International Medieval Society, Paris
Société Internationale des Médiévistes, Paris

Symposium 2005 Abstracts

Charles V, Philippe of Burgundy, Jean of Berry—these are names well known for their vibrant courts. Their appreciation of music would have come not only through the French royal line, but also from their mother, Bonne of Luxembourg, for whom Guillaume de Machaut’s first complete-works manuscript may have been intended. Scarcely less important than these three, though, is their brother Louis, first member of the “Second Angevin House,” the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century dukes of Anjou. This line, descended from French kings and claiming the crowns of Sicily and Jerusalem as well as the county of Provence, survived for a little over a century, a time largely filled with unsuccessful attempts to conquer Naples. Nevertheless, they had opportunities to patronize the arts: for example, Louis I commissioned the Apocalypse tapestry now visible in Angers, and René was an author in his own right. Moreover, this family’s existence is bracketed by their employment of two important composers: Matheus de Sancto Johanne in the 1370s and Josquin des Pres in the 1470s. Louis’s association with the visual arts is clearer than is his interest in music, with relatively little surviving documentation concerning his musical activities, but evidence exists both of wages paid to musicians and songs and motets that may refer to him or members of his family. This suggests that Louis, like his brothers, may also have enjoyed music—or at least that he knew how to use it in support of his political goals.