Gautier de Dargies (ca. 1170 – ca. 1240) 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- ...

from Dargies. He was one of the most prolific of the early trouvères; possibly twenty-five of his lyrics survive, twenty-two with accompanying

melodies A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

, in sixteen separate ''

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.'' He was a major influence on contemporary and later trouvères, and one of the most recorded of medieval vernacular composers. Seventeen '' chansons courtoises'' can be assigned indubitably to Gautier, fifteen with music, and three more are probably his, all with music. He imported 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 ...

genre of the ''

descort The ''descort'' () was a form and genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry used by troubadours. It was heavily discordant in verse form and/or feeling and often used to express disagreement. It was possibly invented by Garin d'Apchier when he wrote ''Qua ...

'' into

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 ...

and left behind three ''descorts'' with their melodies. He also participated in two '' jeux partis'', but only one with music. His theme everywhere was

courtly love Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...

. Gautier appears in documents of the years 1195, 1202, and 1206 as a ''

vavasour A vavasour (also vavasor; Old French ''vavassor'', ''vavassour''; Modern French ''vavasseur''; Late Latin ''vavassor''), is a term in feudal law. A vavasour was the vassal or tenant of a baron, one who held his tenancy under a baron, and who also ...

.'' By 1236, his latest appearance in documents, he had achieved the rank of a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

. His military career is obscure, but he probably participated in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

when a young man in 1189. Gautier was the son of Sagalo, himself a younger son or scion of a cadet branch of the Dargies family, since Gautier's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

, depicted in the ''

Chansonnier du Roi The ''Manuscrit du Roi'' or ''Chansonnier du Roi'' ("King's Manuscript" or "King's Songbook" in English) is a prominent songbook compiled towards the middle of the thirteenth century, probably between 1255 and 1260 and a major testimony of Europea ...

'' and the '' Chansonnier d'Arras'' both display

martlet A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...

s of

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...

not

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...

, the sign of the main branch of a family.Se
Karp
Gautier had three brothers—Rainaut, Drogo, and Villardus—and a wife, Agnes. He apparently knew

Gace Brulé Gace Brulé (''c.'' 1160 – ''after'' 1213) was a French nobleman and trouvère from Champagne. His name is simply a description of his blazonry. He owned land in Groslière and had dealings with the Knights Templar, and received a gift from t ...

, whom he mentions in three poems. As a poet and musician, Gautier demonstrates skill and originality in his handling of traditional themes, especially metrically. He experiments with asymmetry and lengthiness. Melodically, he is highly individual. Four of his melodies are non-repetitive; in two the

musical phrase In music theory, a phrase ( gr, φράση) is a unit of Meter (music), musical meter that has a complete musical sense of its own, built from figure (music), figures, motif (music), motifs, and Cell (music), cells, and combining to form Melody ...

lengths differ from the lyric phrase lengths, and in all of his surviving pieces he is not constrained to an

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

. One melodic setting of his song "Se j’ai esté lonc tens hors du päis" has the largest range of any surviving medieval lyric, the highest note lying a full two octaves above the final.John Stevens et al., "Troubadours, Trouvères", ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online'' (accessed 3 June 2010).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dargies, Gautier de Trouvères Christians of the Third Crusade 1170s births 1240s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain People from Oise 13th-century French composers French classical composers French male classical composers Medieval male composers