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{{Short description|1980 historical novel by Umberto Eco}}
{{About|the 1980 Italian novel|the 1986 film adaptation|The Name of the Rose (film)|the 2019 miniseries|The Name of the Rose (miniseries)|other uses}} 
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=May 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox book
 | name             = The Name of the Rose
 | title_orig       = {{lang|it|Il nome della rosa}}<!--sic-->
 | translator       = [[William Weaver]]
 | image            = The Name of the Rose.jpg
 | caption          = First edition cover (Italian)
 | author           = [[Umberto Eco]]
 | country          = Italy
 | language         = Italian
 | genre            = {{flatlist|
*[[Historical mystery]]
*[[historiographic metafiction]]<ref name="Leinster, 2025">{{cite book |last1=Leinster |first1=Ciarán |title=Postmodernism in Arthur Miller's Long-Late Period |date=2025 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |location=Boston |isbn=978-9004723795 |page=97 |edition=1st |quote=The second key novel here is The Name of the Rose, an exemplary post- modernist text, which employs many typical devices and features, including a preoccupation with books and reading, an obsession with historical narra- tives (it is one of Hutcheon's examples of "historiographic metafiction"), and a keen sense of both intertextuality and its heritage.}}</ref>
*[[postmodern literature|postmodernism]]<ref name="Leinster, 2025" />}}
 | publisher        = {{ubl|[[Bompiani]] (Italy)|[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt]] (U.S.)}}
 | pub_date         = 1980
 | english_pub_date = 1983
 | media_type       = Print (hardcover)
 | pages            = 512
 | isbn             = 978-0-15-144647-6
 | dewey            = 853/.914 19
 | congress         = PQ4865.C6 N613 1983
}}
'''''The Name of the Rose''''' ({{langx|it|Il nome della rosa}} {{IPA|it|il ˈnoːme della ˈrɔːza|}}) is the 1980 [[debut novel]] by Italian author [[Umberto Eco]]. It is a [[historical fiction|historical]] murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining [[semiotics]] in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory. It was translated into English by [[William Weaver]] in 1983.

The novel has sold over 50 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the [[list of best-selling books|best-selling books]] ever published.<ref>[http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Name-of-the-Rose/Umberto-Eco/e/9780156001311 Library Journal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921060952/http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Name-of-the-Rose/Umberto-Eco/e/9780156001311/ |date=September 21, 2008 }} (no date)</ref> It has received many international awards and accolades, such as the [[Strega Prize]] in 1981 and {{lang|fr|[[Prix Médicis|Prix Medicis Étranger]]|italic=no}} in 1982, and was ranked 14th on [[Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century|{{lang|fr|Le Monde|nocat=y}}'s 100 Books of the Century list]].

== Plot summary ==
In 1327, [[Franciscan]] friar [[William of Baskerville]] and his assistant Adso of [[Stift Melk|Melk]] arrive at a [[Benedictine]] abbey in [[Northern Italy]] to attend a [[Disputation|theological disputation]]. The abbey is being used as neutral ground in a dispute between [[Pope John XXII]] and the Franciscans over the question of [[apostolic poverty]]. The monks of the abbey have recently been shaken by the suspicious death of one of their brothers, Adelmo of Otranto, and the abbot asks William (a former [[inquisitor]]) to investigate the incident. During his inquiries, William has a debate with one of the oldest monks in the abbey, Jorge of Burgos, about the permissibility of laughter, which Jorge regards as a threat to God's established order.

The second day, another monk, Venantius of Salvemec, is found dead in a vat of pig's blood. He has black stains on his tongue and fingers, suggesting poison. William learns that Adelmo was part of a homosexual [[love triangle]] that also involved the librarian, Malachi of Hildesheim, and Malachi's assistant, Berengar of Arundel. The only other monks who knew about these indiscretions were Jorge and Venantius. In spite of Malachi's ban, William and Adso enter the abbey's labyrinthine library. They discover that the library contains a hidden room named the {{lang|la|finis Africae}} after the presumed edge of the world, but they are unable to locate it. In the [[scriptorium]], they find a book on Venantius's desk along with some cryptic notes. Someone snatches the book and they pursue to no avail.

The third day, the monks are surprised by the disappearance of Berengar and William learns that there are two former [[Dulcinians]] in the abbey (Remigio of Voragine, the abbey's [[cellarer]], and the deformed monk Salvatore). Adso returns to the library alone in the evening. While leaving the library through the kitchen, he encounters a peasant girl. Although they do not share a language, they have a sexual encounter, Adso's first. After confessing to William, Adso is absolved, although he still feels guilty.

The fourth day, Berengar is found drowned in the abbey's bathhouse. His fingers and tongue bear stains similar to those found on Venantius. The pope's legation now arrives, led by Grand Inquisitor [[Bernard Gui]]. Salvatore is discovered attempting to cast a primitive love spell on the peasant girl, and Bernard arrests them both for witchcraft and heresy.

The fifth day is the day of the disputation. Severinus, the abbey's herbalist, tells William that he has found a "strange book" that demands the friar's attention, but William is unable to investigate the discovery until the disputation has ended. When William and Adso arrive at Severinus's laboratory, they find him dead, his skull crushed by a heavy [[armillary sphere]]. They search the room for the missing book but are unable to locate it. Remigio is discovered at the scene of the crime and taken into custody by Bernard, who accuses the "heretic" of committing all four homicides. Under threat of torture, Remigio confesses. Remigio, Salvatore, and the peasant girl are taken away and assumed to be doomed. In response to the recent tragedies in the abbey, Jorge gives an apocalyptic sermon about the coming of the [[Antichrist]].

At [[matins]] the morning of the sixth day, Malachi drops dead, his fingers and tongue black. The abbot is distraught at William's failure to solve the crimes and orders him to leave the abbey the following day. That night, William and Adso penetrate the library once more and enter the {{lang|la|finis Africae}} by solving Venantius's riddle. They discover Jorge waiting for them in the forbidden room. William has by now arrived at a solution. Berengar revealed the existence of the {{lang|la|finis Africae}} to Adelmo in exchange for a sexual favour. Adelmo, stricken with guilt over this sinful bargain, then committed suicide. Venantius overheard the secret and used it to gain possession of a rare and valuable book that Jorge had hidden in the room. Unbeknownst to him, Jorge had laced its pages with poison, correctly assuming that a reader would have to lick his fingers in order to turn them. Venantius's body was discovered by Berengar, who, fearing exposure, disposed of it in pig's blood before claiming the book and succumbing to its poison. The book was next found by Severinus, but Jorge manipulated Malachi into killing him before he could pass it on to William. Malachi died after ignoring Jorge's warning not to investigate the book's contents. The book itself, now back in Jorge's possession, is the lost second half of [[Poetics (Aristotle)|Aristotle's ''Poetics'']], which discusses the virtues of laughter.

Jorge confirms William's deductions and justifies himself by pointing to the fact that the deaths correspond to the [[seven trumpets]] described in the [[Book of Revelation]], and therefore must form part of a divine plan. Two more deaths will complete the sequence: that of the abbot, whom Jorge has trapped in an airless passageway beneath the {{lang|la|finis Africae}}, and that of Jorge himself. He begins consuming the book's poisoned pages and uses Adso's lantern to start a fire in the library.

Adso summons the monks in a futile attempt to extinguish the fire. As the fire consumes the library and spreads to the rest of the abbey, William laments his failure. Confused and defeated, William and Adso escape the abbey. Years later, Adso, now aged, returns to the ruins of the abbey and salvages any remaining scraps and fragments, eventually creating a lesser library.

== Characters ==
=== Primary characters ===
* [[William of Baskerville]] – main protagonist, a Franciscan friar
* Adso of [[Melk]] – narrator, [[Benedictine]] novice accompanying William

=== At the monastery ===
* Abo of [[Fossanova Abbey|Fossanova]] – the abbot of the Benedictine monastery
* Severinus of [[Sankt Wendel]] – herbalist who helps William
* Malachi of [[Hildesheim]] – librarian
* Berengar of [[Arundel]] – assistant librarian
* Adelmo of [[Otranto]] – [[limner|illuminator]], novice
* Venantius of Salvemec – translator of manuscripts
* Benno of [[Uppsala]] – student of rhetoric
* Alinardo of [[Grottaferrata]] – eldest monk
* Jorge of [[Burgos]] – elderly blind monk
* Remigio of [[Varazze|Varagine]] – cellarer
* Salvatore of [[Montferrat]] – monk, associate of Remigio
* Nicholas of [[Morimondo]] – glazier
* Aymaro of [[Alessandria]] – gossipy, sneering monk
* Pacificus of [[Tivoli, Lazio|Tivoli]]
* Peter of [[Sant'Albano Stura|Sant’Albano]]
* Waldo of [[Hereford]]
* Magnus of [[Iona]]
* Patrick of [[Clonmacnoise|Clonmacnois]]
* Rabano of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]]

=== Outsiders ===
* [[Ubertino of Casale]] – Franciscan friar in exile, friend of William
* [[Michael of Cesena]] – Minister General of the Franciscans
* [[Bernard Gui]] – Inquisitor
* {{lang|it|[[Bertrand du Pouget|Bertrand del Poggetto]]|italic=no}} – Cardinal and leader of the Papal legation
* Jerome of Kaffa ([[Jerome of Catalonia]] aka {{lang|la|Hieronymus Catalani}}) – Bishop of [[Feodosia|Kaffa]]
* Peasant girl from the village below the monastery

== Major themes ==
Eco was a professor of [[semiotics]], and employed techniques of [[metanarrative]], partial fictionalization, and linguistic ambiguity to create a world enriched by layers of meaning. The solution to the central murder mystery hinges on the contents of [[Aristotle]]'s [[Poetics (Aristotle)|book on Comedy]], which has been [[lost literary work|lost]]. In spite of this, Eco speculates on the content and has the characters react to it. Through the motif of this lost and possibly suppressed book which might have aestheticized the farcical, the unheroic and the skeptical, Eco also makes an ironically slanted plea for tolerance and against dogmatic or self-sufficient metaphysical truths – an angle which reaches the surface in the final chapters.<ref>[[Lars Gustafsson]], postscript to Swedish edition ''The Name of the Rose''</ref> In this regard, the conclusion mimics a [[novel of ideas]], with William representing rationality, investigation, logical deduction, empiricism and also the beauty of the human minds, against Jorge's dogmatism, censoriousness, and pursuit of keeping, no matter the cost, the secrets of the library closed and hidden to the outside world, including the other monks of the abbey.

''The Name of the Rose'' has been described as a work of [[postmodernism]].<ref name=butler>[[Christopher Butler (literary scholar)|Christopher Butler]]. ''Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction''. [[OUP]], 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-19-280239-2}} — see pages 32 and 126 for discussion of the novel.</ref> The quote in the novel, "books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told", refers to a postmodern idea that all texts perpetually refer to other texts, rather than external reality, while also harkening back to the medieval notion that citation and quotation of books was inherently necessary to write new stories. The novel ends with irony: as Eco explains in his ''Postscript to the Name of the Rose'', "very little is discovered and the detective is defeated."<ref name="postscript">"Postscript to the Name of the Rose", printed in ''The Name of the Rose'' (Harcourt, Inc., 1984), p. 506.</ref> After unraveling the central mystery in part through coincidence and error, William of Baskerville concludes in fatigue that there "was no pattern." Thus Eco turns the modernist quest for finality, certainty and meaning on its head, leaving the nominal plot—that of a detective story—broken, the series of deaths following a chaotic pattern of multiple causes, accident, and arguably without inherent meaning.<ref name=butler/>

== The {{lang|la|aedificium}}'s labyrinth ==
The mystery revolves around the abbey library, situated in a fortified tower—the {{lang|la|aedificium}}. This structure has three floors—the ground floor contains the kitchen and [[refectory]], the first floor a [[scriptorium]], and the top floor is occupied by the library.<ref>First Day, Terce, paragraph 37</ref> The two lower floors are open to all, while only the librarian may enter the last. A catalogue of books is kept in the scriptorium, where manuscripts are read and copied. A monk who wishes to read a book would send a request to the librarian, who, if he thought the request justified, would bring it to the scriptorium. Finally, the library is in the form of a labyrinth, whose secret only the librarian and the assistant librarian know.<ref>First Day, Terce, paragraph 67</ref>

The {{lang|la|aedificium}} has four towers at the four cardinal points, and the top floor of each has seven rooms on the outside, surrounding a central room. There are another eight rooms on the outer walls, and sixteen rooms in the centre of the maze. Thus, the library has a total of fifty-six rooms.<ref>Third Day, Vespers, paragraphs 50–56</ref> Each room has a scroll containing a verse from the [[Book of Revelation]]. The first letter of the verse is the letter corresponding to that room.<ref>Third Day, Vespers, paragraphs 64–68</ref> The letters of adjacent rooms, read together, give the name of a region (e.g. [[Hibernia]] in the West tower), and those rooms contain books from that region. The geographical regions are:
[[File:Labyrinthus Aedificium.svg|thumb|The {{lang|la|aedificium}}'s labyrinth]]
* {{lang|la|Fons Adae}}, 'The earthly paradise' contains Bibles and commentaries, East Tower
* {{lang|la|Acaia}}, Greece, Northeast
* {{lang|la|Iudaea}}, Judea, East
* {{lang|la|Aegyptus}}, Egypt, Southeast
* {{lang|la|Leones}}, 'South' contains books from Africa, South Tower
* {{lang|la|Yspania}}, Spain, Southwest outer
* {{lang|la|Roma}}, Italy, Southwest inner
* {{lang|la|Hibernia}}, Ireland, West Tower
* {{lang|la|Gallia}}, France, Northwest
* {{lang|la|Germania}}, Germany, North
* {{lang|la|Anglia}}, England, North Tower
Two rooms have no lettering – the easternmost room, which has an altar, and the central room on the south tower, the so-called {{lang|la|finis Africae}}, which contains the most heavily guarded books, and can only be entered through a secret door. The entrance to the library is in the central room of the east tower, which is connected to the scriptorium by a staircase.<ref>Fourth Day, After Compline</ref>

== Title ==
Much attention has been paid to the mystery of what the book's title refers to. In fact, Eco has stated that his intention was to find a "totally neutral title".<ref name="postscript"/> In one version of the story, when he had finished writing the novel, Eco hurriedly suggested some ten names for it and asked a few of his friends to choose one. They chose ''The Name of the Rose''.<ref name="onLiterature">[[Umberto Eco]]. ''On Literature''. Secker & Warburg, 2005, p. 129-130. {{ISBN|0-436-21017-7}}.</ref> In another version of the story, Eco had wanted the neutral title ''Adso of Melk'', but that was vetoed by his publisher, and then the title ''The Name of the Rose'' "came to me virtually by chance." In the ''Postscript to the Name of the Rose'', Eco claims to have chosen the title "because the rose is a symbolic figure so rich in meanings that by now it hardly has any meaning left".<ref name="postscript" /> He further suggests that the title effectively "disorients" the reader, allowing for multiple interpretations rather than a prescribed one.<ref name="postscript" />

The book's last line, "{{lang|la|Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus}}" translates as: "the rose of old remains only in its name; we possess naked names." The general sense, as Eco pointed out,<ref>{{cite web |title=Name of the Rose: Title and Last Line |url=http://www.umbertoeco.com/id-39/UmbertEco_Name_of_the_Rose_Umberto_Eco.html |access-date=2007-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070121024505/http://www.umbertoeco.com/id-39/UmbertEco_Name_of_the_Rose_Umberto_Eco.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2007-01-21}}</ref> was that from the beauty of the past, now disappeared, we hold only the name. In this novel, the lost "rose" could be seen as [[Aristotle]]'s [[Poetics (Aristotle)|book on comedy]] (this part of his Poetics is now forever lost<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Walter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpElEAAAQBAJ |title=The Lost Second Book of Aristotle's "Poetics" |date=2015-03-23 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-27411-9 |language=en}}</ref>), the exquisite library now destroyed, or the beautiful peasant girl now dead.

This text has also been translated as "Yesterday's rose stands only in name, we hold only empty names." This line is a verse by the twelfth-century monk [[Bernard of Cluny]] (also known as Bernard of Morlaix). Medieval manuscripts of this line are not in agreement: Eco quotes one Medieval variant verbatim,<ref>Eco would have found this reading in, for example, the standard text edited by H.C. Hoskier (London 1929); only the Hiersemann manuscript preserves "Roma". For the verse quoted in this form before Eco, see e.g. Alexander Cooke, ''An essay on the origin, progress, and decline of rhyming Latin verse'' (1828), [https://books.google.com/books?id=u2_DthwIpvsC&pg=PA59&dq=%22stat+rosa+pristina%22 p. 59], and Hermann Adalbert Daniel, ''Thesaurus hymnologicus sive hymnorum canticorum sequentiarum'' (1855), [https://books.google.com/books?id=6ScPAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA290&dq=%22stat+rosa+pristina%22 p. 290]. See further Pepin, Ronald E. "Adso's closing line in The Name of the Rose." ''American notes and queries'' (May–June 1986): 151–152.</ref> but Eco was not aware at the time of the text more commonly printed in modern editions, in which the reference is to [[Rome]] ({{lang|la|Roma}}), not to a rose ({{lang|la|rosa}}).<ref>As Eco wrote in [http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_author.html "The Author and his Interpreters"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101231523/http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_author.html |date=January 1, 2008 }} "Thus the title of my novel, had I come across another version of Morlay's poem, could have been ''The Name of Rome'' (thus acquiring fascist overtones)".</ref> The alternative text, with its context, runs: {{lang|la|Nunc ubi Regulus aut ubi Romulus aut ubi Remus? / Stat Roma pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus}}. This translates as "Where now is Regulus, or Romulus, or Remus? / Primordial Rome abides only in its name; we hold only naked names".<ref name="cluny">{{cite book |author=Bernard of Cluny |chapter=De contemptu mundi: Une vision du monde vers 1144 |editor-first=A. |editor-last=Cresson |translator=A. Cresson |title=Témoins de notre histoire |publisher=Turnhout |year=2009 |department=p. 126 (Book 1, 952), and note thereto p. 257}}</ref>

The title may also be an allusion to the [[nominalist]] position in the [[problem of universals]], taken by [[William of Ockham]]. According to nominalism, universals are bare names: for example, there is not a universal rose, only a bunch of particular flowers that we artificially singled out by naming them "''roses"''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cothran |first=Thomas M. |title=Hegel and Nominalism |url=http://www.vitalremnants.com/2011/12/hegel-and-nominalism.html |access-date=2025-11-07 |language=en}}</ref>

A further possible inspiration for the title may be a poem by the Mexican poet and mystic [[Nun|Sor]] [[Juana Inés de la Cruz]] (1651–1695):
<blockquote><poem lang=es>
Rosa que al prado, encarnada,
te ostentas presuntuosa
de grana y carmín bañada:
campa lozana y gustosa;
pero no, que siendo hermosa
también serás desdichada.
</poem></blockquote>

This poem appears in Eco's ''Postscript to the Name of the Rose'', and is translated into English in "Note 1" of that book as:

<blockquote><poem>
Red rose growing in the meadow,
bravely you vaunt thyself
in crimson and carmine bathed:
displayed in rich and growing state.
But no: as precious as thou may seem,
Not happy soon thou shall be.<ref name="postscript" /><!-- "soon", not "too", is the translation provided in Note 1; please do not alter it -->
</poem></blockquote>

== Allusions ==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2010}}

=== To other works ===
The name of the central character, William of Baskerville, alludes both to the fictional detective [[Sherlock Holmes]] (compare ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles]]''&nbsp;– also, Adso's description of William in the beginning of the book resembles, almost word for word, Dr. Watson's description of Sherlock Holmes when he first makes his acquaintance in ''[[A Study in Scarlet]]'') and to [[William of Ockham]] (see the next section). The name of the novice, Adso of Melk, refers to [[Melk Abbey]] in Austria, the site of a famous medieval library. Further, his name echoes the narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Watson (omitting the first and last letters).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipbOrcd8q9UC&pg=PA257|title=Reading Eco: An Anthology|editor-first=Rocco|editor-last=Capozzi|date=February 22, 1997|publisher=[[Indiana University Press]]|isbn=9780253112828}}</ref>

The blind librarian Jorge of [[Burgos]] is a nod to [[Argentina|Argentine]] writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]], a major influence on Eco. Borges was blind during his later years and was also director of [[National Library of the Argentine Republic|Argentina's national library]]; his short story "[[The Library of Babel]]" is an inspiration for the secret library in Eco's book.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The library of Babel|author=Borges, Jorge Luis|date=2000|publisher=David R. Godine|others=[[Érik Desmazières|Desmazières, Erik]], 1948–, Hurley, Andrew, 1944–, Giral, Angela.|isbn=156792123X|location=Boston|oclc=44089369}}</ref> Another of Borges's stories, "[[The Secret Miracle]]", features a blind librarian. In addition, a number of other themes drawn from various of Borges's works are used throughout ''The Name of the Rose'': [[labyrinth]]s, mirrors, sects, and obscure manuscripts and books.

The ending also owes a debt to Borges's short story "[[Death and the Compass]]", in which a detective proposes a theory for the behaviour of a murderer. The murderer learns of the theory and uses it to trap the detective. In ''The Name of the Rose'', the librarian Jorge uses William's belief that the murders are based on the [[Revelation to John]] to misdirect William, though in Eco's tale, the detective succeeds in solving the crime.

The "poisoned page" motif may have been inspired by [[Alexandre Dumas]]' novel {{lang|fr|[[La Reine Margot (novel)|La Reine Margot]]}} (1845). It was also used in the film {{lang|it|[[Il giovedì]]}} (1963) by Italian director [[Dino Risi]].<ref name="Lolito">notes to {{cite book|title=Lolito|author=Daniele Luttazzi|pages=514–15}}</ref> A similar story is associated with the Chinese erotic novel ''[[Jin Ping Mei]]'', translated as ''The Golden Lotus'' or ''The Plum in the Golden Vase''.

Eco seems also to have been aware of [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s short story "[[Debits and Credits (Kipling)|The Eye of Allah]]", which touches on many of the same themes, like optics, manuscript illumination, music, medicine, priestly authority and the Church's attitude to scientific discovery and independent thought, and which also includes a character named John of Burgos.

Eco was also inspired by the 19th-century Italian novelist [[Alessandro Manzoni]], citing ''[[The Betrothed]]'' as an example of the specific type of historical novel he purposed to create, in which some of the characters may be made up, but their motivations and actions remain authentic to the period and render history more comprehensible.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Postscript to The name of the rose |last=Umberto |first=Eco |date=1984 |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |author-link=Umberto Eco |isbn=9780151731565 |edition=1st |location=San Diego |oclc=10996520 }}</ref>

Throughout the book, there are [[Latin]] quotes, authentic and apocryphal. There are also discussions of the philosophy of [[Aristotle]] and of a variety of [[Millenarism|millenarist]] heresies, especially those associated with the [[fraticelli]]. Numerous other philosophers are referenced throughout the book, often anachronistically, including [[Wittgenstein]].

=== To actual history and geography ===
[[File:La Sacra ammantata dalla neve.jpg|thumb|upright=1.86|[[Sacra di San Michele|Saint Michael's Abbey]], in the [[Susa Valley]], Piedmont, in northwest Italy; reportedly an inspiration for the book]]
The book describes monastic life in the 14th century. The action takes place at a [[Benedictine]] abbey during the controversy surrounding the doctrines about  [[absolute poverty of Christ]] and [[apostolic poverty]] between branches of [[Franciscans]] and [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]]; (see [[Franciscan#Renewed controversy on the question of poverty|renewed controversy on the question of poverty]]). The setting was inspired by monumental [[Sacra di San Michele|Saint Michael's Abbey]] in [[Susa Valley]], Piedmont and visited by Umberto Eco.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avosacra.it/sito/curiosita_sulla_sacra.html |title=AVOSacra – Associazione volontari Sacra di San Michele |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016095913/http://www.avosacra.it/sito/curiosita_sulla_sacra.html |archive-date=October 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Mola |first=Rosalia Anna |date=2017 |title=Il nome della rosa: Dal romanzo al film |trans-title=The Name of the Rose: From novel to film |url=https://www.academia.edu/34153316 |type=Thesis |language=Italian |publisher=[[University of Bari|Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro]] |pages=38, 60 |access-date=August 5, 2023}}</ref>

The book highlights tensions that existed within Christianity during the medieval era: the Spirituals, one faction within the Franciscan order, demanded that the Church should abandon all wealth, and some [[heresy|heretical]] sects, such as the [[Dulcinian]]s, began killing the well-to-do, while the majority of the Franciscans and the clergy took to a broader interpretation of the gospel. Also in the background is the conflict between [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]] and [[Pope John XXII]], with the Pope condemning the Spirituals and the Emperor supporting them as proxies in a larger [[church and state in medieval Europe|power struggle at the time]] over authorities claimed by both the Church and Empire.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hitchcock |first=James |date=January 1, 1987 |title=War of the Rose: The Historical Context of ''The Name of the Rose'' |url=https://crisismagazine.com/vault/war-of-the-rose-the-historical-context-of-the-name-of-the-rose |magazine=Crisis Magazine |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[Sophia Institute Press]] |access-date=August 5, 2023 }}</ref> The novel takes place during the [[Avignon Papacy]] and in his Prologue, Adso mentions the election of [[anti-king]] [[Frederick the Fair|Frederick of Austria]] as a rival claimant to Emperor Louis thirteen years before the story begins.<ref name="prologue">"Prologue", ''The Name of the Rose'', (Harcourt, Inc., 1984), p. 12-13.</ref> Adso's "Last Page" epilogue describes the Emperor's appointment of [[Antipope Nicholas V|Nicholas V]] as [[anti-Pope]] in Rome shortly after Louis IV abandoned reconciliation with John XXII (a decision Adso connects with the disastrous events of the novel's theological conference).<ref name="last page">"Last Page", ''The Name of the Rose'', (Harcourt, Inc., 1984), p. 498-499.</ref>

A number of the characters, such as [[Bernard Gui]], [[Ubertino of Casale]] and the Franciscan [[Michael of Cesena]], are historical figures, though Eco's characterization of them is not always historically accurate. His portrayal of Bernard Gui in particular has been widely criticized by historians as a caricature; Edward Peters has stated that the character is "rather more sinister and notorious&nbsp;... than he ever was historically", and he and others have argued that the character is actually based on the grotesque portrayals of inquisitors and Catholic prelates more broadly in eighteenth and nineteenth-century [[Gothic fiction|Gothic literature]], such as [[Matthew Lewis (writer)|Matthew Gregory Lewis]]'s ''[[The Monk]]'' (1796).'''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Inquisition|last=Peters|first=Edward|publisher=University of California Press|year=1988|isbn=0520066308|location=Berkeley|pages=60, 307|oclc=18683092}}</ref>'''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Medieval film|last=Ganim|first=John M.|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780719077029|editor-last=Bernau|editor-first=Anke|location=Manchester|pages=198–9|chapter=Medieval noir: anatomy of a metaphor|oclc=313645262|editor-last2=Bildhauer|editor-first2=Bettina}}</ref> Additionally, part of the novel's dialogue is derived from Gui's inquisitor's manual, the {{lang|la|Practica Inquisitionis Heretice Pravitatis}}. In the inquisition scene, the character of Gui asks the cellarer Remigius,  "What do you believe?", to which Remigius replies, "What do you believe, my Lord?" Gui responds, "I believe in all that the Creed teaches", and Remigius tells him, "So I believe, my Lord." Bernard then points out that Remigius is not claiming to believe in the Creed, but to believe that he, ''Gui'', believes in the Creed; this is a paraphrased example from Gui's inquisitor's manual, used to warn inquisitors of the manipulative tendencies of heretics.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/heresy2.asp |title=Bernard Gui: Inquisitorial Technique (c.1307–1323) |website=Internet History Sourcebooks Project |access-date=2019-02-27 }}</ref>

Adso's description of the portal of the monastery is recognizably that of the portal of the [[Moissac Abbey|church]] at [[Moissac|Moissac, France]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJRV1c57xfgC&q=eglise+moissac+eco&pg=PA248 |title=Signs of Change: Transformations of Christian Traditions and Their Representation in the Arts, 1000–2000 |last1=Petersen |first1=Nils Holger |last2=Clüver |first2=Claus |last3=Bell |first3=Nicolas |date=2004 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=9042009993 |language=en }}</ref> [[Dante Alighieri]] and his ''[[Divine Comedy|Comedy]]'' are mentioned once in passing. There is also a quick reference to a famous "Umberto of Bologna" – Umberto Eco himself.

== Adaptations ==
=== Dramatic works ===
* A play adaptation by Grigore Gonţa premiered at [[National Theatre Bucharest]] in 1998, starring [[Radu Beligan]], [[Gheorghe Dinică]], and [[Ion Cojar]].
* A two-part radio drama based on the novel and adapted by [[Chris Dolan]] was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] on June 16 and 23, 2006.

=== Films ===
* In 1986, a [[The Name of the Rose (film)|film adaptation]] was directed by [[Jean-Jacques Annaud]] starring [[Sean Connery]] as [[William of Baskerville]] and [[Christian Slater]] as Adso.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=Film: Medieval Mystery in ''Name of the Rose'' |author-link=Vincent Canby |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=September 24, 1986 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/24/movies/film-medieval-mystery-in-name-of-the-rose.html }}</ref>

=== Graphic novels ===
* [[Milo Manara]] turned the novel into a [[graphic novel]] in two parts in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pucci |first=Giacomo |date=June 6, 2023 |title=SalTo23 {{!}} Milo Manara's ''The Name of the Rose'' |url=https://hypercritic.org/milo-manara-name-of-the-rose/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=Hypercritic |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Games ===
* A Spanish video game adaptation was released in 1987 under the title {{lang|es|[[La Abadía del Crimen]]}} (''The Abbey of Crime'').
* {{lang|la|Nomen Rosae}} (1988),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=^Spectrum+Collection+1$&pub=^Ignacio+Prini+Garcia$ |title=Nomen Rosae |website=World of Spectrum |publisher=Ignacio Prini Garcia }}</ref> a Spanish [[ZX Spectrum]] [[maze video game]] developed by Cocasoft and published by MicroHobby. It only depicts the abbey's library of the novel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0017824 |title=Nomen Rosae |website=World of Spectrum }}</ref>
* {{lang|it|Il Noma della Rosa}} {{sic}} (1993) is a Slovak ZX Spectrum [[adventure video game]] developed by Orion Software and published by Perpetum.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0015662 |title=Noma della Rosa, Il |website=World of Spectrum }}</ref>
* ''[[Mystery of the Abbey]]'' is a [[board game]] inspired by the novel, designed by Bruno Faidutti and Serge Laget.
* [[Ravensburger]] published an [[eponymous]] board game in 2008, designed by [[Stefan Feld]], based on the events of the book.<ref>{{cite news |title=GeekBuddy Analysis: ''The Name of the Rose'' (2008) |website=[[BoardGameGeek]] |url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35488/name-rose/credits |access-date=May 31, 2019 }}</ref>
* ''[[Murder in the Abbey]]'' (2008), an [[graphic adventure game|adventure]] video game loosely based upon the novel, was developed by [[Alcachofa Soft]] and published by [[DreamCatcher Interactive]].
* {{lang|es|La Abadía del Crimen Extensum}} (''The Abbey of Crime Extensum''), a free remake of {{lang|es|La Abadía del Crimen}} written in [[Java (programming language)|Java]], was released on [[Steam (service)|Steam]] in 2016 with English-, French-, Italian-, and Spanish-language versions. This remake greatly enhances the gameplay of the original, while also expanding the story and the cast of characters, borrowing elements from the movie and book. The game is dedicated to Umberto Eco, who died in 2016, and [[Paco Menéndez]], the programmer of the original game.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://abadiadelcrimenextensum.com/ |title=La abadía del crimen Extensum |website= abadiadelcrimenextensum.com}}</ref>
* The novel and original film provided inspiration for aspects of ''[[Thief: The Dark Project]]'', and a full mission in its expansion Thief Gold, specifically, monastic orders and the design of the {{lang|la|aedificium}}.  Additionally, in the games' level editor [[DromEd]], the intentionally ugly default texture was given the name "Jorge".
*The 2022 game ''[[Pentiment (video game)|Pentiment]]'', which also involves a murder-mystery set in and around a medieval monastery, draws heavily from the novel,<ref>[https://www.eurogamer.net/pentiment-review-a-sixteenth-century-mystery-that-blossoms-with-intrigue-and-human-warmth Pentiment review – a 16th century mystery that blossoms with intrigue and human warmth], ''Eurogamer''</ref> as confirmed by director [[Josh Sawyer]] and cited in the end-game credits.<ref>[https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/making-pentiment-s-most-macabre-murder-mysteries Making Pentiment's most macabre murder mysteries], ''Game Developer''</ref>

=== Music ===
* Dutch multi-instrumentalist [[Arjen Anthony Lucassen]] released the song "The Abbey of Synn" on his album ''[[Actual Fantasy]]'' (1996). Lyrics are direct references to the story.
* The Swedish metal band [[Falconer (band)|Falconer]] released the song "Heresy in Disguise" in 2001, part of their ''[[Falconer (album)|Falconer]]'' album. The song is based on the novel.
* The British metal band [[Iron Maiden]] released the song "Sign of the Cross" in 1995, part of their ''[[The X Factor (album)|X Factor]]'' album. The song refers to the novel.
* The British rock band [[Ten (band)|Ten]] released the album ''[[The Name of the Rose (album)|The Name of the Rose]]'' (1996), whose eponymous track is loosely based around some of the philosophical concepts of the novel.
* Romanian composer [[Șerban Nichifor]] released the poem {{lang|it|Il nome della rosa}} for cello and piano 4 hands  (1989). The poem is based on the novel.<ref>{{IMSLP |work=Il nome della rosa (Nichifor, Serban) |cname=''Il nome della rosa'', by Serban Nichifor }}</ref>
*The Japanese [[visual kei]] band [[D (band)|D]] named their debut album ''The Name of the Rose'' as a tribute to the book.
*The Swedish metal band [[Tribulation (band)|Tribulation]] released the song "Poison Pages" in 2024, part of their ''Sub Rosa In Æternum'' album. The song is based on the novel.

=== Television ===
* An eight-part miniseries adaptation, ''[[The Name of the Rose (miniseries)|The Name of the Rose]]'' was produced in Italy in 2018<ref>{{cite news |last=Roxborough |first=Scott |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-turturro-rupert-everett-star-tv-version-name-rose-1054224 |title=John Turturro, Rupert Everett to Star in TV Version of ''The Name of the Rose'' |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=November 2, 2017 |access-date=November 14, 2017 }}</ref> and premiered on [[Rai 1]] on March 4, 2019. The series was directed by [[Giacomo Battiato]], and stars [[John Turturro]] as William of Baskerville, [[Rupert Everett]] as Gui, and newcomer Damian Hardung as Adso.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vivarelli |first=Nick |url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/global/john-turturro-will-play-14th-century-monk-william-of-baskerville-in-the-name-of-the-rose-tv-adaptation-exclusive-1202591009/ |title=John Turturro to Play Monk William of Baskerville in ''Name of The Rose'' TV Adaptation |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=November 14, 2017 }}</ref> The series premiered in the UK on [[BBC 2]] on October 11, 2019.

== Errors ==
Some historical errors present are most likely part of the literary artifice, whose contextualization is documented in the pages of the book preceding the Prologue, in which the author states that the manuscript on which the current Italian translation was later carried out contained interpolations due to different authors from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Saggi su Il nome della rosa |author=AA. VV. |editor=Renato Giovannoli |publisher=Bompiani |year=1999 |isbn=88-452-4059-2 }}</ref> Eco also personally reported some errors and anachronisms present in various editions of the novel until the revision of 2011:

* The novel mentions [[bell peppers]], first in a recipe ("sheep meat with raw pepper sauce"), then in a dream of Adso, but it is an "impossible dish". These peppers were in fact imported from the Americas over a century and a half after the time in which the novel takes place. The same error is repeated later when Adso dreams of a reworking of the [[Coena Cypriani]], in which peppers are among the foods that guests bring to the table.<ref name="errors">{{cite web |first=Maurizio |last=Bono |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2011/09/05/eco-cosi-ho-corretto-il-nome-della.html |title=Eco: così ho corretto Il nome della rosa |work=[[La Repubblica]] |date=September 5, 2011 |access-date=January 25, 2014}}</ref>
* During the seventh day-night, Jorge tells Guglielmo that [[Francis of Assisi]] "imitated with a piece of wood the movements of the player violin", an instrument that did not exist before the 16th century.<ref name="errors" />
* At one point in the novel Adso claims to have done something in "a few seconds" when that time measure was not yet used in the Middle Ages.<ref name="errors" />

== See also ==
{{portal|Novels}}
* [[Theological fiction]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |first=Umberto |last=Eco |author-link=Umberto Eco |title=The Name of the Rose |url=https://archive.org/details/nameofrose000ecou |url-access=registration |publisher=Harcourt |year=1983 |isbn=9780151446476 }}
* {{cite book |first=Theresa |last=Coletti |title=Naming the Rose |url=https://archive.org/details/namingroseecomed00cole |url-access=registration |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1988 |isbn=9780801421143 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Garrett |first=J |year=1991 |title=Missing Eco, on Reading ''The Name of the Rose'' as Library Criticism |journal=[[The Library Quarterly]] |volume=61 |issue=4 |pages=373–388 |doi=10.1086/602394 }}
* {{cite book |first=Adele |last=Haft |title=The Key to ''The Name of the Rose'' |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-472-08621-4 }}
* {{cite web |last=Ketzan |first=Erik |title=Borges and ''The Name of the Rose'' |url=http://www.themodernword.com/borges/borges_papers_ketzan.html |access-date=2007-08-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814084440/http://www.themodernword.com/borges/borges_papers_ketzan.html |archive-date=2007-08-14 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wischermann |first=Heinfried |title=Romanesque |publisher=Konemann |year=1997 }}

== External links ==
* {{Wikiquote-inline|Umberto Eco}}
* {{Commonscatinline}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/133_wbc_archive_new/page2.shtml Umberto Eco discusses ''The Name of the Rose ''] on the BBC ''[[World Book Club]]''
* [http://www.klostereberbach.com Filming location Kloster Eberbach, Germany]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110129003302/http://www.postmodernmystery.com/name_of_the_rose.html ''The Name of the Rose'' by Umberto Eco, reviewed by Ted Gioia (Postmodern Mystery)]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/eco-rose.html ''New York Times'' Review]
* Konopka T. "What kind of poison was used in 'The Name of the Rose'?" ''Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol.'' 2020;70(4):191-201. English. doi: 10.5114/amsik.2020.104944. PMID: 34431644.[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34431644/]


{{Umberto Eco}}
{{The Name of the Rose}}
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