Macaire is a given name and surname associated with medieval France, although it appears to have several claims of origin. It was originally a male name, and later came to be considered a male or female name. ''Macaire'' is also the common name for a 12th-century
French chanson de geste
The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th ce ...
, named for one of its main characters.
People
People with the surname include:
*
David Macaire, Archbishop of Martinique
*
Maurice Macaire
Maurice Macaire (November 22, 1881 in Paris, date of death unknown) was a French football player who competed in the 1900 Olympic Games. In Paris he won a silver medal as a member of Club Français
Club Français was a French associ ...
, French footballer in the 1900 Olympics
*
Robert Macaire (diplomat)
Robert Nigel Paul Macaire CMG (born 19 February 1966) is a British diplomat who served as UK's Ambassador to Iran from 2018 to 2021.
Macaire has held a number of senior posts in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and prior to his ...
, British diplomat
*
Robert Macaire
Robert Macaire is a fictional character, an unscrupulous swindler, who appears in a number of French plays, films, and other works of art. In French culture he represents an archetypal villain. He was principally the creation of an actor, Frédér ...
, a villainous character in French fiction
In fiction
Macaire is the name of the main character in two works, ''Macaire'' and ''
La Reine Sibille
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' (14th century), both versions of the story of the false accusation brought against the queen of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...
, called "Blanchefleur" in ''Macaire'' and "Sibille" in the later poem. ''Macaire'' is only preserved in the
Franco-Venetian Franco-Italian, also known as Franco-Venetian or Franco-Lombard, was a literary language used in parts of northern Italy, from the mid-13th century to the end of the 14th century. It was employed by writers including Brunetto Latini and Rustichello ...
''Geste of Charlemagne'' (Bibl. St Mark MS. fr. xiii.). ''La Reine Sibille'' only exists in fragments, but the tale is given in the chronicle of
Alberic Trium Fontium
Alberic (french: Albéric; german: Alberich; nl, Alberik, lat, Albericus) is a name closely related to Aubrey.
People with the name:
People with the mononym
*Alberic I, Count of Dammartin (died after 1162)
* Alberic II, Count of Dammartin (die ...
, a monk of the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...
monastery of Trois Fontanes in the diocese of
Chlons, and in a prose version. ''Macaire'' is the product of the fusion of two legends: that of the unjustly repudiated wife and that of the dog who detects the murderer of his master. For the former motive see
Genevieve de Brabant. The second is found in
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ...
, ''Script. moral.'', ed. Didot ii. (1186), where a dog, like Aubri's hound, stayed three days without food by the body of its master, and subsequently attacked the murderers, thus leading to their discovery. The duel between Macaire and the dog is paralleled by an interpolation by
Giraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...
in a manuscript of the ''Hexameron'' of
Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...
. Aubri's hound received the name of the "dog of
Montargis
Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France.
Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Loiret, after Orléans and its suburbs. It is near a large forest, and contains light industry and farming, i ...
," because a representation of the story was painted on a chimney-piece in the chateau of Montargis in the 15th century.
The tale was early divorced from Carolingian tradition, and
Jean de la Taille, in his ''Discours notable des duels'' (Paris, 1607), places the incident under
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infant ...
.
See also
*
Saint-Macaire (disambiguation)
References
*
Matter of France
Medieval literature
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