Egidius de Francia (; also Egidius de Murino or Magister Frater Egidius) was a French music theorist of

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and followed by the Renaissance ...

, known for the short treatise ''De motettis componendis''. He possibly was an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

, as in a miniature illumination he is titled ''Magister Egidius Augustinus''. Along with "Guilelmus de Francia", he was probably a friar at the Monastery of Santo Spirito in Florence. Egidius de Murino is, with Philippus de Caserta, one possible author of the '' Tractatus figurarum,'' a practical guide to the notation of ''

ars subtilior ''Ars subtilior'' (Latin for 'subtler art') is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered on Paris, Avignon in southern France, and also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century.Hoppin 1978, 47 ...

.'' Egidius was also the author of '' De modo componendi,'' a theoretical guide to

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

writing. He is featured in the ''

Squarcialupi Codex The Squarcialupi Codex (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Med. Pal. 87) is an illuminated manuscript compiled in Florence in the early 15th century. It is the single largest primary source of music of the 14th-century Italian ''Trecento'' ( ...

'', the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

manuscript

Add MS 29987 Add MS 29987 is a mediaeval Tuscan musical manuscript dating from the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, held in the British Library in London. It contains a number of polyphonic Italian Trecento madrigals, ballate, sacred mass ...

and the ''

Modena Codex The Modena Codex (''Modena, Biblioteca Estense, α.m.5,24''; often referred to with the siglum Mod A) is an early fifteenth-century Italian manuscript of medieval music. The manuscript is one of the most important sources of the ''ars subtilior'' st ...

'' (often known with the

sigla Scribal abbreviations or sigla (singular: siglum) are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mechanica ...

''ModA''). He is considered as likely being distinct from another Egidius, who was a contemporary

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. No composition can be certainly attributed to him, although he is potentially identifiable with another Egidius, a composer found in the ''

Chantilly Codex The Chantilly Codex (''Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 564'') is a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces from the style known as the ''Ars subtilior''. It is held in the museum at the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise. Most of the co ...

''. It is not certain if there is any relation to Egidius de Aurelia (Egidius of Orleans), composer of "Alma Polis" and "Axe poli cum artica".

Works

* ''Donna s'amor'' * ''Alta Serena Luce''Musical tastes in fourteenth-century Italy Michael Paul Long - 1981 "The corresponding piece in the layout of the Sguarcialupi codex is "Alta serena luce," one of the three pieces in this section not attributed to Guglielsus in concordant sources, and one of the two works of the Guglieleus/Egidius corpus"

References

External links

La Trobe University , Medieval Music Database: Egidius de Francia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egidius De Francia French composers French male composers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 14th-century French composers Medieval music theorists