Adam de Givenchi (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1230–1268) was a

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 poet- ...

, probably from

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de ...

and active in and around

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

. His surname is also spelled Givenci, Gevanche, or Gievenci. Adam appears in charters of May and July 1230 as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

of the

Bishop of Arras The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Atrebatensis (–Bononiena–Audomarensis)''; French: ''Diocèse d'Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer)'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church ...

. He was still serving in the household of the bishop in 1232. In 1243 he was named as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

to the bishop. In 1245 he was the ''

doyen Doyen and doyenne (from the French word ''doyen'', ''doyenne'' in the feminine grammatical gender) is the senior ambassador by length of service in a particular country. In the English language, the meaning of doyen (feminine form: doyenne) h ...

'' of

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

. In Arras he associated with the poets

Simon d’Authie Simon d'Authie or d'Autie (born 1180/90; died after 1235) was a lawyer, priest and Old French ''trouvère''. He was from Authie, and died at Amiens. Up to eleven songs are attributed to him, but only five are certain. He is also the respondent in t ...

, Pierre de Corbie,

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 co ...

, and

Jehan Bretel Jehan Bretel (''c''.1210 – 1272) was a trouvère. Of his known oeuvre of probably 97 songs, 96 have survived. Judging by his contacts with other trouvères he was famous and popular. Seven works by other trouvères ( Jehan de Grieviler, Jehan Era ...

. He wrote one ''

jeu parti ''Jeu'' is a 2006 animated short by Georges Schwizgebel. Described as a film about the frenetic pace of modern life, ''Jeu'' is set to the scherzo of Prokofiev's Concerto for Piano No. 2, Opus 16. The film has received 12 international awards, inc ...

'' with each of the last two, and the composition with Guillaume (''Amis Guillaume, ainc si sage ne vi'') has several surviving melodies. Six other poems survive to his name, four with melodies. Two of these are ''

chansons avec des refrains A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...

''. All the songs are in AAB form and the melodies are simple.

Songs with music

*''Amis Guillaume, ainc si sage ne vi'', jeu parti *''Assés plus que d’estre amés'', chansons avec des refrains (no music for refrains) *''Mar vi loial voloir et jalousie'' *''Pour li servir en bone foi'', chansons avec des refrains *''Si com fortune d’amour''

Notes

References

*Parker, Ian R
"Adam de Givenchi."
''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Accessed 20 September 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam De Givenchi Trouvères 13th-century French people Male classical composers