Macaire is a given name and surname associated with medieval France, although it appears to have several claims of origin. It was originally a male name, and later came to be considered a male or female name. ''Macaire'' is also the common name for a 12th-century French

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...

, named for one of its main characters.

People

People with the surname include: * David Macaire, Archbishop of Martinique *

Maurice Macaire Maurice Macaire (November 22, 1881 in Paris, date of death unknown) was a French football player who competed in the 1900 Olympic Games. In Paris he won a silver medal as a member of Club Français Club Français was a French associ ...

, French footballer in the 1900 Olympics *

Robert Macaire (diplomat) Robert Nigel Paul Macaire Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (born 19 February 1966) is a British diplomat who served as List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to Iran, UK's Ambassador to Iran from 2018 to 2021. Macaire has held a numb ...

, British diplomat *

Robert Macaire Robert Macaire is a fictional character, an unscrupulous swindler, who appears in a number of French plays, films, and other works of art. In French culture he represents an archetypal villain. He was principally the creation of an actor, Frédér ...

, a villainous character in French fiction

In fiction

Macaire is the name of the main character in two works, ''Macaire'' and '' La Reine Sibille'' (14th century), both versions of the story of the false accusation brought against the queen of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

, called "Blanchefleur" in ''Macaire'' and "Sibille" in the later poem. ''Macaire'' is only preserved in the

Franco-Venetian Franco-Italian, also known as Franco-Venetian or Franco-Lombard, was a literary language used in parts of northern Italy, from the mid-13th century to the end of the 14th century. It was employed by writers including Brunetto Latini and Rustichello ...

''Geste of Charlemagne'' (Bibl. St Mark MS. fr. xiii.). ''La Reine Sibille'' only exists in fragments, but the tale is given in the chronicle of Alberic Trium Fontium, a monk of the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery of Trois Fontanes in the diocese of Chlons, and in a prose version. ''Macaire'' is the product of the fusion of two legends: that of the unjustly repudiated wife and that of the dog who detects the murderer of his master. For the former motive see

Genevieve de Brabant Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre an ...

. The second is found in

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

, ''Script. moral.'', ed. Didot ii. (1186), where a dog, like Aubri's hound, stayed three days without food by the body of its master, and subsequently attacked the murderers, thus leading to their discovery. The duel between Macaire and the dog is paralleled by an interpolation by

Giraldus Cambrensis Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

in a manuscript of the ''Hexameron'' of

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...

. Aubri's hound received the name of the "dog of

Montargis Montargis () is a communes of France, commune in the Loiret Departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Loiret, after Orléans and its suburbs. It is near a large forest, ...

," because a representation of the story was painted on a chimney-piece in the chateau of Montargis in the 15th century. The tale was early divorced from Carolingian tradition, and Jean de la Taille, in his ''Discours notable des duels'' (Paris, 1607), places the incident under

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

References

* Matter of France Medieval literature {{poem-stub

People

In fiction

See also

References