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.
Music and university culture in late fourteenth-century Pavia The manuscript Chicago, Newberry Library, Case ms 54.1
In 1359, Pavia was conquered by the ruler of Milan, Qaleazzo II Visconti, whose goal was to make the city not only the seat of his duchy, but also its cultural capital.1 In 1360 the duke began the construction of a rich and comfortable castle, where he and his court moved in 1366. Life at the Visconti's new residence became famous for its elegance and cultural appeal, especially later under the rule of ?aleazzo's son, Qiangaleazzo (1385-1402). The court was joined from time to time by ?aleazzo's advisor and long-term friend, Francesco Petrarch.2 The visit of Eustache Deschamps to the castle around 1390 imparted to the poet a long-lasting sense of comfort and pleasure (material and intellectual), that he expressed in verse: "H fait tr?s beau d?mourer / en doulz chastel de Pavie" (It is so nice to live / in the sweet castle of Pavia).3 Qaleazzo also started a book collection under the direction of Petrarch that would grow during his son's rule and become one of the glories of the family.4 The second step in creating a cultural capital was the founding of a new univer sity, intended to provide the state with a prestigious school dedicated mainly to the study of law, but also open to philosophy, medicine and the liberal arts. In 1361 the university received the official approval of the emperor Charles IV (diploma).5 The new Studium generale enriched an expanding landscape of European uni versities. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the only active studia were Paris, Bologna, Oxford, Salamanca, and Padua, founded in 1222. The fourteenth century saw the creation of many new schools?some thirty-two between 1300 and 1425* among