Guillaume de Ferrières,

Vidame de Chartres Vidame de Chartres was a title in the French nobility. There are a few vidame titles in France, of which that of Chartres is probably the best known, because a number of holders have been notable in widely different ways over the centuries. Vid ...

( ?April 1204) was a

French nobleman The French nobility () was an aristocratic social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napoléon bestowed titles that we ...

, probably the same person as 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 po ...

whose works are recorded only as by the

, his title. Eight songs in total have been attributed to the

Vidame Vidame () was a feudal title in France, a term descended from mediaeval Latin . Like the ''avoué'' or ''advocatus#In France, advocatus'', the ''vidame'' was originally a secular official chosen by the bishop of the diocese—with the consent ...

, though all but one with conflicting attributions to others. He is not to be confused with Raoul de Ferrières (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1200–10), also a trouvère. Guillaume took part in the Third (1188–92) and Fourth Crusades (1201–4), and died in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

as part of the latter. A reference in the Vidame's song ''Combien que j'aie demouré'' to a forced sojourn in a "hated land" probably refers to Guillaume's stay in southwestern France in 1188, before the departure of the Crusade, while the leaders (

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and

Philip Augustus Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...

) were squabbling. Further evidence linking the trouvère with Guillaume includes a quotation of two stanzas of the Vidame's most popular song, ''Quant la saison du dous tens s'asseure'', in the

chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalri ...

'' Guillaume de Dole'', which was written probably in the 1220s. ''Quant la saison'' was, by implication, written some years prior. The rather garbled and uncertain melodies which accompany the Vidame's poems further support an early (pre-1200) date for the trouvère. One piece of evidence relating to the identity of the Vidame has not yet been adequately explained. The

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

with which the trouvère is depicted in his miniature portrait 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 Europe ...

belonged mid-century to the Meslay family, who became

vidame Vidame () was a feudal title in France, a term descended from mediaeval Latin . Like the ''avoué'' or ''advocatus#In France, advocatus'', the ''vidame'' was originally a secular official chosen by the bishop of the diocese—with the consent ...

s of

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

only in 1224. Only one of the eight songs variously attributed to the Vidame is not also ascribed to another. Only three, however, are regularly doubted to be his, and only one of these—''Quant foillissent li boscage''—is almost certainly not his. One of the remaining two, ''Desconsilliez plus que nus hom qui soit'', which survives without music, is attributed in one manuscript to ''Li viscuens de Chartres'' (the

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

of Chartres), probably an error for vidame. Five of the Vidame's songs are basically

isometric The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...

and

decasyllabic Decasyllable (Italian language, Italian: ''decasillabo'', French language, French: ''décasyllabe'', Serbian language, Serbian: ''десетерац'', ''deseterac'') is a Poetry, poetic Meter (poetry), meter of ten syllables used in poetic trad ...

. The remaining three are heterometric but mainly

octosyllabic The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in trochees in languages with a stress accent. Its first occurrence is in a 10th-century Old French saint's legend, the '' Vie d ...

. With the sole exception of ''Li plus desconfortés du mont'', all his melodies are preserved in

bar form Bar form (German: ''die Barform'' or ''der Bar'') is a musical form of the pattern AAB. Original use The term comes from the rigorous terminology of the Meistersinger guilds of the 15th to 18th century who used it to refer to their songs and the ...

and cover more than an

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

in range each. Though most survive with modal structures, these vary from manuscript to manuscript and are unreliable.

List of songs

*''Chascuns me semont de chanter'' *''Combien que j'aie demouré'' *''D'amours vient joie et honours ensement'' *''Quant la saison du dous tens s'asseure'' *''Tant ai d'amours qu'en chantant m'estuet plaindre'' *''Tant con je fusse fors de ma contree'' ;Doubtful works *''Desconsilliez plus que nus hom qui soit'' (no music) *''Li plus desconfortés du mont'' *''Quant foillissent li boscage''

References

* Karp, Theodore C.br>"Vidame de Chartres."
''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Accessed 20 September 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guillaume de Ferrieres 1150s births 1204 deaths Trouvères Christians of the Third Crusade Christians of the Fourth Crusade French male classical composers