A ''planctus'' (" plaint") is a

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

dirge A dirge () is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as may be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegy, elegies. Dirges are of ...

, a song or poem expressing grief or mourning. It became a popular literary form in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, when they were written in Latin and in the vernacular (e.g., the '' planh'' of the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

s). The most common ''planctus'' is to mourn the death of a famous person, but a number of other varieties have been identified by Peter Dronke. The earliest known example, the '' Planctus de obitu Karoli'', was composed around 814, on the death of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

. Other ''planctus'' from the ninth century include vernacular laments in a woman's voice, Germanic songs of exile and journeying, and ''planctus'' on biblical or classical themes (like the Latin '' Planctus cygni'', which is possibly derived from Germanic models). The earliest examples of music for ''planctus'' are found in tenth-century manuscripts associated with the Abbey of Saint Martial of Limoges. From the twelfth century Dronke identifies a growing number of laments of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

(called a ''planctus Mariae'') and ''complaintes d'amour'' (complaints of love) in the

courtly love Courtly love ( ; ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies b ...

tradition. From the mid-thirteenth century survives an early Catalan Marian lament, '' Augats, seyós qui credets Déu lo Payre'', and around 1300 the '' Lamentations of Mary'' were composed in Old Hungarian. The

Mongol invasion of Europe From the 1220s to the 1240s, the Mongol Empire, Mongols conquered the Turkic peoples, Turkic states of Volga Bulgaria, Cumania and Iranian peoples, Iranian state of Alania, and various principalities in Eastern Europe. Following this, they began ...

drew a ''planctus'' from an anonymous monk in the entourage of

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of Andrew II of Hungary, King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group ...

, the '' Planctus destructionis regni Hungariae per Tartaros'' (1242). The term may have been the source of the Irish planxty, a song written in tribute to a person, although etymologies from Irish are also suggested.''Notes and Queries''. (1871:41). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

References

Notes

{{Medieval music Medieval literature Medieval music genres