The Chansonnier d'Arras is an

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

of the late 13th century containing a variety of religious and philosophical texts and songs in 220

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

s. It is written in the

Picard dialect Picard (, also , ) is a ''langue d'oïl'' of the Romance language family spoken in the northernmost part of France and Hainaut province in Belgium. Administratively, this area is divided between the French Hauts-de-France region and the Belgian ...

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...

. It is now manuscript 657 (formerly 139) in the municipal library of

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the ...

. In

trouvère ''Trouvère'' (, ), sometimes spelled ''trouveur'' (, ), is the Northern French ('' langue d'oïl'') form of the '' langue d'oc'' (Occitan) word ''trobador'', the precursor of the modern French word ''troubadour''. ''Trouvère'' refers to poet ...

studies, it is known by the conventional ''

siglum Scribal abbreviations or sigla (singular: siglum) are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mechanica ...

'' A.

Production and provenance

Two scribal hands are responsible for the text and one for the musical notation, which was added last. A scribe named Jehans d'Amiens li petis signed and dated the last work in August 1278. It is possible that the chansonnier section was only added in the early 14th century. The manuscript is a product of

Artois Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht''), ...

, possibly

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. It belonged to the

Abbey of Saint-Vaast The Abbey of St Vaast (french: Abbaye de Saint-Vaast) was a Benedictine monastery situated in Arras, ''département'' of Pas-de-Calais, France. History The abbey was founded in 667. Saint Vedast, or Vaast (c. 453–540) was the first Bishop ...

by about 1625, but was seized by the government during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

in 1790. A facsimile of the manuscript was published in 1926 by

Alfred Jeanroy Alfred Jeanroy (5 July 1859 – 13 March 1953) was a French linguist. Jeanroy was a leading scholar studying troubadour poetry, publishing over 600 works. He established an influential view of the second generation of troubadours divided into ...

, who detected that some pages were out of order. The manuscript was rebound by the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national reposito ...

in 1955.

Although the entire manuscript is commonly called a

chansonnier A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings ...

, only the middle section truly fits that description. The manuscript can be divided into three sections. The first 128 folios are devoted to religious, philosophical and ethical texts. A

rubric A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the la, rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th c ...

on the first folio identifies the works which follow as philosophy and morality. These include the poem '. On folio 32, an

explicit Explicit refers to something that is specific, clear, or detailed. It can also mean: * Explicit knowledge, knowledge that can be readily articulated, codified and transmitted to others * Explicit (text) The explicit (from Latin ''explicitus est'', ...

announces the end of the first part. It is followed by some

Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

texts (including a paraphrase of the ''

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Ann ...

''), a series of saint's legends and Richart de Fournival's ''Bestiaire d'Amour''. There are some lacunae in this section.. The saints with legends are Susanna,

Julian Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (give ...

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

Eligius Eligius may refer to: * Saint Eligius (c. 588–659), Catholic patron saint of goldsmiths and other metalworkers * Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen (german: Eligius Franz Joseph Frei ...

Eustace Eustace, also rendered Eustis, ( ) is the rendition in English of two phonetically similar Greek given names: *Εὔσταχυς (''Eústachys'') meaning "fruitful", "fecund"; literally "abundant in grain"; its Latin equivalents are ''Fæcundus/Fe ...

, Patrick,

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...

and

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Bened ...

. The second section, consisting of 32 folios, contains 42 ''

chansons A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic son ...

'' of

courtly love Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) 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 vari ...

and 31 ''

jeux partis The ''jeu-parti'' (plural ''jeux-partis'', also known as ''parture'') is a genre of French lyric poetry composed between two ''trouvères''. It is a cognate of the Occitan partimen (also known as ''partia'' or ''joc partit''). In the classic type ...

'' (debate songs). All have musical notation. Five trouvères with works in this section are drawn in

miniature A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to: * Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting * Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture * Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or proble ...

. These are the

Chastelain de Couci Le Chastelain de Couci (modern orthography Le Châtelain de Coucy) was a French trouvère of the 12th century. He may have been the Guy de Couci who was castellan of Château de Coucy from 1186 to 1203. Some twenty-six songs, written in langue d' ...

Gautier de Dargies Gautier de Dargies (ca. 1170 – ca. 1240) was a trouvère from Dargies. He was one of the most prolific of the early trouvères; possibly twenty-five of his lyrics survive, twenty-two with accompanying melodies, in sixteen separate ''chansonni ...

, Ugon de Bregi, Richart de Fournival and

Adam de la Halle Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-composer '' trouvère''. Among the few medieval composers to write both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been considered both a conservative and prog ...

. In addition to these, four other trouvères are named but not illustrated: the

Vidame de Chartres Vidame de Chartres was a title in the French nobility. There are a few vidame titles in France, of which that of Chartres is probably the best known, because a number of holders have been notable in widely different ways over the centuries. Vida ...

, Pierres de Molaine, Duke

Henry III of Brabant Henry III of Brabant ( 1230 – February 28, 1261, Leuven) was Duke of Brabant between 1248 and his death. He was the son of Henry II of Brabant and Marie of Hohenstaufen. He was also a trouvère. The disputed territory of Lothier, the forme ...

and

Guillaume li Vinier Guillaume le Vinier (''c''. 1190–1245) was a cleric and trouvère, one of the most prolific composers in the genre.Theodore Karp, "Le Vinier, Guillaume", ''Grove Music Online'', ''Oxford Music Online'' (accessed 20 September 2008). He has left co ...

. Many of the songs and all of the ''jeux partis'' are anonymous in the Chansonnier d'Arras, but the authorship of most is known from other sources. The final section of 52 folios contains two

romances Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

, the '' Roman des sept sages'' and the ''

Roman de Marques de Rome The Old French Seven Sages cycle is a cycle of seven prose romances based on the legend of the Seven Sages of Rome The ''Seven Wise Masters'' (also called the ''Seven Sages'' or ''Seven Wise Men'') is a cycle of stories of Sanskrit, Persian or ...

''.

List of trouvères

The following trouvères have work in the Chansonnier d'Arras: *

Adam de Givenchi Adam de Givenchi (fl. 1230–1268) was a trouvère, probably from Givenchy and active in and around Arras. His surname is also spelled Givenci, Gevanche, or Gievenci. Adam appears in charters of May and July 1230 as a clerk of the Bishop of Arr ...

*the

Gilles le Vinier Gilles le Vinier (died 1252) was a trouvère from a middle-class family of Arras. He was the younger brother of fellow trouvère Guillaume le Vinier. He entered the church and served as a canon at Arras, where he was the church's legal representa ...

Jehan Bretel Jehan Bretel (''c''.1210 – 1272) was a trouvère. Of his known oeuvre of probably 97 songs, 96 have survived. Judging by his contacts with other trouvères he was famous and popular. Seven works by other trouvères (Jehan de Grieviler, Jehan Erar ...

* Jehan le Cuvelier *

Jehan de Grieviler Jehan de Grieviler (''fl.'' mid- to late 13th century) was an Artesian cleric and trouvère. Jehan was probably born at Grévillers near Arras. A certain "Grieviler" is mentioned in the necrology (''registre'') of the Confrérie des jongleurs ...

Jehan Simon Jehan is a male given name. It is the old orthography of Jean in Old French, and is rarely given anymore. It is also a variant of the Persian name Jahan in some South Asian languages. People with the given name Jehan * Jehan Adam (15th century ...

Lambert Ferri Lambert Ferri (fl. c. 1250–1300) was a trouvère and cleric at the Benedictine monastery at Saint-Léonard, Pas-de-Calais. By 1268 he was a canon and a deacon of the monastery; he is last associated with the monastery in 1282. He was a popul ...

* Maroie *

Margot Margot (; ) is a feminine French given name, a variant of Marguerite. It is also occasionally a surname. Persons named Margot include the following: People with the given name Margot * Margot Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith * Marguerite ...

* Pierres de Molaine * Pierot de Neele * Philippot Verdière *

Richard de Fournival Richard de Fournival or Richart de Fornival (1201 – ?1260) was a medieval philosopher and trouvère perhaps best known for the ''Bestiaire d'amour'' ("The Bestiary of Love"). Life Richard de Fournival was born in Amiens on October 10, 1201. ...

Robert de la Piere Robert de la Piere (died 1258) was a trouvère of the so-called "school" of Arras. In his time Robert's bourgeois family was prominent in Arras, though the earliest known member is only recorded in 1212. Robert served as a magistrate in 1255, as a ...

* Simon d'Autie *

Theobald I of Navarre Theobald I (french: Thibaut, es, Teobaldo; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famou ...

* Ugon de Bregi *the

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{refend

External links

Complete scan online
1278 works 13th-century illuminated manuscripts Medieval music manuscript sources Arras

Production and provenance

Contents

List of trouvères

Notes

Bibliography

External links