The Angevin Struggle for the Kingdom of Naples (c.1378–1411) and Politics of Repertoire in Mod A: New Hypotheses
The inner gatherings of the music manuscript Modena, Biblioteca Estense, MS. α.M.5.24 (Mod A II-IV ) contain a tangle of politically-charged songs, mostly in French, referring to the tumultuous Great Schism of the Western Church (1378–1417) and the prowess of several princes of ascendant Italian states during the same period. Some scholars have connected the repertoire of Mod A II-IV with Petros Filargos, sometime Archbishop of Milan and then the short-lived conciliar pope Alexander V. Yet art-historical evidence now strongly suggests that Mod A II-IV was completed during the pontificate of Alexander’s successor, John XXIII, between September 1410 and March 1411 in Bologna. During the first two years of John’s pontificate the influential and wealthy prince of France, Louis II of Anjou, prosecuted his claim for title of the Kingdom of Naples in Italy, simultaneously supporting John XXIII’s military campaign to reclaim Rome. This article explores a new hypothesis that part of the repertoire of Mod A II-IV —and possibly the manuscript’s very structure—reflects the presence of the Angevin prince at the court of John XXIII in Bologna in the second half of 1410. It considers how other political threads running through this manuscript render it an unlikely candidate for a source connected with the pro-Visconti Alexander V.
Citation and allusion in the late Ars nova: The case of Esperance and the En attendant songs
In his Prologue, Guillaume de Machaut lists the ballade entée, or ‘grafted ballade’, as one of the many genres he is inspired to write to praise and honour all ladies. It is unclear from this fleeting reference, however, exactly what type of work Machaut meant by this term and whether he was referring to a purely poetic form or to one that involved music. That the practice of citation in lyric poetry was well established at this time is demonstrated by Machaut's own output, which reveals him to have been a master of this art; this literary tradition was to continue to thrive in the later fourteenth century.
The Knights of the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Later Medieval Europe, 1325-1520
The Fraternal Society of Knighthood of St George - Hungary 1325/6-c1395? the Order of the Band - Castile-Leon 1330-1474? the Society of St George or Order of the Garter - England 1344/9-present the Company of Our Lady of the Noble House commonly called the Company of the Star - France 1344/52-1364/80? the Company of the Holy Spirit of Right Desire commonly called the Company of the Knot - mainland Sicily (Naples) 1352/3--1362? the Order of the Sword - Cyprus 1347/59-1489? the Order of the Collar from 1518 called the Order of the Annunciation of Our Lady - Savoy, 1364?-present French princely orders founded before 1430 the Enterprise of the Knights of St George - Aragon, 1371/9-1410? the Order of the Ship - mainland Sicily (Naples) 1381-1386? monarchical and quasi-monarchical orders founded in Spain and Europe c1380-1433 the Order of the Golden Fleece - Burgundy and the netherlands 1430/1-present the Order of the Ermine - mainland Sicily (Naples) 1465-1494/1501 the Order of St Michael the Archangel - France 1469-1790 epilogue - developments from 1469 to 1525 conclusion - the monarchical orders of knighthood.