Setting a Mass to a secular song, the 15th-century L’Homme armé, is an oddity. But the title of this Mass is otherwise intriguing. Sir Karl Jenkins (b. 1944), a Welsh composer, dedicated his Armed Man: a Mass for Peace to the victims of the Kosovo genocide, giving his Mass a “contemporary resonance.” (Early Music Muse.)
The genocidal wars that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union reflect ethnic discrimination in Eastern Europe. Such discrimination is probably rooted in the very last Crusades, the fall of Constantinople.
On 29 May 1453, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Empire. Greek scholars fled to Italy initiating or buttressing the Renaissance. Moreover, Ottoman Turks invaded neighbouring countries, creating Muslim communities. In 1529, they nearly reached Vienna.
By the 15th century, the expanding Ottoman Empire overpowered the Balkan Peninsula, but faced successful rebellion and resistance led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. By the 17th and 18th centuries, a substantial number of Albanians converted to Islam, which offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the Ottoman Empire. Thereafter, Albanians attained significant positions and culturally contributed to the broader Muslim world.
The composition of the secular L’Homme armé has been attributed to Johannes Regis (c. 1425 – c. 1496), but it appears that Antoine Busnois (c. 1430 – 6 November 1492) is the song’s composer. Sources differ. Both Regis and Busnois were younger members of the Burgundian School, younger than Guillaume Du Fay (5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474). However, all three composers lived in the 15th century and were active in or after 1453. Busnois, Regis, and Du Fay were members of the Burgundian School, whose chief purpose was the development of polyphony. Although the Greeks invented polyphony, “the term polyphony is usually used to refer to music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.” (See Polyphony, Wikipedia.)
Conclusion
The fall of Constantinople and the conquest by Ottoman Turks of several European countries, the future Balkans mainly, led to battles and bloodshed. So, it is less surprising that 15th-century composers set the Ordinary of the Mass, the Mass’ permanent elements, to L’Homme armé, its cantus firmus, or fixed melody. “Some have suggested that the ‘armed man’ represents St Michael the Archangel.” (See L’Homme armé, Wikipedia.)
As for compositions of L’Homme armé that followed the breakdown of the Soviet Union, they reflect distant conflicts. Karl Jenkins’ Armed Man: a Mass for Peace, composed in 1999, is a commemoration. One is also reminded of Benjamin Britten‘s War Requiem, an anti-war piece.
L’homme armé / The armed man: the remarkable life of a 15th century song and its contemporary resonance. (Early Music Muse.)
L’homme armé doibt on doubter. On a fait partout crier Que chascun se viegne armer D’un haubregon de fer. L’homme armé doibt on doubter.
The armed man should be feared. Everywhere it has been proclaimed That each man shall arm himself With a coat of iron mail. The armed man should be feared.
Quand nous chanterons le temps des cerises When we will sing the time of cherries
Le gai rossignol et merle moqueur The gay nightingale and the mocking blackbird Seront tous en fête
All will rejoice Les belles auront la folie en tête
Pretty ladies will have crazy heads Et les amoureux du soleil au cœur
And lovers (will have) sunny hearts Quand nous chanterons le temps des cerises
When we will sing the time of cherries Sifflera bien mieux le merle moqueur The mocking blackbird will whistle better
Mais il est bien court le temps des cerises
But it is so short the time of cherries Où l’on s’en va deux cueillir en rêvant When two go to cull while dreaming Des pendants d’oreilles … Pendants for the ears Cerises d’amour aux robes pareilles
Cherries of love in dresses alike Tombant sous la feuille en gouttes de sang Falling through the leaves like drops of blood Mais il est bien court le temps des cerises But it is so short the time of cherries Pendants de corail qu’on cueille en rêvant ! Pendants of coral one culls while dreaming
Quand vous en serez au temps des cerises When you have reached the time of cherries Si vous avez peur des chagrins d’amour. If you fear the pain of love Évitez les belles Avoid (stay away from) pretty ladies Moi qui ne crains pas les peines cruelles I who do not fear cruel pains Je ne vivrai point sans souffrir un jour … I will not live without one day suffering Quand vous en serez au temps des cerises When you have reached the time of cherries Vous aurez aussi des peines d’amour ! You too will have (know) the pain of love
J’aimerai toujours le temps des cerises I will always love the time of cherries C’est de ce temps-là que je garde au cœur It is since that time that I keep in my heart Une plaie ouverte ! An open wound Et Dame Fortune, en m’étant offerte And whatever (luck) Lady Fortune offers Ne saura jamais fermer ma douleur Will never close (soothe) my pain J’aimerai toujours le temps des cerises I will always love the time of cherries Et le souvenir que je garde au cœur ! And the memories I keep in my heart
I would urge you to provide an income to all American employees whose benefits do not include paid sick leave. Would that I could say, help them when they fall ill, but such advice would make no sense. They must leave the workplace now. People who stay in the workplace will catch the virus and transmit it. The number of victims will then grow at an exponential rate.
One may be tempted to say that the economy will be hurt. Not necessarily. Pandemics are an industry. So much has to be manufactured: respirators, ventilators, the best masks, testing facilities, treatment facilities … It’s like a war effort and the United States has fought wars and thrived.
Make sure that the people working in the Pandemic industry are protected from head to toe.
I’ve listened to many videos and heard about measures taken in various countries. Containment is essential. There is no better strategy than containment. But one must eat.
Let us listen to what our experts have to say. They are the authorities. They can organise the war on Covid-19. We also have economists, experts. They can keep the boat afloat as the battle rages and wipe up the mess when it subsides.
Accountability
By ensuring that drastic measures are taken to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus you will reassure the markets. It’s the responsible choice. This choice will also comfort the people of the United States and the world.
I am posting this article, but the situation has already started to change, for the better. People must leave the workplace.
No country should allow the spread of a potentially deadly virus, which will happen if the little guy cannot get away from the working place. Not only would he or she be in the line of fire, but the virus would not be contained and the state would be accountable.
I did not intend to write an article today. But I just realized that today is the anniversary of D-Day, and I have a story to tell. In fact, it is a story I have already told, but …
One of my uncles survived D-Day for reasons he cannot understand. He then went north to Holland where he was asked to accompany prisoners of war who were being transported. They were seated at the back of a truck. All was well.
Out of the blue, one of the prisoners leaped from his seat and lowered my uncle’s body. My uncle nearly fell and he lost his rifle. The prisoner of war then helped him get up and retrieved the rifle. My uncle could not understand what had happened. So, the soldier showed him a metal wire the truck had just driven past. It would have decapitated my uncle had this “enemy” not seen it and acted promptly.
This was a moment of grace and innocence. It was a moment so precious that my uncle never forgot. In peacetime, the two young men would have enjoyed a long conversation over coffee. War had separated them.
It has been seventy-five years. Yet, tears still come to my uncle’s eyes when he remembers.
Schubert, Trio op. 100 – Andante con moto Par le Trio Wanderer (Voyage d’hiver 2007 – Carte Blanche au Trio Wanderer, réalisation Jean-Pierre Barizien – CLC Productions)
As a subject matter, doves are very complex, biologically and otherwise. First, they are subspecies in the large family of columbidae and “subspecies” of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica), known by scientists as the rock dove. (See Columbidae, Wikipedia.)
The pigeon,endowed with an innate homing ability and “selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distances,” is derived from the rock pigeon. (See Homing pigeon, Wikipedia.)
Although ‘dove’ usually refers to the smaller, long-tailed members of the pigeon family, there are exceptions: the domestic pigeon, a rather typical pigeon, is frequently called the rock dove and is the bird called the ‘dove of peace.’
Picasso being the creator of Guernica (1937), an anti-war painting, he was asked to produce an image that would represent peace. He designed a dove, and his design was chosen as a symbol of peace during the First International Peace Conference, held in Paris (1949).
The rock pigeon or rock dove is not necessarily white. White doves are bred to be white. But Picasso, the creator of the “dove of peace” coloured his dove the colour white, white itself constituting a symbol: purity and innocence mainly.
But Picasso went further. He rolled away millenia by putting an olive branch in the beak of his dove, le pigeon (masculine). The olive branch symbolises peace, or the cessation of hostilities. Those who surrender carry a white flag. The white flag might help explain the otherwise contradictory juxtaposition of military and pacifist groups. Wars, a constant plight, have often been fought against cruel invaders and demented dictators.
During World War I, a “homing pigeon, Cher Ami [Dear Friend], was awarded the French Croix de guerre for her heroic service in delivering 12 important messages, despite having been very badly injured.”
Cher Ami (masculine), may have been a female fighting with the boys, but she was a Joan of Arc among homing pigeons, or rock doves, and fully deserved her Croix de guerre.
[I]n World War II, hundreds of homing pigeons with the Confidential Pigeon Service were airdropped into northwest Europe to serve as intelligence vectors for local resistance agents. Birds played a vital part in the Invasion of Normandy as radios could not be used for fear of vital information being intercepted by the enemy.
Hence the motto engraved on the crest of the Tactical Communications Wing, of the Royal Air Force: Ubique Loquimur, “We speak everywhere.”
Crewman with homing pigeons carried in bombers as a means of communications in the event of a crash, ditching, or radio failure (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Speech is associated with homing pigeons or the rock dove because they are messengers. They have been messengers since the story of the flood and Noah’s Ark, perhaps earlier. God nearly destroyed the world He created, but humanity survived and there followed a series of covenants, or talks: Ubique Loquimur. For the purpose of this post, we need only tell that a dove was the first creature who brought a sign. It brought Noah a sign, as in semiotics, indicating that life on earth had been preserved. For the purposes of this post, we need only tell that a dove was the first creature who brought Noah a sign indicating that life on earth had been preserved.
The Dove of Peace & the Olive Branch
As noted above, Picasso‘s first depiction of his Dove of Peace showed a white dove carrying an olive branch, the olive branch being another symbol of peace. In Picasso’s subsequent portrayals of the Dove of Peace, his dove is whiter but it still carries an olive branch. Picasso thereby rooted his symbol of peace in one of the world’s most powerful etiological texts, the Book of Genesis, which contains the story of Noah’s Ark.
Etiological texts explain origins and causes. I have noted elsewhere that children’s literature is a rich source of pourquoi stories such as Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. Yet, the Bible, the Book of Genesis in particular, is a pourquoi (why) story.
Man has always sought an explanation to the human condition, his mortality, giving himself a past, a process called anamnesis, which, at times, may be his only sustenance.
“The Noah’s Ark narrative is repeated, with variations, in the Quran, where the ark appears as Safina Nūḥ (Arabic: سفينة نوح ‘Noah’s boat’).” (See Noah’s Ark, Wikipedia.) As for the flood, it appears in several etiological texts or myths.
In Judaism (Genesis 8:11), the first Abrahamic religion, there was once a competition that opposed a raven and a dove. During the flood, Noah’s Ark sheltered every animal, a male and a female of each species. When the water receded, Noah dispatched a raven to ascertain whether the flood was over and the land dry. The raven, a scavenger, did not return, which may have cost several crows, such as the crow in the Crow and Fox, their reputation. Noah then entrusted a dove to seek dry land.
[A]nd the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so, Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
(Genesis 8:11)
In the Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100 BCE or earlier), “Utnapishtim releases a dove and a raven to find land; the dove merely circles and returns. Only then does Utnapishtim send forth the raven, which does not return, and Utnapishtim concludes the raven has found land.” (See Doves as Symbols, Wikipedia.)
Doves, or the homing pigeon, have therefore been messengers since Noah’s Ark, if not earlier. God nearly destroyed what He had created, but humanity survived and entered into a series of covenants. For our purpose, however, we need only tell that a dove, who may have been white, was the first animal to bring Noah a sign indicating that life had been preserved. This dove was a messenger.
There are conflicting versions of this account, i.e. Noah’s Ark. One features two doves, but I have chosen the one-dove account. In Judaism, the first Abrahamic religion, and Christianity, the second Abrahamic religion, a dove, carrying an olive branch, brought Noah, a fine message: life had been preserved. The Ark is a sign of survival. The sacred text of the third Abrahamic religion, Islam, is the Quran, and it contains a Noah’s Ark narrative. A flood is a central event in many mythologies.
The Dove of Peace & the Olive Branch
As noted above, Picasso‘s Dove of Peace is white and carries an olive leaf or branch in its beak.
Picasso’s first depiction of his Dove of Peace showed a dove carrying an olive branch. In Picasso’s subsequent portrayals of the Dove of Peace, his dove is whiter and surrounded by olive leaves that one could mistake for flowers. Picasso thereby rooted his symbol in one of the world’s most powerful etiological texts, the Book of Genesis.
Etiological texts explain origins and causes. I have noted elsewhere that children’s literature is a rich source of pourquoi stories such as Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. Yet, the Bible, the Book of Genesis in particular, is a pourquoi (why) story. Man has always sought an explanation to the human condition, his mortality.
In Christianity, a white dove represents the Holy Spirit and the Trinity, where he is one of the person of God. Christianity is a monotheistic religion, as are all three Abrahamic religions, but the Christian God consists of three consubstantial(hypostasis) persons, “each person itself being God.” (See The Holy Spirit in Christianity, Wikipedia.) The Christian dove is white, as are angels, mythical winged creatures, and the Unicorn, who can only be tamed by a virgin.
Doves are also used in ceremonials. These doves are called release doves. During Pope John Paul II‘s 1984 visit to Montreal, white doves were released and a sixteen-year old Céline Dion sang Une Colombe. Release doves have an innate homing instinct.
Young lady in oriental clothing with a homing pigeon (19th century painting) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As messengers, doves have spoken since time immemorial. Homing pigeons, or rock doves, carry a message, but doves roucoulent or coo. It is a rather muted sound. They may therefore be telling the ineffable, speaking a private language, as understood by Ludwig Wittgenstein. A private language “must be in principle incapable of translation into an ordinary language.” (See Private Language Argument, Wikipedia.)
They may also be speaking Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin‘s (27 January 1826 – 10 May 1889) aesopian, a term first used to describe a language unclear to outsiders, thereby allowing authors to say what they please with relative impunity. In La Fontaine‘s fables, many of which are retellings of Æsop‘s fables, animals are as eloquent as they are silent. Louis XIV punished La Fontaine, who asked that Nicolas Fouquet be spared too harsh a punishment. La Fontaine was not elected to the Académie française until 1682, when he was more than 60 years old.
I have also discussed mankind’s wish for wings or his need to have wings. Icarus flew too close to the sun, the god Helios. His wings being attached to his body with wax, the wax melted and he fell into the sea. Yet humankind has since built sophisticated aircrafts, and messages may be forwarded in a matter of seconds.
Leaving Algeria: the Harkis and the Shephardi Jews
In 1961, as the War of Independence was drawing to a close, Algerians were drowned in Paris. (See Massacre of 1961, Wikipedia.) Moreover, before the mass exodus to France, the French disarmed the Harkis and left them behind. Harkis, now called French Muslims of Algerian descent, had been loyal to France during the eight-year War of Independence. It is estimated that as many as 150,000 were massacred. Torture was used on both sides of this conflict, the French and the National Liberation Front (FLN), and it was deemed acceptable. Harkis had to flee and did so with the assistance of French officers acting “against orders.”
“About 91,000 managed to flee to France, some with help from their French officers acting against orders, and today they and their descendants form a significant part of the Algerian-French population.” (See Algerian War, Wikipedia.)
In 1962, Sephardi Jews also fled to France and some to Israel. They had identified with the French during colonial times (1830-1962). They were the descendants of Jews who had escaped the Spanish Inquisition and many spoke Spanish. (See Algerian War, Wikipedia.)
The cease-fire was declared on 18 March 1962 by Charles de Gaulle, at great risk to his life. He would not listen to his bodyguards. De Gaulle pronounced Algeria independent on 3 July 1962 and Independence Day is celebrated on 5 July. French settlers wanted to stay in Algeria and were bitterly disappointed when De Gaulle declared a cease-fire and set about freeing Algeria. For some settlers, it was betrayal.
After France left Algeria, the country contemplated socialism. Its first president was Ahmed ben Bella, who described himself as an Islamist of “mild and peace-loving flavour.” (See Ahmed ben Bella, Wikipedia.) The Sand War, fought in October 1963, occurred during ben Bella’s presidency. Morocco was claiming ownership of Algerian territory. Ben Bella grew into an autocrat and a thief. He was deposed by his friend and colleague Houari Boumédiène (FLN). Boumédiène was a popular leader, but he fell ill and died in 1978, at the age of 46. Houari Boumédiène also contemplated socialism and put into place measures reflecting the influence of socialism.
Algerians are not Arabs. They are descendants of Berbers who converted to Islam. As we have seen, initially, Algerians were not attracted to Islamic fundamentalism and jihadism. Consequently, when Algeria’s neighbours to the east started promoting intégrisme, Islamic fundamentalism, resistance to Islamism culminated in the Algerian Civil War (1991-2002).
The Algerian Civil War, 1991: Fundamentalism
The Algerian Civil War “followed a coup negating an Islamist electoral victory.” (See Algerian Civil War, Wikipedia.) In December 1991, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) seemed about to defeat the National Liberation Front (FNL). The election was cancelled in January 1992 and a High Council of State was formed under the presidency of Chadli Bendjedid. During the Algerian Civil War, the government of Algeria, the National Liberation Front, opposed members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) who, contrary to the government, the FLN, were fundamentalist Muslims advocating Sunni Islamism and djihadism.
Barbaric massacres occurred during the Civil War. Most followed the hijacking of Air France Flight 8969 (1994), to which I have referred in my last post (See Related Articles). It was an act of terror that found a tragic echo in the attacks of 9/11 in the United States. The terrorists’ intention was to blow up the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but France’s anti-terror unit, the Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN), killed the terrorists at Marseille.
In 1999, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a member of the National Liberation Front (FLN), was elected president of Algeria. It could be that Islamic fundamentalism had lost its appeal, but given the wars waged in the Middle East during the 2000s, some fundamentalism could not be averted.
“In 2006, the GSPC, the Groupe salafiste pour la prédication et le combat,[1] was officially accepted as a branch of al-Qaida in a video message byAyman al-Zawahiri; soon thereafter, it changed its name toal-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).” (See Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Wikipedia.)
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria’s President, has not been seen since January 2016, which has fuelled rumours that he is extremely ill.
Conclusion
To sum up, after Algeria gained its independence, its leaders identified with socialism. However, groups were progressively drawn into the fundamentalist Islamism that was rooting itself in neighbouring Arab countries of the Middle East. It was called Salafist “Islamic revivalism.” Algeria resisted Islamic fundamentalism, but it found supporters.
The driver of the death truck of the 2016 Nice attack, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, was Tunisian. It has now been determined that the attack was planned over a year and that Mohamed Bouhlel had accomplices. He responded to calls to attack citizens of coalition countries fighting ISIL. Yet, he was not a suspect. (See 2016 Nice attack, Wikipedia.)
The Kouachi brothers (Charlie Hebdo shooting) were of Algerian descent and the two were radicalised in the Middle East. In other words, after France left Algeria, the Arabization of Algerians led to a degree of Islamic fundamentalism and at least two of the three major attacks on France have been perpetrated by descendants of the population of France’s Colonial Empire. ISIL, however, remains at the heart of terrorist attacks on France andEuropean cities. Last week, Munich was attacked. When will it end?
These are terrible days, but I doubt that radical Islamism will abate until it is rejected by Islam itself. Neither Islamic fundamentalism, nor autocratic leadership, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad‘s, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, can benefit the Middle East. Its citizens are walking out. It seems that Assad is ready to talk. (See Malta Today.)
President Obama is still the President of the United States and he is a man of peace, despite the strikes. The talks have to occur soon. Participants should be supplied with plenty of good food and drinks, sit at a round table, and put an end to this misery. Muslims are not migrating because they want to. They are migrating because they have to. This is self-destruction. Make Syria safe for Syrians, Iraq safe for Iraqis and free Saudi Raif Badawi. It is difficult to imagine why King Salman of Saudi Arabia fears an innocent blogger whose wife and children are living in my town. They are awaiting a beloved husband and father.
Reconciliation should happen soon, because members of the extreme Right could be voted into political office in mostly tolerant countries.
The Arab Spring was a call for greater democracy. It was energetic opposition to Islamic fundamentalism and Islamic radicalism, i.e. ISIL, by Muslims themselves.[2] But Assad was led by his fear of losing power. If he acts as he should, the migrant crisis will end and he may save himself.
Apologies for a long absence due to migraines. Love to everyone.♥
Le Ballet comique de la Reine(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Molière (15 January 1622 – 17 February 1673), born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, spent several years performing outside Paris. His first troupe, l’Illustre Théâtre, established in 1643, went bankrupt and, in 1645, Molière was imprisoned. He had to leave for the provinces.
Les Précieuses ridicules, a one-act play which premièred on 18 November 1659, was Molière’s first Parisian success and he would produce several other plays, about thirty-four, eleven of which were comédies-ballets, ten with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and one, with music by Charpentier. However, preceding the comédie-ballet, was the ballet de cour.
The first ballet, a ballet de cour, was Circé ou le Balet comique de la Royne (1581). It was commissioned by Catherine de’ Medici, and choreographed by Balthasar Beaujoyeulx, or Baldassarre da Belgioioso. As we have seen frequently, the Renaissance began in Italy and, consequently, many ‘French’ institutions find their origin in Italy. Dissemination was often due to marriages.
Louise was married to Henri III of France, a son a Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici, who was assassinated by Jacques Clément, a Catholic fanatic. As for Anne de Joyeuse (1561 – 1687), he perished at the hands of French Calvinist Protestants, called Huguenots, 800 of whom he had slaughtered. In fact, the French wars of religion are the backdrop to the creation of the ballet de cour.
Daniel Rabel: the “grotesque” in the ballet de cour
Daniel Rabel
the grotesque
Daniel Rabel (1578 – 3 January 1637) was a man of many talents. Wikipedia describes Rabel as “a Renaissance French painter, engraver, miniaturist, botanist and natural history illustrator.” As a painter, Rabel produced grotesque depictions of ballet, but beginning in 1617 until his death in 1637, Rabel was a set designer for theatres and for ballets de cour.
In our context the term grotesque (from grotto) is not pejorative. The ‘grotesque’ is an aesthetics as is the ‘baroque.’ Medieval gargoyles and misericords are acceptably ‘grotesques.’ Beverly Minster, a 12th-century cathedral, has a fine collection of grotesque misericords. In the 19th century, Hugo would revive the grotesque. His 1831 novel, Notre-Dame de Paris features Quasimodo, a hunchback. The “grotesque” is associated with the Middle Ages and the 19th century.
Le Roi danse
“Les Fées de la forêt de Saint-Germain” was danced at the Louvre in February 1625, with Louis XIII himself in the role of a “valiant fighter.” (See Daniel Rabel, Wikipedia.) Louis XIII also danced in the ballet he composed, the Ballet de la Merlaison.
You may remember that Louis XIII, the Sun-King’s father, wrote the Ballet de la Merlaison. Louis XIII was a composer and he composed a ballet. Consequently, the creation of ballet is associated with both Louis XIII and his son, Louis XIV. However, Louis XIII’s Ballet de la Merlaison is a ballet de cour as had been Circé ou le Balet Comique de la Royne. As noted above, Louis XIII performed in the ballet he composed.
Other ballets de cour were performed before 1661, when Molière created Les Fâcheux, (the Bores), to music byLully. King Louis XIII, the Sun-King’s father (Louis XIV), was a composer and, as noted above, he played a role in “Les Fées de la forêt de Saint-Germain.” Louis XIII composed the Ballet delaMerlaison, a ballet de cour.
Le Ballet de la Merlaison by Maurice Leloir, in Dumas père’s The Three Musketeers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme: comédie ballet and “play-within-a-play”
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Molière
For a long time, little attention was given Molière’s contribution to ballet, and my book, if ever it is published, will not improve matters as I will discuss only one comédie-ballet: George Dandin (1668). However, one cannot ignore Le Bourgeois gentihomme (14 November 1670), where the ballet is both entertainment and a play-within-a play. Monsieur Jourdain is deceived into marrying his daughter Lucile to Cléonte who has disguised himself into the son of the Mufti, le grand Turc. This is a case of comedy rescuing comedy.
Molière wrote the text of his comédies-ballets, and the text may be read independently of the divertissements, for which he also wrote the text. However, these ballets inject laughter into Molière’s comedies several of which are somber works. The ballets are, to a large extent, part of the comic text.
Except for The Imaginary Invalid (1673), the music of Molière’s comédies-ballets was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, born Giovanni Battista Lulli. Pierre Beauchamp (30 October 1631 – February 1705) was Molière’s choreographer.
All three, Molière (playwright), Lully (composer and dancer) and Pierre Beauchamp (choreographer), are major figures in their respective profession and Molière’s comédie-ballet a significant step in the creation of ballet. Lully was named director of AcadémieRoyale deMusique in 1669 and worked with Philippe Quinault, his librettist. The AcadémieRoyale de Musique developed into the Paris Opéra and the smaller Opéra Garnier. Since 1989, performances have been held at the 2700-seat theatre Opéra Bastille.
Several ballets de cour and the related comédies-ballets were staged. It would seem that VoltaireLa Princesse de Navarre (1745) is that last comédie-ballet. It was performed to music by Jean-Philippe Rameau (25 September 1683 – 12 September 1764). (See Comédie-ballet, Wikipedia.)
We close with Rameau’s Les Indes galantes, which was not an opera but a turning-point in the history of ballet in the galant style. Specialists were now developing ballet.
Conclusion
Les Fâcheux (The Bores) the first comédie-ballet (1661)
Vaux-le-Vicomte
Molière wrote eleven comédies-ballets, the first of which was Les Fâcheux (The Bores), created by Molière and Lully and performed at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Nicolas Fouquet’s magnificent castle. Fouquet invited a newly-crowned king Louis XIV to a lavish feast at Vaux, which took place on 17 August 1661, but Louis grew jealous. We have read that story. Louis XIV used ballets to cultivate the image of the Sun-King. Therefore, to a certain extent, ballet was put into the service of absolutism.
The painting above is a fine portrait of John the Fearless. The Wikipedia entry does not give the name of the artist, but it could be Rogier van der Weyden. Would that I could explain the symbolism. Why the brooch, the necklace, and, especially, the ring? This is a portrait to remember.
The Armagnac-Burgundian Civil war (1407 -1435)
The Civil War begins in 1407, when Louis I, Duke of Orleans is assassinated
Although, we are changing topic after this post, a correction is needed. I found a tiny mistake, a detail, while researching the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War. It has to do with dates. The correction is that the Armagnac-Burgundian CivilWardid not start when John the Fearless was assassinated in 1419. It started in 1407, when John the Fearless ordered thugs to assassinate Louis I, Duke of Orleans, King Charles IV’s brother.
In an earlier post, I wrote that, rumour has it that Louis, Duke of Orleans fathered Charles VII, his nephew, which could be the case. Isabeau de Bavière was married to Charles VI, the ‘Mad’ King of France, and Louis of Orleans, was a profligate prince. It would appear, that Charles VI knew he had been betrayed.
As we have seen, in an earlier post, Charles VI disinherited Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), twice. Charles VII was disinherited after the assassination of John the Fearless and was again disinherited by virtue of the Treaty of Troyes, signed in 1420. Under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes, not only did Charles VI disinherit his son, but he also agreed to marry his daughter, Catherine de Valois, to Henry V, King of England.
Charles was ‘mad,’ but how mad can one be?
Had Henry VI’s (b. 1421) succeeded in claiming the throne of France, he would have been a legitimate King of France, but not in the eyes of the people of France. They looked upon CharlesVII as the rightful successor to Charles VI.
The Civil War ended at the Congress of Arras, in 1435, when the Burgundians recognized Charles VII as King of France.
Assassination of the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, on the Bridge of Montereau, in 1419. — facsimile of a miniature in the “Chronicles” of Monstrelet, manuscript of the fifteenth century, in the Library of the Arsenal of Paris.
Charles VII by Jean Fouquet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A Tale of Two Kings
Joan of Arc
Charles VII, King of France, crowned on 17 July 1429
Henry VI of England, heir to the throne of France, but crowned in December 1431
In 1429, after La Hire, Dunois, and other officers lifted the Siege of Orleans, Joan of Arc took Charles VII to Reims Cathedral, where he was crowned on 17 July 1429. Charles VI had died in 1422, so there had not been a King of France for seven years. Henry VI, however was crowned at Notre-Dame de Paris on 26 December 1431, which means that, by 1431, there was a second King of France who was also King of England. He had been crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 November 1429.
The people of France looked upon Charles VII as their King because he was the son of CharlesVI, or so it seemed. Joan of Arc did save France. Had she not intervened, France could have become an English kingdom.[1]
Charles VI, the “Mad”
Philip the Bold (Burgundy 1)
Philip the Good (Burgundy 3)
John the Fearless (Burgundy 2)
Maître de Boucicault (Charles VI)
Anon. (Philip the Bold)
Rogier van der Weyden (Philip the Good)
Rogier van der Weyden (John the Fearless) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Support for the Treaty of Troyes; Misery for Charles VII
Charles VII was disinherited because he assassinated John the Fearless, his uncle and his father’s (Charles VI) cousin. Moreover, if the rumour is true, and it seems to be true, Louis d’Orléans was Charles VII‘s son, not Charles VI. Historically, Charles VII was disinherited by virtue of the Treaty of Troyes, signed at Troyes (France) in 1420.
Isabeau de Bavière, his mother, was in attendance when the Treaty of Troyes was signed. She disinherited her son.
The Estate General ratified the Treaty of Troyes when Henry V, King of England and heir to the throne of France entered Paris.
Charles VII was found guilty of treason, lèse-majesté, in a 1421 lit-de-justice, a court, he did not attend. The court “sentenced him to disinheritance and banishment from the Kingdom of France, losing all privileges to land and titles.” (See Charles VII, Wikipedia.)
The terms of the Treaty of Troyes were later confirmed by the Treaty of Amiens (1423), when Burgundy and Brittany confirmed the recognition of Henry VI of England as King of France and agreed to form a triple-defensive alliance against the Dauphin (heir) Charles VII.
Despite his being duly-crowned King of France at Reims, on 17 July 1429, Charles VII was called, pejoratively, “roi de Bourges.”
Rogier van der Weyden miniature 1447-8. Philip dresses his best, in an extravagant chaperon, to be presented with a History of Hainault by the author, flanked by his son Charles and his chancellor Nicolas Rolin. (Caption and photo credit: Wikipedia)
Conclusion
There would be further claims to the kingdom of France, based on the Treaty of Troyes, but the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil Warimproved the relationship between two French Royal Houses. During the Midde Ages, Burgundy and surrounding areas were the hub of European culture, particularly in the area of music: the Franco-Flemish School. One Burgundian was Jean de France, duc de Berry (d. 1416) who loved the arts and commissioned the Belles Heures du duc de Berry and the Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry.
Chaucer’s name is derived from the French le chausseur (the shoemaker), which suggests French ancestry. Moreover, Chaucer knew French. This would explain his ability to translate literary works written in French as well as his being assigned diplomatic missions that required a knowledge of French. For instance, as a courtier, he was asked to make an attempt to end the Hundred Years’ War. Chaucer was a man of many talents.
The Hundred Years’ War
In 1359, during the Hundred Years’ War, Chaucer travelled to France with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence[.] In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Reims. Edward III paid £16 to ransom him, a large sum of money that did not cover in full the amount demanded by France. Ransoms helped finance wars, hence the idiomatic ‘king’s ransom.’
The Romaunt of the Rose & Courtly Love
In all likelihood, it would at that time that Chaucer took to England the above-mentioned Roman de la Rose, which epitomizes courtly love. The number of the 22,000-line Roman de la Rose Chaucer translated seems of lesser importance than the role he played in introducing the conventions of courtly love to an English public. Chaucer’s the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde reflect his familiarity with courtly love.
Valentine’s Day
In 1340, when Charles, Duke of Orleans was released, after 25 years of captivity in England, he took to the court of France much of the legend of Valentine’s Day, which may or may not have included the myth about birds mating on 14 February, Valentine’s Day. In 1340, Chaucer had yet to write his 700-line Parlement of Foules(1343 – 1400) in which he speaks of birds mating of 14 February. Nor had Chaucer come into contact with Petrarch (20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374), and Boccaccio (1313 – 21 December 1375) authors whose works can be associated with Chaucer’s.
In all likelihood, the most important work our ransomed Chaucer took to England is the above-mentioned allegorical Roman de la Rose, which epitomizes courtly love. As noted, Chaucer translated at least part of the Roman de la Rose into The Romaunt of the Rose. However, the number of verses he translated seems less important than his introducing the conventions of courtly love to an English and probably courtly public. Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde reflect his familiarity with courtly love.
Reynard the Fox
Chaucer also used ‘Reynard material’ in The Nun’s Priest’sTale. He wrote a “Chanticleer and the Fox.” The Roman de la Rose and the Roman de Renart (Reynard the Fox) are the French Middle Ages’ foremost literary achievements.
Chanticleer and the Fox, in a medieval manuscript miniature (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Father” of English Literature
Yet, Chaucer was very much an English writer. He is considered the “Father” of English literature and is credited with validating the use of the English language, as a literary language, in a country where French and Latin were “the dominant literary languages.”[1] (See Geoffrey Chaucer, Wikipedia.)
Shakespeare and other Authors
The Hundred Years’ War also exerted an influence on Shakespeare, the co-author of Edward III. Moreover, Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) evokes the presence of the French in England in his Tess of the d’Huberville(1891). However, characters inhabiting Hardy’s ‘fictional’ Wessex would be the descendants of Normans who settled in England when it was conquered by William, Duke of Normandy.
Conclusion
The Hundred Years’ War was not a continuous struggle, but it was a very long and complex conflict that ended the most vigorous attempt on the part of England to claim the French throne. Marriages had made French the language of the English court and the English had relatives in France as did the French in England.
[1]Pietro Bembo, would validate the use of the vernacular in Italian literature. In France, this role was played by poet Joachim du Bellay (c. 1522 – 1 January 1560).
It would be difficult to understand some of the plays of William Shakespeare and other works of English or French literature without taking into account such major events as the Conquest of England, by William, Duke of Normandy, at the Battle of Hastings (1066), and the Hundred Years’ War. In the 12th century, at least two authors, Marie de France and Walter of England, wrote in Anglo-Norman, and French would be used at court, and perhaps elsewhere, until the conclusion of the Hundred Years’ War.
Let us go back to the literature that followed the Battle of Hastings, fought on 4 October 1066. On that day William, Duke of Normandy, defeated England’s King Harold (Harold Godwinson) who was killed in battle. The throne of England had been promised to William, Duke of Normandy, hence the battle. Following the Battle of Hastings, many Normans settled in England, two of whom, discussed later in this post, are important writers who penned their work in Anglo-Norman, a transitional language.
William, Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold, King of England, and became William I, King of England. But England, as a territory, remained as it was. The Normans who settled in England would soon speak a form of English.
Yet Latin and French words had been introduced into English. The word ‘curfew’ is an anglicised form of couvre-feu and jeopardy, an anglicised form of jeu parti a term used in a game resembling chess. It probably meant ‘checkmate’ or ‘échec et mat,’ from the Arabic « al cheikh mat » (see D’où vient…).
The Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Anglo-Norman Literature
Marie de France
Walter of England
The best-known Anglo-Norman author is Marie de France, a 12th-century writer, whose portrait, an illumination, is featured above. The second is Walter of England (Gualterus Anglicus). His French name would have been Gaut(h)ier d’Angleterre.
Marie de France, who lived in England but was born in France, is famous for her colection of lais: the lais of Guigemar, Chevrefoil (honeysuckle), Lanval, Yonec, Laustic, and other lais. Marie also wrote a book of Æsopic fables. Her fables were ‘Æsopic,’ but as we have seen in earlier posts, Æsop’s fables originate in the SanskritPanchatantra(3rd century BCE), its Arabic retelling, Kalīlah wa Dimnah, by Ibn al-Muqaffa (750 CE), and other sources.
The Lais of Marie de France
Arthurian Romances
Britanny
Courtly Love
The Lais of Marie de France are rooted in the Breton laiand their themes are love (early courtly love), and chivalry.Breton lais reflect the literature of Ireland and countries where Gaelic is or was spoken. The origin of the word lai has not been ascertained but whatever the meaning of lai, Marie’s works are examples of courtly love and chivalric literature. Marie de France could well be France’s first major author.
Marie’s lais can be associated to the songs of the troubadours whose native land was Provence and subject matter, chivalry and courtly love. Troubadours (langue d’oc) flourished until the Black Death (1346 – 1353), the plague. In northern France, they were called trouvères and spoke langued’oil.
Walter of England also lived in England in the 12th century, following the Battle of Hastings. He wrote Æsopic fables in Anglo-Norman. The history of fables is shrouded in mystery, so Walter has been considered the ‘anonymous Neveleti,’ the 17th-century fabulist whose collection of fables, the Mythologia Æsopica, in Latin, was used by French fabulist Jean de La Fontaine. However, the attribution to an anonymous ‘Neveleti’ has been ruled false. La Fontaine used Isaac Nicholas Nevelet’s Mythologia Æsopica.
The “Romulus”
Nevertheless, Walter of England would be the author of a collection of 62 fables in verse. The “62 fables is more accurately called the verseRomulus.” (See Walter of England [Gualterus Anglicus], Wikipedia). However, this seems anotherfalse attribution. There was no Romulus. It seems the medieval Æsop found its origin in Walter of England’s fables and elsewhere. Could it be that ‘Romulus’ meant Latin, from Rome?
John Lydgate and Robert Henryson
When English fabulist John Lydgate produced his Isopes Fabules, the first fable collection written in English, his source was long believed to be the verse Romulus, which it isn’t. As mentioned above, there was no Romulus. Lydgate’s source would probably be Walter of England’s collection of Æsop’s fables. In other words, John Lydgate’s English-language fables were an adaptation of Walter of England’s verse fables. Walter’s “The Cock and the Jewel,” was used by Robert Henryson in his 15th-century Morall Fabillis, written in Scots. (See Walter of England [Gualterus Anglicus], Wikipedia).
Conclusion
In short, after the Battle of Hastings, Normandy or France was briefly remembered by Marie de France and Walter of England. In the 12th century, ‘Æsopic’ fables were told in Anglo-Norman, a transitional language, but one that has survived in literature.
From literature written in the Anglo-Norman period, we will glimpse the literary legacy of the Hundred Years’ War, Geoffrey Chaucer in particular. Gone are knights in shining armour and short fables. An amused public is reading the lenghty anthropomorphicRoman de Renart, while Chaucer translates at least part of the 22,000-line Roman de la Rose, an allegoricalpoem that epitomizes courtly love.
Sources and Resources
Four of Marie’s lais are a Project Gutenberg [EBook #46234] EN publication
Marie’s Medieval Romances and some lais are a Project Gutenberg [EBook #11417]
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Wedding of 
© Micheline Walker
