In the

late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

, a ''cantus coronatus'' (Latin for "crowned song") was a composition that had won a competition, and it or its

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

been awarded a prize, often a crown. The corresponding

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

term was ''chanson couronnée'' or ''couronnez'', which occurs is some extant

chansonnier A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings o ...

s. There are twelve trouvère ''chansons'' in the manuscripts with rubrics indicating they were awarded a crown. There are no discernible differences between such pieces and other trouvère works save that they were probably the recipients of prizes. The

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

chansonnier called the

Cançoner Gil The ''Cançoner Gil'' (, ) is an Occitan chansonnier produced in Catalonia in the middle of the 14th century. In the systematic nomenclature of Occitanists, it is typically named MS ''Sg'', but as ''Z'' in the reassignment of letter names by F ...

contains eight songs which it says were ''coronada'' (crowned). Other songs that won prizes at various floral competitions are also indicated: one ''gazaynet la joia a Tholoza'' ("won the jewel at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

"), another ''gazaynet la flor d'aglentina ... a Toloza'' ("won the eglantine rose at Toulouse"), and still another ''gazaynet la violeta'' ("won the violet"). In the musical theory of

Johannes de Grocheio Johannes de Grocheio (or Grocheo) (Ecclesiastical Latin: ɔˈan.nɛs dɛ ɡrɔˈkɛj.jɔ c. 1255 – c. 1320) was a Parisian musical theorist of the early 14th century. His French name was Jean de Grouchy, but he is best known by his Latinized n ...

the ''cantus coronatus'' is class of popular music (''musica vulgaris''). After dividing the latter into the ''cantus'' and the ''cantilena'', he subdivides each new category into three. The three forms of the ''cantus'' are the ''cantus gestualis'' (the ''

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...

''), the ''cantus coronatus'', and the ''cantus versiculatus'' (also called ''versicularis'' or ''versualis''). The distinction between the latter two classes is not clear from the work, both being illustrated by examples from the ''

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- ...

s''. The distinguishing features of each class are described vaguely and Grocheio's subsequent comparison of popular music with ecclesiastical vitiates many of the distinctions (''Ars musicae'', 130:112):

Cantus coronati are normally composed by kings and nobles and they are frequently sung in the presence of kings and princes of the earth, in order that their souls may be moved to be daring and resolute, magnanimous and liberal, characteristics that all make for good rule. This kind of song is made from delightful and lofty material, as, for instance, when it is about friendship and charity, and is made entirely of perfect longas.Translated by Randall A. Rosenfeld in Timothy J. McGee (1998), ''The Sound of Medieval Song: Ornamentation and Vocal Style according to the Treatises'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press), 35.

References

*Hendrik van der Werf
"Cantus coronatus."
''Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online''. Accessed 3 March 2009.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantus Coronatus Medieval music genres