Matfre Ermengau
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Matfre Ermengau (died 1322) was a
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...
, legist, and
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 ...
from
Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...
. He had a
master of laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...
(''senhor de leis'') degree. He wrote one '' canso'', whose melody survives, and one moralising ''
sirventes The ''sirventes'' or ''serventes'' (), sometimes translated as "service song", was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry practiced by the troubadours. The name comes from ''sirvent'' ('serviceman'), from whose perspective the song is allegedly wr ...
''. His most famous work was an
Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
poetic book in 34,735
octosyllable The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a Meter (poetry), line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in trochees in languages with a stress accent. Its first occurrence is in a 10th-century Old French saint's legend, ...
s called the ''Breviari d'amor'', begun in 1288. Encyclopedic in length and diversity, its sole purpose is the reconciliation of love for God with the erotic amours of the troubadour lyric. It is divided into parts and is structured like a "tree of love". The ''Breviari'' is preserved in twelve full
codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...
and as many fragments. It was translated into Castilian and the
Limousin dialect Limousin (French name, ; , ) is a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the three departments of Limousin, parts of Charente and the Dordogne in the southwest of France. The first Occitan documents are in an early form of this dialect, pa ...
(once thought to be Catalan or ''catalanisant'' Occitan).William D. Paden, "Review of ''Le Breviari d'Amor de Matfre Ermengaud'', ed. Peter T. Ricketts", ''Romance Philology'', 37:1 (1983:Aug.), p. 109. Matfre also says that he would have written better in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
(from which he borrowed the word '' breviari'', from ''breviarium'', not found elsewhere in medieval Occitan). The work begins with popular
theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
, a section entitled "The Study of God and the Creation". From the
Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
it moves to
angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
,
demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including fiction, comics, film, t ...
, then the
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and the
planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets by the most restrictive definition of the te ...
. Then in a section entitled "The Study of Nature" ("Natural Law") he discusses the proper modes of
worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...
, then the temptations that affect Christians and the sins they must avoid. Exempla are drawn from daily life. Finally, in "The Love of God", he summarises the Christian creeds, the life of
Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
, and several
hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...
. The last section (8,000 lines) of the work, "Perilhos tractatz d'amor de donas, seguon qu'en han tractat li antic trobador en lurs cansos", structured as a dialogue between the defenders Love and her critics, is filled with citations (266 by some counts) of other troubadours and even some
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 po ...
s; Matfre cited himself six ( Jeanroy) or nine (Paden) times and cited his brother Peire twice. He was careful to cite poets from different eras, but his favourites appear to be
Aimeric de Peguilhan Aimeric or Aimery de Peguilhan, Peguillan, or Pégulhan (c. 1170 – c. 1230) was a troubadour (fl. 1190–1221)Gaunt and Kay, 279. born in Peguilhan (near Saint-Gaudens), the son of a cloth merchant. Aimeric's first patron was Raimon ...
,
Bernart de Ventadorn Bernart de Ventadorn (also Bernard de Ventadour or Bernat del Ventadorn; – ) was an Occitan poet-composer troubadour of the classical age of troubadour poetry. Generally regarded as the most important troubadour in both poetry and music, hi ...
, and
Peire Vidal Peire Vidal (fl. 12th century) was an Old Occitan troubadour. Forty-five of his songs are extant. The twelve that still have melodies bear testament to the deserved nature of his musical reputation. There is no contemporary reference to Peire out ...
of the "classical era".For a thorough treatment of Matfre's citation practices, see Francesca M. Nicholson, "Branches of knowledge: The purposes of citation in the ''Breviari d'amor'' of Matfre Ermengaud", ''Neophilologus'', 91:3 (2007), pp. 375–85. The title of "Perilhos" indicates that the ''antic'' (old) troubadours were authorities on poetic and amatory matters. He even quotes in support of this
Raimon Jordan Raimon Jordan (fl. c. 1178–1195)Boase, 823. was a County of Toulouse, Toulousain troubadour and the viscount of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, Saint-Antonin in the Rouergue near the boundary with Quercy. His poetry was in Old Occitan. There is a ...
using the word ''antic'' of his predecessors. Matfre's knowledge of the early troubadours came largely through reading and he indicates that the early troubadours "sung" about love, not that they wrote about it, as did Matfre and his contemporaries. After the "Perilhos", Matfre includes a letter (''epistola'') to his sister, written in
decasyllabic Decasyllable (Italian language, Italian: ''decasillabo'', French language, French: ''décasyllabe'', Serbian language, Serbian: ''десетерац'', ''deseterac'') is a Poetry, poetic Meter (poetry), meter of ten syllables used in poetic trad ...
rhyming couplets In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...
: ''Fraires Matfre a sa cara seror''. In it he explains the symbolism of a
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
capon A capon (from , genitive ''cāpōnis'') is a male chicken that has been castrated or neutered, either physically or chemically, to improve the quality of its flesh for food, and, in some countries like Spain, fattened by forced feeding. Histor ...
. Matfre has been credited, along with Ferrari da Ferrara, for pioneering the anthologising of the troubadours. Matfre is partly responsible for the later treatment of single ''
coblas A ''cobla esparsa'' ( literally meaning "scattered stanza") in Old Occitan is the name used for a single-stanza poem in troubadour poetry. They constitute about 15% of the troubadour output, and they are the dominant form among late (after 1220) a ...
'' as distinct units, because he regularly quoted one ''cobla'' from a troubadour and treated it as a single thought. Matfre had become quite famous by the time Peire de Ladils lumped him together with the heroes of
Arthurian romance The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...
(c.1340).


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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ermengau, Matfre 1322 deaths 14th-century French troubadours Year of birth unknown People from Béziers