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), originally de Ferier, was a
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norma ...
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 po ...
. He was born in Ferrières in what is today the ''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
'' of
Eure
Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Abbey of Noé.
A total of eleven '' chansons courtoises'' have been attributed to him in at least one manuscript, although several are attributed to other people in other copies, making the establishment of his corpus a fraught question.
The most famous of Raoul's songs seems to have been RS1559, ''Quant li rossignols jolis'' ("When the pretty nightingales"), which is probably the song
Johannes de Grocheio
Johannes de Grocheio (or Grocheo) (Ecclesiastical Latin: ɔˈan.nɛs dɛ ɡrɔˈkɛj.jɔ c. 1255 – c. 1320) was a Parisian musical theorist of the early 14th century. His French name was Jean de Grouchy, but he is best known by his Latinize ...
(''c''.1300) describes as a ''cantus coronatus'' ('crowned song', meaning probably that it had received a prize in a competition). This widely copied song is also ascribed to the
Chastelain de Couci
Le Chastelain de Couci (modern orthography Le Châtelain de Coucy) was a French trouvères, trouvère of the 12th century. He may have been the Guy de Couci who was castellan of Château de Coucy from 1186 to 1203. Guy de Couci fought in the third ...
in several manuscripts as well as being transmitted anonymously in yet others. It was used as a model for the anonymous Marian song ''L'autrier m'iere rendormis'' (RS1609). Musically, it starts at the upper octave, flows downwards, and establishes a centre on d.
Most of Raoul's melodies, including ''Quant li rossignols'', were recorded in what is sometimes (anachronistically) called
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 more correctly as ''pedes-cum-cauda'' form, i.e. ABABX, with two AB pedes (collectively the frons) followed by X, the cauda. Two versions of ''Si sui du tout a fine Amour'' (possibly later revisions) are not in this form. None of the songs is recorded in
mensural notation
Mensural notation is the musical notation system used for polyphony, polyphonic European vocal music from the late 13th century until the early 17th century. The term "mensural" refers to the ability of this system to describe precisely measur ...
. Most of the melodies are in what scholars who apply Gregorian modes to secular song would identify as the D modes ( authentic and plagal), but three are in the authentic G mode. Poetically, most of his works are also
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 heptasyllabic exceptions of ''Quant ivers a tel poissance'' and ''Quant li rossignols'' and the mixed octo- and heptasyllabic verses of ''Quant il ne pert fueille ne flours''. After the initial abab rhyme scheme of the pedes, the cauda of all but RS1460 reuses the rhymes of the pedes. The rhyme scheme of the cauda is quite varied: baab (two examples), baaba (four examples), baabab (two examples), baba (two examples), or baabba (one example).
List of songs
Disparities between the list of songs in Grove and on Arlima mask a complex source situation. The taxonomy below lays this out clearly. The securely attributed category is reserved for four songs ascribed to him in sources from two different families (according to Schwan's general taxonomy of the songbooks) that are not subject to conflicting attributions.
Less assured, but still likely in the balance of probability to be by Raoul, are three songs that lack conflicting attributions, but are only attributed to him in one manuscript family. Of the songs in this category, two are found only i TrouvM ( Bibliothèque nationale de France fr.844), but appear bot in that manuscript's index and in its main body (albeit in a different order and affected by excision of the historiated initial in the author section of the main body). The other song in this category (RS673) is found in sources from two different families, but only attributed two Raoul in the four members of the ' KNPX group', being anonymous in TrouvC Bern, Burgerbibliothek MS 389 .
One of the remaining four songs is almost certainly not by Raoul, being ascribed to
Simon d'Authie Simon d'Authie or d'Autie (1180/90 – after 1235) was a lawyer, priest and Old French '' -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... '' Authie, and died at Amien ...
in TrouvM and TrouvT Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr.12615 , as well as in Trouva Vatican, Reg. lat. 1490 and only ascribed to Raoul in the four witnesses of the KNPX group. In both TrouvT and TrouvM the song is copied in among the other songs of Simon and appears with them in TrouvM's index, so is very likely to be his.
The three remaining songs also have conflicting attributions but with the attribution to Raoul being the one that occurs in TrouvM's index and in Trouv M. These three songs are the two most widely copied of the eleven that bear any ascription to Raoul, each appearing in three different songbook families. They all have conflicting ascriptions to at least one other trouvère, as well as anonymous transmission in at least one manuscript. These are possibly by Raoul if one credits the index of TrouvM but the weight of the other attributions means that a blanket decision cannot necessarily be made. Details are given in the relevant subheading below; RS numbers are according to the standard catalogue.
Securely attributed to Raoul
*''Par force chant conme esbahis'' (RS1535): no.1 in the Raoul part of the index of TrouvM and copied first in the Raoul section of bot TrouvM fol.82r (damaged) an TrouvT fols.124v-125r transmitted anonymously in Trouva; ascribed to Raoul in copies in all four of the KNPX group, as, for example, here i TrouvK p.186
*''Si sui du tout a fine Amour'' (RS1956): no.2 in the Raoul part of the index of TrouvM and copied second in the Raoul section of bot TrouvM fol.82r-v (damaged) an Trouv T fol.125r-v also found with attribution in all four members of the KNPX group (TrouvK p.187; TrouvN fol.89; TrouvP fol.74; TrouvX fol.133), as well as anonymously i TrouvC, fol.218r
*''Encore m'estuet il chanter'' (RS818): no.3 in the Raoul part of the index of TrouvM and copied third in the Raoul section of bot TrouvM fol.82v-83r (damaged) an Trouv T fol.125v also attributed to Raoul in the copy i TrouvC fol.72r
*''Se j'ai chanté, ce poise moi'' (RS1670): no.6 in the Raoul part of the index of TrouvM and copied ninth in the Raoul section o TrouvM fols.84v-85r as well as being attributed in the copy i TrouvC, fol.224r
Likely to be by Raoul
*''Quant je voi les vergiers florir'' (RS1412): Listed as no.7 in the Raoul part of the index in TrouvM but appears as an
unicum
Unicum () is a Hungarian herbal liqueur or bitters, drunk as a digestif and apéritif. According to legend the liqueur was created in 1790 and is today produced by Zwack a secret formula of more than forty herbs; the drink is aged in oak cask ...
in sixth place in the author section in the body o TrouvM, fols.83v-84r
*''Quant ivers a tel poissance'' (RS243): Listed as no.9 in the index of TrouvM and appear as an unicum in seventh place i TrouvM fol.84r-v
*''Une haute amour qui esprent'' (RS673): The sole surviving song ascribed to Raoul that is absent from TrouvM. It appears anonymously and without the initial 'Une' i TrouvC, fol.92 It is ascribed to Raoul in all four members of the KNPX group TrouvK p.184TrouvN fol.88TrouvP fol.73TrouvX fol.131
Possibly by Raoul
*''Quant li rossignols jolis'' (RS1559): Listed as no.4 in the index of TrouvM and copied in the Raoul section in the body of TrouvM fol.83r. TrouvT fol.126r also ascribes it to Raoul, as does the copy i TrouvC fol.212v The KNPX group, by contrast, ascribes it to the
Chastelain de Couci
Le Chastelain de Couci (modern orthography Le Châtelain de Coucy) was a French trouvères, trouvère of the 12th century. He may have been the Guy de Couci who was castellan of Château de Coucy from 1186 to 1203. Guy de Couci fought in the third ...
Gace Brulé
Gace Brulé ( 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 the future ...
fol.77v The secure attribution of this song is difficult, although the editor of the Chastelain's songs does not consider it securely his.
*''Quant il ne pert fueille ne flours'' (RS2036): Listed as no.5 in the Raoul songs of TrouvM's index and copied there in fifth position on fol.83r-v. As TrouvT's run of songs by Raoul only comprises four in total (the same four in the same order as TrouvM's index and main body), TrouvM's attribution is the only one to Raoul for this song TrouvC fol.119r transmits it anonymously. As with RS1559, however, the KNPX group ascribes this song to another composer, albeit here with a divergence within this group TrouvK p.132TrouvN fol.77v an TrouvX fol.91v ascribe it to
Gautier de Dargies
Gautier de Dargies (ca. 1170 – ca. 1240) was a trouvère 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, in sixteen separate ''chanson ...
and place it at the end of a run of his songs TrouvP fol.76v places it third in a run of three songs ascribed to
Gontier de Soignies
Gontier de Soignies was a medieval trouvère and composer who was active from around 1180 to 1220.
Biography
Gontier was from the region of Soignies in the County of Hainaut, a region that was then a state of the Holy Roman Empire. His life is mos ...
. This attribution to Gontier is unique and the Gontier songs in TrouvP directly follow the four ascribed to Raoul de Ferrières that P shares identically with the other members of the KNPX group. All four of the KNPX group copy this song last in a run of songs by the composer they ascribe it to, whereas TrouvM's index and body place it deeply within a larger set of songs by Raoul. While not conclusive, these oddities may suggest Raoul's authorship of this song has the strongest claim.
*''J'ai oublié paine et travaus'' (RS389): listed as no.8 in the index of TrouvM and copied in eight position (of 9 songs) in Trouv M fol.84v, like RS2036 these two attributions in the index and body of TrouvM are the sole ascription of this widely copied song to Raoul. This time the KNPX group witnesses all ascribe the song to
Gace Brulé
Gace Brulé ( 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 the future ...
Andreus de Paris In Greek mythology, Andreus (; ) may refer to two distinct individuals:
* Andreus, son of the river-god Peneus in Thessaly, from whom the district about Orchomenos in Boeotia was called ''Andreis''. With Evippe, daughter of Leucon, Andreus had a ...
. The song is found anonymously in four further manuscripts Trouva fol.27v TrouvL fol.50rTrouvO fol.67r an TrouvV fol.30v Huet's edition of Gace did not include this song. Rosenberg and Danon do include it, but make it clear that it sits right at the limit of their willingness to ascribe songs to Gace.
Probably not by Raoul
*''On ne peut pas a deus seigneurs servir'' (RS1460): this song appears ascribed to Raoul only the KNPX group. These four closely related manuscripts have the same set of four songs in the same order: ''Une haute amour'' (RS673), this song, then the first two from the order of the songs in Trouv M and Trouv T, i.e. ''Par force'' (RS1535) and ''Si sui de tout'' (RS1956). It seems plausible these four were copied from the same exemplary material and are thus not independent witnesses. In TrouvM, TrouvT, and Trouva this song is attributed to
Simon d'Authie Simon d'Authie or d'Autie (1180/90 – after 1235) was a lawyer, priest and Old French '' -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... '' Authie, and died at Amien ...
, including in the index of TrouvM. While these three manuscripts are also in the same family (but distinct from the KNPX group), they are less closely related than the members of the KNPX group, so the attribution to Simon has been generally accepted.See See Friedrich Gennrich, 'Simon d’Authie: Ein pikardischer Sänger', ''Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie'' 67 (1951): 49–104.
Modern Editions
*''Les Chansons de messire Raoul de Ferrieres tres ancien poète normant'', d. G. S. Trebutien(Caen: Poisson, 1847).
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