Guillaume de Machaut

Guillaume de Machaut , born towards 1300 and died in 1377, was the most famous writer and French type-setter of the 14th century. It marked during at least a century the European artistic production.

Biography

Machaut was probably born and received its education in the area of Rheims (its name derives from its birthplace, which would be the village of Machault, to approximately 40 kilometers in the North-East of Rheims in the the Ardennes).

It was employed as secretary of 1323 with 1346 by Jean I {{er}} of Bohemia, with which it acquired the love of the Fauconnerie, of the knighthood and the adventures; he became priest during this period in addition. He probably accompanied Jean Ier in his various voyages (mainly of the military campaigns) through Europe (in particular with Prague). He was named Chanoine Verdun in 1330, of Arras in 1332 and of Rheims in 1333. Towards 1340, Machaut lived in Rheims, having given up its other canonic stations at the request of the pope Benoît XII.

In 1346, Jean Ier was killed with the Bataille of Crécy, and Machaut, which famous and was very required, entered to the service of various lords, among whom the girl of her former Master, Bonne of Luxembourg, Charles II of Navarre, Jean de Berry, and Charles, duke of Normandy, which would become the king Charles V in 1364.

Machaut survived the Black Death which devastated Europe, and lived its last years in Rheims, recopying its manuscripts and composing. Its poem Veoir Dit (towards 1364) is, according to certain authors, autobiographical, reporting a late history of love for a 19 year old young woman, Péronne of Armentières, although that is disputed by others.

When he died in 1377, the poet Eustace Deschamps wrote a Complainte with the glory of the “Master of any melody”, which was put in music by Franciscus Andrieu.

Poetic work

Lyric work of Guillaume de Machaut includes/understands nearly 400 poems, including 235 ballades, 76 rondos, 39 virelais, 24 alluvium, 10 laments and 7 royal songs, and Machaut is for much in the coding and the improvement of these fixed forms. Most of its lyric production is inserted in its narrative poems, or known as, such as the Remedy of Fortune and See It Known as . Many these poems were not put in music; Machaut clearly affirmed that for him, the writing of the poem always preceded (and a greatter importance had than) the composition by the music. Except its motets in Latin of religious nature, and some poems evoking the horrors of the war and the captivity, the essence of the lyric poetry of Machaut has as a subject the Courtly love, and expresses the tender with a lady, as well as the joys and the sorrows of the poet. In technical terms, Machaut was a Master of the rhythmic diagrams elaborate, and in that a precursor of the Grands Rhetoriqueurs of the 15th century.

The narrative work of Machaut is dominated by the known as, a poem which, as its name indicates it, was not intended to be sung. These narrative poems with the first nobody (all except one are written in octosyllabic verses with rhymes punts, as the Romance of the same time) follow number of conventions of the Romance of the Rose , like the recourse to the allegorical dream , allegorical characters, and the situation of the narrator, lover seeking to return towards his lady or to satisfy it. Machaut is also the author of a poetic chronicle of warlike exploits (the Prise of Alexandria ) and poems of consolation and moral Philosophie.

At the end of its life, Machaut wrote a poetic treaty on its trade (its Prolog ).

The poetry of Machaut directly influenced many writers, of which Eustace Deschamps, Jean Froissart, Christine de Pisan, Rene Ier of Naples and Geoffrey Chaucer.

Principal narrative works of Guillaume de Machaut:

Judgment dou Roy de Behaingne ( Jugement of the King de Bohême , end of the year 1330) - the narrator hears a conversation between a lady (whose lover died) and a knight (betrayed by its lady); in order to determine which of both is most unhappy, the narrator will ask for the opinion of king de Bohême, who consults allegories, and the unhappy knight is declared victorious (2079 worms).
the Remedy of Fortune (about 1341) - the narrator sees himself asking by his lady if the poem which it found is of him; he flees it and arrives in a garden where Espérance comforts it and teaches him how to be a good lover; he returns then near his lady (approximately 4300 worms; 8 lyric poems are inserted, including 7 put in music).
Known as dou Lyon ( Known as of the Lion , completed on April 3rd, 1342) - the narrator arrives on a magic island where a lion the guide towards a smart ladies; an old knight approaches the narrator and the significance of reveals to him what he sees, then gives him of the councils to be a better lover.
Known as of Alérion , or Known as of the Four Birds (before 1349) - a tale symbolic system of love: the narrator raises four different birds, but each one of them flees; one day, the first bird, its favorite, returns near him.
Judgment dou Roy de Navarre (about 1349) - Continuation of the Judgment dou Roy de Behaingne : a lady reproaches the narrator for having granted the price to the knight; king de Navarre is consulted, and condemns the poet (4212 worms).
Comfort of Friend (1357) - Dedicated to Charles II of Navarre, which was prisoner in France, this poetic consolation gives examples (exempla) of moral strength drawn from biblical and traditional accounts.
Known as of Fonteinne in love , or Book of Morphée (written for Jean de Berry, about 1360) - the narrator meets a desperate lover who must separate from his lady; the two men go in front of a magic fountain where they fall asleep, and the lady dreams some comes to comfort his/her lover (2848 worms).
Veoir Known as ( See It Known as , says it truth, about 1364) - Chief of work of Machaut, this poem (sometimes seen as autobiographical) tells the sadness of the separation of a lover of his lady (All-Beautiful) and them false rumors spread on him; letters in prose and lyric poems exchanged by the unhappy lovers are integrated in the account (nearly 10000 worms).
Known as of the Fleur-de-lis and the Marguerite (about 1369) - Account in love in the honor with the marriage of Philippe Bold the (of which the armorial bearings are sown of flowers of lily) with Marguerite of Flanders (416 worms).
Taken of Alexandria (about 1370) - poetic Account of the exploits of Pierre de Lusignan, king de Chypre, written after the death of this one at the request of Charles V (nearly 9000 worms).
Prolog - Conceived like a foreword with the edition of its joined together works, that it writes about 1371, this allegory describes the principles of Machaut as regards poetry, music and rhetoric; it celebrates there its two sources of inspiration, Nature and Love; Nature gave him three children: Direction, which hold its informed spirit, Rhétorique, which teaches art to him to build, and Music, which “carries joy everywhere” where it is; Love gave him three other children, Doux to think, Plaisance and Hope: it is the topics on which will work the gifts of Nature.

Other narrative works:

Known as of the Marguerite (about 1364)
Known as dou White Stag (about 1364)
Known as of the Rose (after 1364)
Known as dou Horse (about 1370)
Known as dou Vergier
Known as of the Toothing-stone

Musical work

Its work, varied and rich, is influenced by its doubts about the changes of the company in which he lives. It refined the emergence of the polyphonic music in the form of the Rondeau and the Ballade. Its Messe of Notre Dame in five parts is the first known polyphonic mass written by only one author and presenting, of movement moving, the common musical elements which give its unit to work. Its motets isorythmic with 3 or 4 votes illustrates in particular the rhythmic innovations of the Ars Nova, made possible by the evolution of the notation.

Deduct works

See too

List of the compositions of Guillaume de Machaut

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