12th century in music – 13th century in music – 1300s in music

Events

*c.1206 – A Minnesang contest, the ''

Sängerkrieg The ''Sängerkrieg'' (minstrel contest), also known as the ''Wartburgkrieg'' (Wartburg contest), was a contest among minstrels (''Minnesänger'') at the Wartburg, a castle in Thuringia, Germany, in 1207. Whether the contest was purely legend or h ...

auf der

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

'', is held in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

. Competitors included

Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170c. 1230) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs (" Sprüche") in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundr ...

Heinrich von Ofterdingen Heinrich von Ofterdingen is a fabled, quasi-fictional Middle High German lyric poet and Minnesinger mentioned in the 13th century epic of the '' Sängerkrieg'' (minstrel contest) on the Wartburg. The legend was revived by Novalis in his eponymous ...

, Reinmar von Zweter, and . *1221 – the Vienna city laws (renewed in 1244) declared itinerant minstrels to have no legal rights, while minstrels resident in a parish were exempted and therefore were able to develop organizations within the framework of municipal law. *1254 –

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Ger ...

establishes a chair of music at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is t ...

. *1259 – An organ is installed in the Cathedral of Worms.

Bands formed

*1212. The

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding sch ...

is founded in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Treatises

*1271 – Amerus, ''Practica artis musicae''. *1274 – Elias Salomo, ''Scientia artis musicae''. *1279 – Anonymous of St Emmeram, ''De musica mensurata'' (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod. Lat. Mon. im.14523), one of the two main treatises on the theory of Notre Dame polyphony.Heinrich Sowa, ''Ein anonymer glossierter Mensuraltraktat 1279'', Königsberger Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 9 (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1930): 132.

Compositions

*1201 –

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras __NOTOC__ Raimbaut de Vaqueiras or Vaqueyras (fl. 1180 – 1207) was a Provençal troubadour and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courtsAmelia E. Van Vleck, ''The Lyric Texts'' p. 33, in ''Handbook of the Troub ...

, "Ara pot hom conoisser e proar" (chanson de croisade, celebrating the election of Boniface de Monferrat as leader of the Fourth Crusade) *1204–05 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, "No·m agrad' iverns ni pascors" *1227–34 – A ''

Play of Daniel The ''Play of Daniel'', or ''Ludus Danielis'', is either of two medieval Latin liturgical dramas based on the biblical Book of Daniel, one of which is accompanied by monophonic music. The play itself dates from c. 1140. Two medieval plays of Dani ...

'' with music is written at the school of

Beauvais Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Peter of Beauvais (french: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Beauvais) is a Roman Catholic church in the northern town of Beauvais, Oise, France. It is the seat of the Bishop of Beauvais, Noyon and Senlis. The cathedral is in ...

. *1235–39 –

Theobald I of Navarre Theobald I (french: Thibaut, es, Teobaldo; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famou ...

, "Seignor, sachiés, qui or ne s’en ira" (chanson de croisade) *1239 – Theobald I of Navarre, "Au tens plain de felonie" (chanson de croisade) *1239–40 – Theobald I of Navarre, "Li dous penser et li dous souvenir" (chanson de croisade)

Births

*1201 **30 May – Thibaut IV, Count of Champagne and Brie, King of Navarre (d. 7 July 1253) **''date unknown'' – Richart de Fournival, French trouvère (d. 1260) *1216 **''date unknown'' –

Safi al-Din al-Urmawi Safi al-Din al-Urmawi al-Baghdadi ( fa, صفی الدین اورموی) or Safi al-Din Abd al-Mu'min ibn Yusuf ibn al-Fakhir al-Urmawi al-Baghdadi (born c. 1216 AD in Urmia, died in 1294 AD in Baghdad) was a renowned musician and writer on the ...

, musician and theorist (d. 1296) *1217 **''date unknown'' – John I, Duke of Brittany, French trouvère (d. 1286) *1221 **23 November –

, Spanish monarch, poet, and composer (d. 1284) *1291 **31 October –

Philippe de Vitry Philippe de Vitry (31 October 1291 – 9 June 1361) was a French composer-poet, bishop and music theorist in the style of late medieval music. An accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, he was widely acknowledged as a leading musi ...

, French composer, music theorist, and poet (d. 1361)

Deaths

*1201 –

Léonin Léonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo; ) was the first known significant composer of polyphonic organum. He was probably French, probably lived and worked in Paris at the Notre Dame Cathedral and was the earliest member of the Notre Dame school ...

(died this year or soon after) *1203 **May or June – Le Chastelain de Couci, French trouvère *1204 **12 December –

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Tora ...

, Jewish rabbi and writer on music (b. 1135 or 1138) *1207 **4 September –

, troubadour (b. c.1155) *1231 **25 December – Folquet de Marseille, troubadour (b. c.1155) **''date unknown'' –

Folquet de Marselha Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse (c. 1150 – 25 December 1231) came from a Genoese merchant family who lived in Marseille. He is known as a trobadour, and then as a fiercely anti ...

, troubadour *1236 **26 December –

Philip the Chancellor Philippe le Chancelier, also known as "Philippus Cancellarius Parisiensis" (Philip, Chancellor of Paris) (''c'' 1160–December 26, 1236) was a French theologian, Latin lyric poet, and possibly a composer as well. He was the illegitimate son of Phi ...

(b. c.1165) *1245 **''date unknown'' –

Guillaume le Vinier Guillaume le Vinier (''c''. 1190–1245) was a cleric and trouvère, one of the most prolific composers in the genre.Theodore Karp, "Le Vinier, Guillaume", ''Grove Music Online'', ''Oxford Music Online'' (accessed 20 September 2008). He has left c ...

, French trouvère (b. c.1190) *1253 **7 July – Thibaut IV, Count of Champagne and Brie, King of Navarre (b. 30 May 1201) *1260 **''date unknown'' – Richart de Fournival, French trouvère *1284 **4 April –

*1286 **''date unknown'' – John I, Duke of Brittany, French trouvère (b. 1217) *1288 –

Adam de la Halle Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-composer '' trouvère''. Among the few medieval composers to write both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been considered both a conservative and progr ...

(possibly survived until at least 1306)

References

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