Godfrey of Rheims (died c. 1094) was an 11th century poet. He was born in

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

and educated at the Cathedral

School of Rheims The School of Reims was the cathedral school of Reims Cathedral in France that was in operation during the Middle Ages. The term is also used of an artistic style in Carolingian art, lasting into Ottonian art in works such as the gold relief figur ...

. He was appointed chancellor of the school in 1076 or 1077 by Archbishop Manasses I. In 1080 Manasses was deposed and fled to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, but Godfrey remained in his position at the school. He held that position until 1094, but the year after a charter has the name of a new chancellor and it is presumed Godfrey died. He was a friend of fellow poet

Baldric of Dol Baldric of Dol ( 10507 January 1130) was prior and then abbot of Bourgueil from 1077 to 1106, then made bishop of Dol-en-Bretagne in 1107 and archbishop in 1108 until his death. He fulfilled his monastic duties by travelling to attend Church council ...

, and the limited information on Godfrey's life comes from Baldric's works in praise of him. Four of his poems survive. Written in Latin they show clear influence of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

and

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

. Godfrey is an early example of a scholar looking back to the classical traditions. The historian John R. Williams writes of his poems: "one searches his poems in vain for traces of religious sentiment or even for evidences of proper respect for Christian ideals. Godfrey seems to have been closer in spirit to the Italian humanists of the ''

Quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

'' than to most of his contemporaries.""The Cathedral School of Rheims in the Eleventh Century". John R. Williams ''Speculum.'' Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct., 1954), pp. 661-677 (17 pages) Published by: The University of Chicago Press

References

{{reflist 1190s deaths Medieval Latin poets 11th-century Latin writers