too much credence to foreign influence and not enough to local influence) before leaving. After this brief talk, the two monks enter into the scriptorium to discover more about Venantius. While in the scriptorium, the two discover that Venantius was translating Lucian's The Ass on orders from the lord of Milan. While talking with Berengar about this, they are found by Jorge. This leads to another lengthy argument between Jorge and William on the subject of laughter. Once this argument finishes, Benno calls William over and tells him that he wishes to speak with him in private.
Benno reveals that Berengar was seeking for something hidden with the library and that Adelmo used this to blackmail him into a homosexual affair with him. Many of the details that Benno reveals supports the idea that Adelmo committed suicide after seeking penance from another monk (most likely Jorge). After hearing this, William formulates a plan to sneak into the library at night. Shortly after meeting with Benno, the two monks meet with Abo. First, Abo shows them a bejeweled cross and the various other objects of wealth belonging to the abbey. Once this showcase ends, William discusses the arrival of the dignitaries with Abo. The two cannot reach a decision on how to deal with the dignitaries possible reaction to the murder, the two decide to reach a decision by the next morning. The two then discuss the various order of heretics which plague the world.
While Adso rests for a brief moment, William tries to look through Venantius' desk but is kept from doing it by various monks. Once Adso wakes up, the two walk through the cloister and find Alinardo resting outside. The two have a conversation with the elderly monk. Though Alinardo is seemingly senile, he reveals a secret passageway through the ossuary and that the current murders mirror the seven trumpets that foretell the coming of the Antichrist.
After the abbey's monks attend compline service, William and Adso sneak away. They use the secret tunnel discussed by Alinardo to enter into the ossuarium and the scriptorium. While in the scriptorium, William examines Venantius' desk and finds a page from a book that has been stolen from the desk left behind. Before William can examine the page, the two monks notice a figure. Adso attempts to chase after the figure but is unable to catch them. While the figure is unable to steal the page, they are able to steal William's glasses. William still attempts to study the page and (after Adso nearly burns the manuscript with the duo's lamp) learns that it has necromantic symbols written on it with invisible ink. William believes that Venantius attempted to decipher a mysterious work known as the "Secretum finis Africae" but only vaguely deciphers the page. Once he finishes with his brief examination, the two monks enter the library.
While in the library, the two monks quickly become lost in its extremely confusing and labyrinthine confines. During their wanderings, Adso encounters a giant figure which William quickly realizes is Adso's own reflection in a distorted mirror. Soon, the two monks notice another figure wandering through the corridors of the library and when Adso (seeking to show his courage after being embarrassed by the mirror incident) goes after the figure. While he is unable to find the figure, he finds a book with an illustration of the draconic devil on it. After encountering this book, Adso begins having horrifying visions and falls unconscious. He is dragged away by William and awakens from his hallucinogen-induced unconsciousness shortly afterwards. Due to Adso still being slightly ill from whatever substance the monks used, William decides to leave the library for the night. The two monks then spend hours wandering through the labyrinth before finding the exit. Shortly after returning through the secret passage, Abo finds the two monks and reveals that Berengar has gone missing.
Third Day[]
While the monks search high and low for any sign of Berengar, the only thing they can find is a blood-stained rag within his cell. As this search winds down, Adso begins looking through the volumes in the library. At this point in the narrative, Adso meditates on the nature of the monastery libraries and their fight with universities and similar institutions for relevancy.
After examining these works, Adso leaves to eat and finds Salvatore - with the former traveller speaks of his life story. Born in an extremely poor village (with the poverty being so bad that some people resorted to cannibalism), Salvatore fled this village in search of the mythical land of "Cockaigne". In these travels, Salvatore briefly joined a Minorite convent and nearly joined into a crusade which turned into a pogrom against Jewish peoples (an event that Adso views with slight disgust which Salvatore does not). These talks end when Adso asks about a "Fra Dolcino" and Adso is left to wonder about the identity of this mysterious figure.
Having eaten, Adso finds William working with the glazier to produce a new pair of his spectacles. Adso asks William about Salvatore's life story and the two engage in a dialogue on the true nature of heretical sects - with William saying that they are largely made up of the impoverished and downtrodden pushed away by the Church's inner machinations. Once this dialogue finished, William reveals that he has deciphered the necromantic symbols but that Venantius wrote in a second cypher that he has yet to crack.
Shortly after this, the abbot speaks with William and reveals that Pope John has sent an inquisitor named Bernardo Gui to the abbey. This greatly worries both William and the abbot - as Bernardo is a fervent hater of heretics. Once their discussion of this arrival ends, William sets off on other business. While Nicholas works on the pair of glasses (which is held back by Nicholas accidentally destroying two lenses), William thinks about building a compass (something that was is largely unknown to the people of Italy, including Adso, in these times) but decides to make a rough map of the Aedificium's library with Adso's help. First, they measure the walls of the Aedificium's tower before making a very rough map of the library's chambers. After this endeavor, William has Adso ask Salvatore to provide some nourishment for them. Salvatore comes back with a dish known as "cheese in batter".
After eating the cheese in batter, Adso leaves William's company to visit Ubertino and ask him about the mysterious heretic Fra Dolcino. Ubertino first discusses Dolcino's predecessor Gherardo Segarelli (the leader of the "Pseudo Apostles") before discussing the life, acts, and death of Fra Dolcino and his allies Margaret and Longinus of Bergamo (who were tortured and burned at the stake alongside him). Along with this, Ubertino discusses women. Once this discussion finishes, Adso decides to wander through the scriptorium and library on his own. Sighting a book on heretics makes Adso think of the burning of a "heretical" priest he witnessed shortly before joining William's company. Once outside of the Aedificium and into the nearby kitchens, Adso finds a young woman - who promptly undresses in front of him. Adso and the woman commit "sins of the flesh" before the woman flees - leaving behind a heart wrapped in cloth.
William finds his novice shortly after the discovery of the heart. Adso confesses his "sins of the flesh" to William. William deduces that the heart is not a human heart but the heart of a recently-slaughtered bull. He also deduces that the woman is most likely a poor woman who sneaks into the abbey to exchange "favors" with either Salvatore or the cellarer for scraps of food. While walking back to bed, the two find Alinardo looking for the missing Berengar. William deduces that Berengar's body is most likely in the abbey's balneary. Once inside the balneary, the two find the drowned corpse of Berengar.
Fourth Day[]
While the fourth day begins, William and Severinus examine the corpse of Berengar. While they deduce that he accidentally drowned himself due to a seizure, they find some black marks on his fingers and tongue. These marks (which were also found on Venantius' body) are presumably from a poison. Severinus remembers an extremely potent poison he got from a visiting monk which went missing during a storm some time beforehand. William believes that it was actually stolen and that whomever had it has been plotting the murders for a while.
After coming to these conclusions, William decides to interrogate Salvatore and the cellarer Remigio (in this order). From Salvatore, William learns that Remigio uses him as a proxy to "hire" impoverished women from the village to perform sexual favors for money. Though William initially talks with Salvatore about the poverty of the village, he quickly changes gears and gets Remigio to break down and confess using the threat of the incoming Inquisition. He learns that Remigio saw the dying Venantius during one of his nighttime perambulations. Remigio also talks of his time in the armies of Fra Dolcino. Once this finishes, Severinus finds William and reveals that he found William's missing glasses in Berengar's chamber. He is closely followed by Nicholas - who has made a new pair of glasses. William tries on the new pair of glasses and discovers them to be superior to his old pair.
Adso then begins wandering through the abbey. While wandering, he thinks over the mysterious girl (in an extremely lengthy and drawn-out segment) before he is found by William. William reveals that he has cracked the cipher of Venantius' writings but that the text is still unintelligible gibberish. As such, he believes that the key lies in the other books of the library.
While Adso briefly leaves the monastery to join Severinus and a group of swineherds on a truffle-hunt, they briefly sight the arriving Minorites. Once the Minorites are inside the abbey, they begin discussing the sins of Pope John with various monks within the Abbey. This includes Ubertino and William and shows the alleged greed of Pope John. Though the leader of the Minorites (Michael of Cesena) plans not to anger the Pope's men, he is greatly worried by this and the presence of two devoted hunters of heretics (the aforementioned Bernardo and a Cardinal named del Poggetto). Shortly after this discussion, the Pope's allies arrive at the abbey. Upon arriving, Adso briefly encounters the Pope's men (finding that del Poggetto attempts to give the appearance of appeasement while Bernardo remains cold, especially to the former Inquisitor William) before Bernardo retires to interrogate various monks about the murders in the abbey while William reads from the various books on Venantius' desk.
As night descends, William discusses his detecting methods with Adso before the young novice has an encounter with Salvatore - who explains that he plans to use a dark magic ritual to make one of the village girls truly love him. Shortly after this, William and Adso descend into the Aedificium and begin to improve their map. They discover that the books in the library are arranged by the country their authors came from (or at least, where the monks think their authors should have came from) and that the library is shaped almost like a map of the world. While wandering through the library away from William, Adso finds a series of books on the illness known as "love".
As William and Adso return from the Aedificium, they see Salvatore and the young girl that Adso "slept" with being captured by archers right before they can perform the love ritual. Bernard believes that they are committing an extremely grave Satanic ritual (something that Adso cannot easily dispute) and sends Salvatore away to be interrogated while he consigns the young girl to be burned as a witch. While William can do nothing about this, he is worried that Bernard will use Salvatore's ties to the heretic Fra Dolcino as a way to antagonize the abbots and the Minorites.
Fifth Day[]
As the fifth day begins, Adso visits an ancient church nearby the abbey before observing a debate between the Franciscans and the Pope's men over whether Jesus ever even had money. This debate soon devolves into an argument and then into a verbal brawl. Though Bernard attempts to break up this argument by moving both parties to opposite sides of the abbey but the arguers simply continue to hurl insults at each other.
While the Pope's men and the Minorites scream at each other, Severinus tells William to meet with him. While William is able to briefly meet with Severinus and learn that he has found a mysterious book, he is soon interrupted - first by the arrival of Jorge and next by del Poggetto asking him to debate his opinions on the schism. While William leaves with Poggetto, he asks Adso to trail Jorge and make sure that he does not follow Severinus. He also says to keep "the papers" safe. William discusses his opinions on religious poverty with Poggetto (alongside Bernard and various other members of their party) before the meeting is interrupted. While leaving the meeting, William discovers that something very bad has happened to Severinus.
William and Adso discover that Severinus has had his head bludgeoned in within his chambers (which have been rifled through) and that the cellarer has been arrested by Bernard's archers. While Bernard assumes that Remigio killed Severinus and has him taken away to be "interrogated", William is unsure of this and decides to see if he can find the mysterious book (which William believes might be the Finis Africane) within Severinus' books before Severinus' body is removed. While they are unable to find the book before the corpse is removed, Adso realizes that he saw the book without realizing it. The two rush into the room to discover that the book is missing.
Despite this setback, the two visit the "interrogation" of Remigio by Bernard. At first, Remigio tries to avoid being known as a heretic but after Salvatore and Malachi reveal that he had ties to Fra Dolcino and brought some of Dolcino's letters into the abbey, Remigio admits that he was a member of Dolcino's armies (though a rather cowardly member, who betrayed them at the end) and that he broke into Severinus' room as he believed that the herbalist had taken these letters. Bernard then claims that Remigio will be tortured. Driven into death-wishing mania by this, Remigio confesses to all of the murders within the abbey and then begins claiming allegiance to the legions of Satan while frothing at the mouth, Bernard closes this by making a veiled threat against Ubertino.
Though Michael of Cesena wishes to stay behind and speak the virtues of his cause, Ubertino realizes that Bernard might try to have him killed. As such, William and the abbot help him to flee the abbey before this can happen. Though it seems that William and Adso's business within the abbey has finished, William wishes to stay behind so he can find the finis Africae. While eating supper, William learns that Benno (who has shadowed them throughout the fifth day and was possibly the figure who stole William's glasses) has become the assistant librarian. As the day closes, Jorge gives a fire-and-brimstone speech about the purpose of knowledge and libraries (which he claims are to collect and preserve knowledge and not to find new forms of thought) and the coming Apocalypse. While leaving this speech, Adso attempts to convince William to help the girl escape burning but he states that there is nothing he or even the abbot can do. As such, Adso goes to bed extremely despondent - unable even to call out the name of his love in despair.
Sixth Day[]
During the matins prayers, Malachi slumps over in the pews and (after seizing) dies. While William examines his body, he finds a black mark - showing that a murderer is still at loose in the abbey. Though the abbot appoints the glazier Nicholas as the new cellarer, he refuses to make Benno the next librarian and simply tells him to close up the library once night comes. While Nicholas begins work as the cellarer, William questions him about the hierarchy of power within the abbey. After learning various details about the various librarians (and candidates for the position of abbot), Nicholas shows William and Adso the various relics of the abbey.
During the matins prayer service, Adso dozes off and has a vision (or perhaps a dream) in which various Biblical figures and people that Adso has met or heard about have a sumptuous and rather surreal feast. As Bernard's party departs, Adso finds William and asks him to interpret his dream. William reveals that it is a subtle reworking of the Coena Cypriani that was presumably dreamed up by Adso due to his confusion and torment at the upturning of societal rules that he has recently experienced.
While ruminating over the chain of succession between librarians, William finds an anomaly which he believes is the key to the murders. When he meets with the abbot, he finds that Abo is extremely dismissive of his quest for answers. The abbot outright tells William to leave the abbey once the next day leaves - convincing William that the abbot is a blowhard with no real moral fiber. Despite this major setback, William still wishes to figure out the mysteries of the abbey. As William walks outside with Adso, he finds that the monks have become extremely paranoid due to there being no obvious suspects for murder left.
As the night marches on, both Alinardo and Jorge vanish while Abo retires to the Aedificium to look for them. Unbeknownst to the abbot, he was watched by William and Adso while doing this. As such, the two follow him. During this pursuit, William figures out the key to the finis Africae from something Adso blurts out. The two frantically rush into the Aedificium and enter into the tunnels once hidden to them behind a mirror.
Seventh Day[]
William and Adso find Jorge lurking within the finis Africae. He reveals that he has trapped the abbot deeper in the tunnels where he will presumably suffocate. He also reveals that the finis Africae is where books of "forbidden" knowledge are hidden. This includes the second book of Aristotle's Poetics. Jorge tries to get William to read the book but the visiting monk is able to outfox the murderer and reveals that the second book has been poisoned in a way that reading it becomes fatal. William reveals the details of Jorge's murders while Jorge reveals his motive - his absolute disdain for Aristotle's works and his fear that the second volume (focused largely on laughter) would destroy the carefully-crafted control of Christianity upon society.
After revealing this, Jorge begins eating the second Aristotle. After Jorge snuffs out the lantern to plunge the library into darkness. The two visitors are able to relight the lantern and set off in pursuit of Jorge. After catching up to him, a brief skirmish breaks out - which allows Jorge to toss the lantern into the depths of the library. A fire breaks out which Jorge tosses the second book into before he is killed by William. The fire soon becomes a roiling inferno which consumes the Aedificium and the abbey as a whole. In the ensuing chaos, Benno and Alinardo are killed in the chaos. While watching over the blaze from a nearby clearing, William believes that the forces of evil (given flesh by Jorge) have prospered and have destroyed the greatest center of learning in the known world.
Last Page[]
Once the fire has largely ended and the abbey is considered lost, William and Adso depart. They learn of imperial-papal politics within Italy turning sour and part ways shortly after this. They never meet again - with William dying of the plague several years later. Some time after William's death, Adso returns to the ruins of the abbey and scrapes together enough scraps of paper from the ruins to make something of a library of ruins.
Notes[]
- The Name of the Rose was first translated into English in 1983 by William Weaver (who had previously translated Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler and would go on to translate various works by Eco, Calvino, and Primo Levi).
- Several characters within are real historical figures. This includes Bernando, Michael of Cesena, Cardinal de Poggetto (or Bertrand du Pouget), and Ubertino.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baudolino | Umberto Eco | 2000 | A historical novel by the same author set in the Medieval era |
| The Twelve Abbots of Challant | Laura Mancinelli | 1981 | An Italian historical novel set in the 13th century |
| A Distant Mirror | Barbara W. Tuchman | 1978 | A detailed history of the 14th century |
| A Morbid Taste for Bones | Edith Pargeter | 1977 | A medieval mystery with a monk as its protagonist |
| The Italians Before Italy | Kenneth R. Bartlett | 2007 | A history of Medieval (and post-Medieval) Italy |
| The Divine Comedy | Dante Alighieri | ~1321 | Italian literature written in the 14th century |
| Asylum | Peter Darvill-Evans | 2001 | a Doctor Who novel likely inspired by The Name of the Rose and A Morbid Taste for Bones |
| Katherine | Anya Seton | 1954 | a historical novel set in the 14th century |
| Morality Play | Barry Unsworth | 1995 | another Medieval murder mystery |
| The Enchantress of Florence | Salman Rushdie | 2008 | a postmodernist historical novel set in the Medieval era |
| Doctor Mirabilis | James Blish | 1964 | a novel about Roger Bacon |
| An Instance of the Fingerpost | Iain Pears | 1997 | a historical novel with similar themes |
| Harlequin | Bernard Cornwell | 2000 | a historical novel set in the 14th century |
| World Without End | Ken Follett | 2007 | a long historical novel set in the 14th century |
Sources[]
- Wikipedia
- Goodreads