Moralisées

Moralisées is a French term used to describe a class of texts and images whose primary aim is to teach moral lessons through narrative, allegory, or explicit commentary. The term encompasses works that present a story or scene and accompany it with didactic explanations, often to illustrate virtues and vices, social norms, or religious principles. While the word can be applied to literary works, it is frequently encountered in discussions of medieval and early modern European culture, where moral instruction was a central purpose of many productions.

Historically, moralisées emerged within Christian medieval culture as part of the broader practice of moralization or exempla. They commonly employ allegory, personifications, and glossed explanations to guide readers toward ethical understanding. A key and well-known example is the Bible moralisée, an illuminated Bible from the 13th to 14th century that pairs biblical scenes with extensive moral and theological commentary, often accompanied by visual allegories that explicate the moral meaning of the text for contemporary readers. Beyond biblical manuscripts, moralisées can be found in secular didactic literature and in devotional works that seek to shape behavior through illustrated or narrative guidance.

In modern scholarship, moralisées are studied as a bridge between narrative art and instructional didacticism. Researchers examine their methods of moral persuasion, their intended audiences, and their role in shaping social values and religious culture. Today, the term remains primarily of historical and literary interest, used to describe a specific mode of moral instruction rather than a widely practiced or contemporary genre.