Andrieu Contredit d'Arras ( 1200 – 1248) 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 Arras and active in the

Puy d'Arras The Puy d'Arras, called in its own day the Puy Notre-Dame, was a medieval poetical society formed in Arras for holding contests between trouvères and ''pour maintenir amour et joie'' (for maintaining love and joy, i.e. the courtly love lyric). ...

. "Contredit" is probably a nickname. He wrote mostly ''

grand chant The ''grand chant'' (''courtois'') or, in modern French, (''grande'') ''chanson courtoise'' or ''chanson d'amour'', was a genre of Old French lyric poetry devised by the trouvères. It was adopted from the Occitan '' canso'' of the troubadours, b ...

s'', but also a ''

pastourelle The pastourelle (; also ''pastorelle'', ''pastorella'', or ''pastorita'' is a typically Old French lyric form concerning the romance of a shepherdess. In most of the early pastourelles, the poet knight meets a shepherdess who bests him in a batt ...

'', a '' lai'', and a ''

jeu-parti The ''jeu-parti'' (plural ''jeux-partis'', also known as ''parture'') is a genre of France, French lyric poetry composed between two ''trouvères''. It is a cognate of the Occitan language, Occitan partimen (also known as ''partia'' or ''joc parti ...

'' with

Guillaume li Vinier Guillaume le Vinier (''c''. 1190–1245) was a cleric and trouvère, one of the most prolific composers in the genre.Theodore Karp, "Le Vinier, Guillaume", ''Grove Music Online'', ''Oxford Music Online'' (accessed 20 September 2008). He has left co ...

. Andrieu is probably the ' who in 1239, according to French royal documents, joined the Crusade of

Theobald I of Navarre Theobald I (french: Thibaut, es, Teobaldo; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famou ...

as 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 ...

and

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...

. His appearance in royal documents may indicate his service (probably as a minstrel) to

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

, and he addressed his song ' to Louis. His song ' was addressed to the Puy. One of the most important sources on his life is the register of the Puy. It records his death at Arras in 1248 and the death of his wife in 1225.She is referred to as ''Contredite femme Andrieu'', while Andrieu himself is referred to as ''Contredis Andrius''. Another member of the Puy named Contredit died in 1207. Contredit may therefore be a surname, c.f. Vigneras (1934). Besides the register of the Puy are Andrieu's poems themselves, since he wrote twenty and named himself as author in fourteen. He addressed ' to a "Marote", probably fellow trouvère Maroie de Diergnau de Lille. He praised the city of Arras in '. Andrieu twice refers to himself as ''messire'' (mister), a title reserved for

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

. His blason had once decorated chansonnier known as MS 844 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, but it has now been lost. Andrieu's verses show little variation of form. They all begin with the same

rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB r ...

(ABAB), all are in regular metre, and all use the same few lengths of line. Andrieu's music is more varied, though it is all 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 ...

. The melodies are frequently non-repetitive and sometimes motivic.

List of works

*' *' *' *' *' *', survives without music *', survives without music and incipit *', survives without music and incipit *', his part of a ''jeu-parti'', survives without music *' *' *' *' *' *' *' *' *' *' *'

References

* Karp, Theodore
"Andrieu Contredit d'Arras."
''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Accessed 20 September 2008.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Contredit Darras, Andrieu 12th-century births 1248 deaths Trouvères Christians of the Crusades People from Arras Male classical composers