[en] Europe the emergence of a wide variety of texts which may be framed or grouped into the so-called literature of vision of heaven, hell, and purgatory. Some of them emerge as Latin tractati or chronicles so as to provide their contents with certain historical genuineness, and others as poetical texts with a view to generating and producing a specific type of autonomous and easily identifiable literary genre. Few European countries lie outside in the process of participating in such a fertile and rich cultural emergence. The influence that the Roman Catholic Church exerts on all social classes during the Middle Ages together with its strong need to carry out a moralizing, exemplary and didactic role through the extant different religious (or preaching) orders; the constant desire of the medieval man to explore and get to know the mysteries and secrets of the supernatural world and the afterlife/otherworld; and the different kinds of widespread pandemic and plague at that time arousing visions, mystic deliriums and (1) visionaries belonging to different social strata prompt the rise of this type of literature, highlight it, and foster it universally. This type of literature or literary genre displays a set of constant and paradigmatic features or recurrent topoi (topos or toposes) that we might tag as ideological, conceptual, or related to content, which are common to and inherent in it; which define it, characterize it and are typical of it. Many of these topoi originally come from very specific sources deeply rooted into Jewish, Christian, Gnostic-Christian, Oriental, Arabic, or Greek-Latin traditions. Amongst these topoi we may find a protagonist-pilgrim who, guided by a venerable saint, bright angel or sacred bird, takes part involuntarily in a spiritual and bodily journey (by means of the soul and by means of physical experiences) ultimately leading him into the infernal regions, purgatory, and heaven (or terrestrial/earthly paradise). During this initiation or spiritual pilgrimage, the traveller describes his/her experience, the way it is gradually affecting him/her both spiritually and physically, the surrounding environment, and the bizarre and odd dwellers who inhabit the places he/she visits. However, in most cases the narrators/poet-narrators are those who describe the supernatural experience of this visionary. Some of the most relevant and popular texts within the canon of this type of literature are The Vision of Tundale (an Irish text from the 12th century written by an itinerant Benedictine Irish monk named Marcus. English version: 15th century), and the English text St. Patrick´s Purgatory (or Sir Owain/Knight Owain) (English version: 14th century), an English translation and adaptation based on the Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii (latin version: 12th century) written by the Cistercian English monk from Huntingdonshire H. (Henry) of Saltrey. This doctoral dissertation intends to study the poem of Irish origin The Vision of Tundale and the English poem St. Patrick´s Purgatory (or Sir Owain) by (1) identifying and recognizing their constant features or recurrent topoi, that is, the commonly-shared ideological or conceptual (related to content) and culturalreferential elements that place and categorize them within the framework of the vision literature of heaven, hell, and purgatory and define them as characteristic within a specific and independent literary genre and a canon of literary texts which turn out to be prototypical of this genre; (2) by classifying and describing these topoi as integral, comprehensive, and characteristic of the vision literature of heaven, hell, and purgatory; (3) by analyzing each of them within its own historical, social, religious, and cultural context of its time and determining its sources; and (4) by comparing the two selected texts in an attempt to identify, describe and analyze alike the elements which place them within the same literary genre, differentiate them and bestow upon them a markedly distinctive personality within a particular and independent type of literature. We shall concentrate on the versions in Middle English. On the other hand, we do think that including The Ghost of Gy (Gast in Middle English) in our study is appropriate, as this piece of work, though it is more linked with the 'ghost stories' than with the vision literature of heaven, hell, and purgatory proper, could be placed within the former genre in view of the fact that the protagonist, as if he were a sinful 'visionary', returns as a revenant from the after-life (especially from Purgatory) in order to tell (a Dominican Prior) his particular supernatural experience after his death. However, as the poem lacks most of the recurrent topoi which are part of the vision literature and focuses on the description and doctrine of Purgatory solely, we are not to study and analyze it with the depth and detail with which we have studied and analyzed The Vision of Tundale and Saint Patrick´s Purgatory (or Sir Owain). These two works deserve a greater analysis as well as a comparative study. Therefore, The Ghost of Gy is to be considered briefly and in a general and independent way. The dissertation is to be reinforced by a comprehensive theoretical framework in which (1) we shall review the main sources for the English and Irish (as well as European in general) vision literature of heaven, hell, and purgatory; and (2) we shall present and describe a complete selection of works grouped into this type of literature while highlighting the English and Irish ones.

[gl] A partir do século VI até o século XV fundamentalmente se produce en toda a Europa unha rica eclosión de textos pertencentes á denominada literatura de visión (ou visións) do ceo, inferno e purgatorio. Algúns en forma de tractatus latino ou crónica co fin de dar veracidade histórica aos seus contidos, e outros en forma poética co fin de crear un marcado xénero literario autónomo e facilmente recoñecíbel. Poucos son os países europeos que se subtraen ao compromiso ou á participación desta fecunda eclosión cultural ou que se manteñen á marxe dela. A influencia que exerce a igrexa católica en todos os estamentos da sociedade na Idade Media unida á súa necesidade imperiosa de cumprir cun papel moralizador, exemplarizador e didáctico a través das diferentes ordes relixiosas (ou de predicación) existentes, o anhelo constante do home daquela época por explorar e coñecer os misterios e segredos do mundo sobrenatural despois da morte, e as pandemias e pragas daquela etapa histórica que xeran visións, delirios místicos e visionarios (1) de diferentes estratos sociais, propician este tipo de literatura, póñena de moda, concédenlle un papel destacado, e impúlsana universalmente. Esta literatura ou xénero literario posúe unhas constantes, uns elementos paradigmáticos ou topoi (topos ou toposes) recorrentes que poderíamos denominar ideolóxicos, conceptuais ou de contido que son comúns e inherentes ao mesmo, que o definen, o caracterizan e son propios deste. Moitos deses topoi proceden de fontes moi específicas de tradición xudía, cristiá, gnóstico-cristiá, oriental, árabe, ou grecolatina. Entre estes topoi achamos un protagonista-peregrino que, guiado por un venerábel santo, anxo de luz ou ave sacra, participa involuntariamente nun periplo espiritual (por medio da alma) e corporal (a través de experiencias físicas) que o conduce ás rexións infernais, ao purgatorio e ao ceo (o paraíso terreal). Durante esta peregrinación iniciática ou espiritual, o viaxeiro describe a súa experiencia e a maneira en que esta lle vai afectando tanto espiritual como fisicamente, así como a natureza envolvente e os singulares habitantes dos lugares que visita. Na majoría dos casos, con todo, os narradores/poetas-narradores describen a experiencia sobrenatural deste visionario. Pertencentes ao canon de textos máis relevantes deste tipo de literatura áchanse o popular texto irlandés A Visión de Tundal (versión latina do século XII do monxe beneditino itinerante irlandés Marcus. Versión inglesa do século XV) e o texto inglés O Purgatorio de San Patricio (ou Sir Owain/O Cabaleiro Owain) (versión inglesa do século XIV), tradución e adaptación inglesa da obra Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii (versión latina do século XII), do monxe cisterciense inglés de Huntingdonshire H. (Henry) of Saltrey. Esta tese de doutoramento pretende levar a cabo un estudo do poema do orixen irlandés A Visión de Tundal e do poema inglés O Purgatorio de San Patricio (ou Sir Owain) consistente en (1): a identificación e recoñecemento das súas constantes ou topoi recorrentes, isto é, daqueles elementos ideolóxicos ou conceptuais (de contido) e culturais-referenciais comúns que os sitúan no marco da literatura de visión do ceo, inferno e purgatorio e os caracterizan como propios dun xénero literario específico e autónomo e dun canon de textos literarios prototípicos dese xénero; (2) na clasificación e descrición deses mesmos topoi que se erixen coma elementos integrais e característicos da literatura de visión do ceo, inferno e purgatorio; (3) na análise de cada un deles dentro do seu correspondente contexto histórico, social, relixioso, cultural e literario do seu tempo á par que se dilucidan e determinan as súas posíbeis fontes; e (4) na comparación dos dous textos seleccionados nun intento por identificar, describir, e analizar de igual modo aqueles elementos que os encadran no mesmo xénero literario, os diferencian e lles confiren personalidade propia dentro dun tipo de literatura determinada e independente. Traballaremos sobre as versións en inglés medio (Middle English). Por outro lado, consideramos convinte incluír O Espírito de Guy no noso estudo, xa que esta obra, aínda que é máis propia dos 'relatos de espíritos' que da literatura de visión do ceo, inferno e purgatorio propiamente dita, podería adscribirse ao devandito xénero, dado que o protagonista, coma se dun 'visionario' pecador se tratase, regresa do Máis aló (especificamente do purgatorio) ao mundo dos vivos para relatar (a un prior dominico) a súa particular experiencia sobrenatural alí, despois da súa morte. De todos os xeitos, ao carecer da maioría dos topoi recorrentes propios da literatura de visión e centrarse unicamente na descrición e doutrina do purgatorio, non imos estudala e analizala coa profundidade e detalle con que estudamos e analizamos A Visión de Tundal e O Purgatorio de San Patricio (ou Sir Owain), obras estas que si se prestan a unha maior análise e a un estudo comparativo. Por tanto, O Espiríto de Guy vaise tratar brevemente e dun modo xeral e de maneira independente. A tese irá acompañada dun marco teórico no que (1) se revisarán as fontes principais das que bebe a literatura de visión do ceo, inferno e purgatorio inglesa e irlandesa (e europea en xeral); e (2) se expoñerán e describirán unha completa selección de obras encadradas dentro deste tipo de literatura, poñéndose especial énfase nas obras inglesas e irlandesas.