Andrieu Contredit d'Arras
Encyclopedia
Andrieu Contredit d'Arras (c.
1200–1248) was a trouvère
from Arras
and active in the Puy d'Arras
. "Contredit" is probably a nickname. He wrote mostly grand chant
s, but also a pastourelle
, a lai
, and a jeu-parti with Guillaume li Vinier.
Andrieu is probably the Andreas Contredit, miles ministerellus, crucesignatus who in 1239, according to French royal documents, joined the Crusade of Theobald I of Navarre
as a knight
and minstrel
. His appearance in royal documents may indicate his service (probably as a minstrel) to Louis IX
, and he addressed his song Au mois d'avril to Louis.
His song Ja pour nul mal 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. Besides the register of the Puy are Andrieu's poems themselves, since he wrote twenty and named himself as author in fourteen. He addressed Bone, bele et avenans to a "Marote", probably fellow trouvère Maroie de Diergnau de Lille. He praised the city of Arras in L'autrier quant je chevauchoie. Andrieu twice refers to himself as messire (mister), a title reserved for nobility
. 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
(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
. The melodies are frequently non-repetitive and sometimes motivic.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1200–1248) was a trouvère
Trouvère
Trouvère , sometimes spelled trouveur , is the Northern French form of the word trobador . It refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France...
from Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
and active in the Puy d'Arras
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 . The term puy is Old French for "place of eminence", from Latin podium...
. "Contredit" is probably a nickname. He wrote mostly grand chant
Grand chant
The gran chan or, in modern French, chanson courtoise or chanson d'amour, often abbreviated chanson, was a genre of Old French lyric poetry devised by the trouvères. It was adopted from the Occitan canso of the troubadours, but scholars stress that it was a distinct genre...
s, but also a pastourelle
Pastourelle
The pastourelle 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 wit battle and who displays general coyness. The narrator usually has sexual relations, either consensual or...
, a lai
Lai
A lai is a lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.Lais were mainly composed in France and Germany, during the 13th and 14th centuries. A Provençal term for a similar kind of poem is descort.The English term lay is a...
, and a jeu-parti with Guillaume li Vinier.
Andrieu is probably the Andreas Contredit, miles ministerellus, crucesignatus who in 1239, according to French royal documents, joined the Crusade of Theobald I of Navarre
Theobald I of Navarre
Theobald I , called the Troubadour, the Chansonnier, and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne from birth and King of Navarre from 1234...
as a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
and minstrel
Minstrel
A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
. His appearance in royal documents may indicate his service (probably as a minstrel) to Louis IX
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
, and he addressed his song Au mois d'avril to Louis.
His song Ja pour nul mal 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. Besides the register of the Puy are Andrieu's poems themselves, since he wrote twenty and named himself as author in fourteen. He addressed Bone, bele et avenans to a "Marote", probably fellow trouvère Maroie de Diergnau de Lille. He praised the city of Arras in L'autrier quant je chevauchoie. Andrieu twice refers to himself as messire (mister), a title reserved for nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
. His blason
Blason
Blason originally comes from the heraldic term blazon in French heraldry and means either the codified description of a coat of arms or the coat of arms itself...
had once decorated chansonnier
Chansonnier
A chansonnier is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally "song-books," although some manuscripts are so called even though they preserve the text but not the music A chansonnier is a manuscript or...
known as MS 844 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
, but it has now been lost.
Andrieu's verses show little variation of form. They all begin with the same rhyme scheme
Rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes or lines...
(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
Bar form 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 describe their songs and the songs of the predecessors, the minnesingers of the 12th to 14th century...
. The melodies are frequently non-repetitive and sometimes motivic.
List of works
- Amours m'a si del tout a son voloir
- Au mois d'avril que l'on dit en Pascour
- Au tens que je voi averdir
- Bone, bele et avenans
- Dame, pour vous m'esjoïs benement
- De bele Yzabel ferai, survives without music
- [De] bone amour ki le set maintenir, survives without music and incipit
- Del guerredon ke j'atenc a avoir, survives without music and incipit
- Guillaume le Viniers, amis, his part of a jeu-parti, survives without music
- Iriez, pensis chanterai
- Ja pour nul mal ne peur nesun tourment
- Ja pour nul mal ne peur nule pensee
- Je ne me doi d'Amours de riens loer
- L'autrier quant je chevauchoie
- Mout m'est bel quant voi repairier
- Pré ne vert bois, rose ne flour de lis
- Quant voi partir foille et flour et rosee
- Tout tens est mes cuers en joie
- Tres haute Amours me semont que je chant
- Vivre m'estuet en tristror, en pesance