Gace Brulé (''c.'' 1160 – ''after'' 1213) was a French nobleman and

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- ...

from

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

. His name is simply a description of his

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

ry. He owned land in Groslière and had dealings with the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, and received a gift from the future

Louis VIII Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...

. These facts are known from documents from the time. The rest of his history has been extracted from his poetry. It has generally been asserted that he taught Thibaut of Champagne the art of verse, an assumption which is based on a statement in the ''Chroniques de Saint-Denis'': "Si l'est entre lui hibautet Gace Brulé les plus belles chançons et les plus delitables et melodieuses qui onque fussent ales." This has been taken as evidence of collaboration between the two poets. The passage will bear the interpretation that with those of Gace the songs of Thibaut were the best hitherto known.

Paulin Paris Alexis Paulin Paris (25 March 180013 February 1881) was a French scholar and author. Life Paris was born at Avenay ( Marne). He studied classics in Reims and law in Paris. He published in 1824 an ''Apologie pour l'école romantique'' (''In De ...

, in the ''

Histoire littéraire de la France ''Histoire littéraire de la France'' is an enormous history of French literature initiated in 1733 by Dom Rivet and the Benedictines of St. Maur. It was abandoned in 1763 after the publication of volume XII. In 1814, members of the Académie de ...

'' (vol. xxiii.), quotes a number of facts that fix an earlier date for Gace's songs. Some scholars believe that Gace is the author of the earliest known ''

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, in ...

,'' although the early twentieth-century editor of the ''jeux partis'', Arthur Langfors, considered this to be a misattribution, based on discrepancies between manuscripts.A. Långfors, A. Jeanroy and L. Brandin, eds. Recueil général des jeux-partis français, (Paris: Champion, 1926), vol 1. p.7 The interlocutors are Gace and a count of Brittany who is identified with Geoffrey of Brittany, son of

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

. Gace appears to have been banished from Champagne and to have found refuge in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. A deed dated 1212 attests a contract between Gatho Bruslé (Gace Ernie) and the Templars for a piece of land in

Dreux Dreux () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Geography Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres. Dreux station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granvi ...

. It seems most probable that Gace died before 1220, at the latest in 1225. See Gédéon Busken Huet, ''Chansons de Gace Brulé'', edited for the

Société des anciens textes français Société des anciens textes français (SATF) is a learned society founded in Paris in 1875 with the purpose of publishing all kinds of medieval documents written either in langue d'oïl or langue d'oc (''Bulletin de la SATF'', 1 (1875), p. 1) ...

(1902), with an exhaustive introduction.

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

quotes a song by Gace, ''Ire d'amor qui en mon over repaire'', which he attributes erroneously to Thibaut of Champagne (''

De vulgari eloquentia ''De vulgari eloquentia'' (; "On eloquence in the vernacular") is the title of a Latin essay by Dante Alighieri. Although meant to consist of four books, it abruptly terminates in the middle of the second book. It was probably composed shortly aft ...

'', p. 151, ed. P Rajna, Florence, 1895).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brule, Gace 1160s births 13th-century deaths French poets Trouvères People from Champagne (province) French male poets Male classical composers