The Name of the Rose

The Name of the Rose is a 1986 film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. It is based on the eponymous
novel by the writer and philosopher Umberto Eco, published in 1980.

PLOT
In 1327, the young Adso of Melk accompanies his Franciscan mentor, William of
Baskerville, at a Benedictine abbey.
William must participate in a council about the fate of the Franciscan order, but in reality he has been
also called for another reason: the death of the young monk Adelmo in mysterious circumstances
circumstances. During his stay at the abbey, he meets the blind librarian Jorge de Burgos,
"Beneath the laughter and the second book of Aristotle's Poetics, there is Salvatore, a deformed monk who..."
speaks a mixed language of Latin, French, English, and Spanish.
The brother's early investigations, a repentant former inquisitor and thus skilled in investigations, lead him
the hypothesis of a suicide, which is however denied by a second death, that of Venanzio, the
translator from Greek of the scriptorium. Both victims are found with their fingers and tongue
stains of black.
While the investigations proceed, the young Adso meets a girl who lives in a very village.
poor, whose inhabitants are forced to supply food to the monastery, and spends a night with her.
passion.
Afterwards, Berengario, an overweight monk, is found drowned in his bathtub.
bathroom, also with his fingers and tongue black. Guglielmo finds a note on the friar's desk and there
reads the number of a book. Thus reconstructs the story: Berengario agreed to cede to Adelmo
a forbidden book in exchange for illicit reports. The boy agrees, but later, filled with shame,
he handed the note to the translator from Greek and threw himself off the walls of the abbey. Venanzio, curious
from the book, he decided to read it at night, but he fell ill. Berengario hid his corpse,
fearing being blamed, but after reading the book he felt the same. He tried to alleviate the
pain while taking a bath, but without success.
Guglielmo comes to the conclusion that the cause of death is a book, possibly poisoned, given the traces.
found on the bodies of the brothers. However, the abbot is not willing to listen to him and reveals to him that he has
called the inquisitor Bernardo Gui. After the arrival of the latter, the girl from the village is
accused of witchcraft together with Salvatore, who confesses his past as a Dolcinian (thus...
eretco), also mentioning the cellarioRemigio. Another friar, Severino, is killed, and the blame falls on
right on the cellar.
During the trial, Guglielmo claims that the deaths will stop, so the inquisitor him.
accuse him of being a heretic and intends to go with him to Avignon, the seat of the Pope,
The next day. The following day, another brother, Malachi, feels ill and dies. Bernardo thus arrives at
blaming William himself, who, however, manages to escape with the novice Adso into the library
labyrinth. They find Jorge, to whom the Franciscan asks to read the second book of the poetry of
Aristotle. Jorge agrees, but Guglielmo wears a glove because he senses that the pages are
poisoned states. The librarian himself admits to having done it because he feared that book,
inciting laughter directly, also made God an object of amusement. Then he swallows the pages and gives
fire at the library, throwing his lamp. Meanwhile, Remigio and Salvatore are burned,
while the girl is being saved by the inhabitants of her village. Guglielmo retrieves some books from the
flame, while Bernardo, fleeing, dies falling from a cliff.
The day after, William and Adso leave the abbey, the latter leaving behind the girl he is fond of.
in love to continue following the spiritual path. However, he confesses that he has not in any way.
forgotten case of his earthly love, although he never knew her name.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
During the Middle Ages, every aspect of human life was strongly tied to religion.
culture, which was based mainly on the knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures and of the theologians
philosophy was gathered in monasteries. Anyone who tried to go further and conduct new studies was
condemned like a heretic by the Church itself.

The story narrated in The Name of the Rose is indirectly caused by a book of poetry by
Aristotle regarding laughter and amusement, which were considered inconceivable at the time. As supported by
Jorge, "laughter kills fear and without fear there can be no faith." He himself appears
obsessed by this theme: blind not only physically, but also mentally, as
does not accept any thought different from his faith, poisons the pages of the book in such a way that
causing the death of anyone who tries to read it. The curiosity and open-mindedness of William from
Baskerville represents a rare exception for that time.

At the time, the Church was overwhelmed by a moral crisis: many clergy became such to increase the
their power, not for vocation. Often they committed simony and lay with women (or, like
in the case of Berengarius, with other men) and cared exclusively for their interests, neglecting
any spiritual, material, and moral duty. Their wealthy lifestyle contrasted with the reality of
poor people, who, like in the film, were forced to pay taxes to monasteries (which instead would have
had to help them to live, not to further impoverish them). This phenomenon was the basis of the
the birth of the movement, rebels against the rich and oppressive clergy who preached the
the poverty of Christ. An example of heretics are the Dolcinians, followers of Brother Dulcino, whose repression
resulted in a massacre. Precisely to counter heresies, in the 13th century the Church established the tribunal
of the Inquisition, through which the accused were tortured, humiliated, or in the worst
in some cases, death penalty.

When the inquisitor Bernardo Gui accuses Guglielmo of heresy, he intends to leave together with him to
Avignon: at that time, in fact, the seat of the papacy was no longer Rome. In 1305 he ascended to the throne.
Pope Clement V, obedient to the will of the French king, refused to reach Rome and
moved its headquarters to the French city. This period, lasting seventy years and thus
also includes the year of the events recounted in The Name of the Rose (1327), was defined
Avignonese catvità.