SINGING OF ARMS: THE LANGUAGE OF CHIVALRY IN SELECTED SONGS OF THE MELLON CHANSONNIER WITH AN INDEX OF WORDS IN SONGS OF THE FRANCO-BURGUNDIAN CHANSONNIERS

Abstract

This study re-evaluates fifteenth-century polyphonic Middle-French chansons in light of the role that chivalry and a culture of arms played at the Burgundian courts of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. Eight Franco-Burgundian Chansonniers were selected for examination: the Mellon Chansonnier, US-NHub 91, the Cordiforme Chansonnier, F-Pnm Rothschild 2973, and the six so-called Loire Valley Chansonniers: the Copenhagen Chansonnier, DK-Kk MS Thott 291, 8°, the Dijon Chansonnier, F-Dm MS 517, the Laborde Chansonnier, US-Wc M2.1.L25 Case, the Leuven Chansonnier, B-AF MS 1, the Nivelle Chansonnier, F-Pn Rés. Vmc ms. 57, and the Wolfenbüttel Chansonnier, D-W Cod. Guelf. 287 Extrav. A brief history of armed contests and chivalry is provided as necessary background to interpreting the song texts. This includes the evolution of the forms of feats of arms from the mêlée to the pas d’armes, the formation of chivalric orders, including the Order of the Golden Fleece, the basics of heraldry, and how these all play a role in the fifteenth-century tournament, as illustrated by René d’Anjou’s Traictié de la forme et devis d’ung tourney of ca. 1460. My analysis of selected chanson texts leads me to group them as they are related to knighthood: songs including a knight in defeat, a knight’s complaint, a knight’s identity as expressed through heraldry, a bawdy knight, and a knight in conversation. I provide and justify new translations of the texts of Paracheve ton entreprise from the Mellon Chansonnier, Je serviray selon qu’on me payera from the Laborde Chansonnier, Escu dennuy seme de plours from the Leuven Chansonnier, and Il est de bonne heure né from the Dijon Chansonnier. Additionally, the texts of L'autre d’antan, l’autrier passa, A une damme j’ay fait vue, and Donnés l’assault a la fortresse from the Mellon Chansonnier, and Il est de bonne heure né from the Dijon Chansonnier are analyzed for their military associations that are reflected in their musical setting. Of particular interest is the combinative chanson Il sera pour vous conbatu / L’homme armé doibt on doubter from the Mellon Chansonnier. Here, both texts of the chanson are analyzed. A new, coherent interpretation of the text of the upper voice presented here eliminates the need for Alejandro Planchart’s suggested change of pour to par in line 1, as he explained in 2003. Also, the case is made here that the phrase crocq de ache, found in line 4, refers to a coronel-tipped tournament lance rather than the head of a stalk of celery. Further, I demonstrate that both texts of the chanson refer to a tournament and make the case that the song is associated with events at the Feast of the Pheasant held in Lille 17 February 1454, with its likely performance either as part of the entertainment associated with the Pas du Chevalier au Cygne, or during the post-banquet mummery. A quantitative investigation of the music associated with these chansons makes the case that motifs associated with the military calls of the trompette de guerre, such as “À cheval” and “À l’assault,” are used intentionally there to evoke battlefield sounds. Lastly, an Index of words from the Middle-French songs from these eight chansonniers is provided in the Appendix. This Index includes the variant spellings found in the texts of these chansons and associates them with their common spelling. Words excluded from the Index include closed classes of words (prepositions, conjunctions, articles, pronouns) and forms of the verbs aller, avoir, devoir, être, faire, pouvoir, savoir, and voir. The Index provides an aid to future research in locating songs that are textually related.