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 European

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and followed by the Renaissanc ...

. It is currently French manuscript no.844 of the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

. It is known by various sigla, depending on which of its contents are the focus of study: it is

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a '' trobair ...

manuscript ''W'',

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 ...

manuscript ''M'', and

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Ma ...

manuscript ''R''. It was first published by French musicologist

Pierre Aubry Pierre Aubry (born April 15, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques and Detroit Red Wings from 1980–81 to 1984–85. Aubry played 202 ca ...

in 1907 ("Les plus anciens textes de musique instrumentale au Moyen Age"). __NOTOC__

Background

The manuscript contains more than 600 songs composed for the most part between the late twelfth and early thirteenth century. Some were written by famous trouvères, such as Theobald I of Navarre, Gace Brulé,

Guiot de Dijon Guiot de Dijon ('' fl.'' 1215–25) was a Burgundian trouvère. The seventeen ''chansons'' ascribed to him in the standard listing of Raynaud-Spanke are found in fifteen chansonniers, some without attribution or with conflicting attributions w ...

Richard de Fournival Richard de Fournival or Richart de Fornival (1201 – ?1260) was a medieval philosopher and trouvère perhaps best known for the '' Bestiaire d'amour'' ("The Bestiary of Love"). Life Richard de Fournival was born in Amiens on October 10, 1201. ...

, but others are anonymous. It contains as an addendum a booklet of songs by King Theobald I of Navarre, sometimes known as manuscript ''Mt''. Around 85% of its material is French, while only 61 songs are by troubadours, in a Frenchified form of Occitan. Of these, 51 have music. The songbook has close associations with the Principality of the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...

and was most likely created as a gift for William of Villehardouin,

Prince of Achaea The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent sta ...

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...

, the King of Naples and William's father-in-law. By around 1270, it was in Charles' possession. Today, the state of conservation of the collection is bad. Eighteen pages have are missing and several decorative initials have been cut out, but it remains a major testimony of

Recordings

* The ''Manuscrit du Roi'' was recorded in 1992 by the Ensemble Perceval, and was published in 1993 by Arion. * ''Estampies & Danses Royales'' by Hespèrion XXI and Jordi Savall (2008) * Various songs and instrumental pieces from the ''Manuscrit du Roi'' feature on the CD ''Music for a Medieval Prince'' (2012) recorded by Trouvere Medieval Minstrels.

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Manuscript 844
on the Gallica project of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. {{Medieval music manuscript sources 1250s books 13th-century manuscripts French music Bibliothèque nationale de France collections Medieval music manuscript sources