vir|vis|virtus

Medieval Manhood

Tuesday + May 8 + 2012 Program in Medieval Studies Annmary Brown Memorial Brown University

R E S O N A N D A medieval music ensemble www.myspace.com/resonanda

Christopher Baker Olivia Harding Stephen Higa Natalie Jablonski Harpo Jaeger Jeremy Wagner Erik-Dardan Ymeraga

Deyr fé, deyja frændr Sayings from the Hávamál, Codex Regius, Iceland, 13th c.

L’homme armé France (?), early 15th c. Missa L’homme armé: Kyrie Johannes Ockeghem (1410/1425-1497), Franco-Flemish school

Je chevauchoie l’autrier Moniot de Paris, France, 13th c.

Planctus David Peter Abelard (1079-1142), France

Beowulf maðelode, bearn Ecgþeowes… Beowulf XXII, lines 1473-1528 England, ca. 8th-11th c.?

Iohannes Hiesu Christo multum dilecte virgo text: Notker Balbulus (ca. 840-912), Gaul music: monastery of San Silvestro di Nonantola, Modena, ca. 1100

Deo gracias Anglia redde pro victoria! England, early 15th c.

I have a gentil cok England, ca. 1450 music: S.H., after “Sumer is icumen in,” England, 13th c.

Sia laudato San Francesco Florence Laudario, Tuscany, 14th c.

Sancto Agostin, doctor Florence Laudario, Tuscany, 14th c.

Qan vei la lauzeta mover Bernart de Ventadorn (ca.1130-ca.1200), Provence

Laudes Regiae Worcester, England, 13th c.

IN THE 7TH CENTURY, the Visigothic scholar Isidore of Seville drew an etymological relationship between the Latin words “vir” (man), “vis” (force/power), and “virtus” (strength/power/virtue). Tonight’s concert is simply an exploration of this trinity. What did it mean to be a man in the Middle Ages? Gender as a category of analysis is not new to scholars, nor is it new to medievalists; however, despite the admonitions of feminists back in the 1970s, scholars working on gender have often focused primarily on the female. What about men, maleness, masculinity? Aren’t men gendered as well? It is only relatively recently that some scholars have come to tackle maleness, and what it means to be male in many cultural contexts is now coming to light. Masculinity, like femininity, is socially and culturally constructed, with only a tenuous link to whatever biological facts accompany it. Indeed, the relationship between biology and masculinity is not causal but symbiotic: bodies are constructed and defined by masculinity—“the body can never be outside the symbolic order,” the sociologist Arthur Brittan tells us—but masculinity is also created by these constructed bodies: “at the same time, the symbolic order can never be disembodied.” Masculinity is tenuous, it is inherently frail and continuously invented. Writing about his investigations of machismo in Mexico City, the anthropologist Matthew Gutmann phrased it well: “there is ambiguity, confusion, and contradiction in male identities throughout the putative heartland of machismo. . . . Indeed, such indeterminacy itself is critical in the negotiation of masculinity.” Tonight, we will explore medieval masculinity and manhood, especially as it expressed itself through ambiguity, confusion, contradiction, and indeterminacy. Delving into songs and stories of heroes, knights, saints, and lovers, we will trace the troubled boundaries between the sacred and the secular, the masculine and the effeminate, and the homosocial and the homoerotic. What was male power? Male strength? Male virtue? What were the threads that wove throughout and between male bodies, and when did these threads seem to tighten or fray?

A note on our performances:

Almost without exception, Resonanda prefers to respect the gendering of medieval music. Music that was most likely sung by male voices will be sung that way in our performances, and the same holds true for female music or music that was simply meant for a single gender, whether male or female (like monastic chant). Almost all of the music on tonight’s program would have been sung by male voices. However, we did not in any way wish to excommunicate our lovely women. Therefore, you will hear mixed-gender performances that would have been impossible for many of these pieces at the time they were written.

RESONANDA is an ensemble dedicated to the exploration of that most important of medieval instruments: the voice. The vocal sound most desired in the Middle Ages was very different from the sound desired by the conservatory today. This sound (exemplified by the classical bel canto), which frowns on embellishment and emphasizes long lines and constant timbre, has still not wholly been abandoned by most modern performers of medieval song. In fact, there were many colors and techniques available to the medieval singer. These ranged from the cultivated to the rustic and also varied, of course, according to locale. The ‘cultivated’ sound most desired by theorists and produced by trained singers across Western Christendom was most importantly alta (high, soaring, resounding), suavis (sweet), and clara (loud, clear, bright). Through descriptions of the delicate inflections, the pulsations, microtones, shifting colors, turns, and swoops, we come to see that the most desirable medieval voice has its closest living relatives not in today’s Euro-American “early music singers” but in the art song of the Near East and India. On the other end of the spectrum, we find descriptions of ‘rustic’ song, which the theorists variously likened to “farm carts clumsily creaking up a rutted hill” (John the Deacon, Italy, 9th c.) or the howling of wolves (Elias Salomonis, Italy, 1274)—“in the bark of their squabbling they bray louder than an ass” (Arnulf, Belgium, 1400). In our realizations we attempt to represent the entire range. Resonanda takes an experimental approach to the performance of medieval song. In order to resurrect this antique repertoire, we work closely with medieval treatises and the nuanced notation while relying heavily on such medieval practices as improvisation, ornamentation, and oral learning. But caveat auditor: in the absence of original sound recordings, any reconstruction of medieval performance will, of course, be completely conjectural. Therefore, we base our performance decisions on three factors: the medieval evidence, living roots traditions in Europe and the Mediterranean, and our own intuition. I feel exceptionally privileged to have had the opportunity to summon such powerful and insightful singers to the service of medieval song. Each singer has brought his or her experience and background to the table. We combine our collective experimentation with the period evidence and our various experience with other antique musics (from Renaissance polyphony to Appalachian hymns to Spanish ballads) in order to arrive at a realization that is—we hope— plausible, enjoyable, and true to the spirit and intentions of a hypothetical “original” performance.

--Stephen Higa

Christopher Baker is a senior studying evolutionary biology. He sings baritone with the Brown Madrigal Singers and has performed in several Brown New Music productions, including “The Mechanics of the Spirit.” He is the lead singer and less attractive half of the rock band, Westfield See No Further. Chris was also co-captain of the Brown Men’s Club Ice Hockey team.

Olivia Harding will be graduating this year from the departments of Comparative Literature and Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. She most recently performed a recital of Early Modern Music (Ciconia, Dowland, Monteverdi and Lambert) for her Renaissance capstone project. She is a contralto in Kathryne Jennings' studio and has sung with the Brown Chorus and the Brown Madrigal Singers for 4 years. She has also been Captain of ARRR!!!, Brown's only a capirate group. After graduating, she will rejoin the cast of Production Workshop's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights to perform the rock opera in NYC.

Stephen Higa, recently given his Ph.D. in Medieval History, has music in his veins. On his mother’s side, his grandfather was a professional storyteller and devoted gospel singer. On his father’s side, his grandfather was a migrant worker on a sugarcane plantation who would take his homemade tin-can sanshin (Okinawan banjo) and disappear into the fields to play for hours on end. Stephen broke with family tradition when he turned to early European music, and has been studying and experimenting with medieval music for over a decade. He loves singing Renaissance polyphony with the Brown Madrigal Singers, experimental music with Brown New Music, shape-note hymns with good friends, and old spirituals with his sister. However, he reserves his greatest passion for belting out gospel songs around late-night bonfires.

Natalie Jablonski learned to sing primarily through Sacred Harp, an American hymn tradition. She also sings Appalachian folk music and plays guitar in the Two Time String Band. A lover of sound in many varieties, she hosts weekly “listening parties” where guests are treated to tea, baked goods, and an hour of hand-selected radio programs, documentaries, and storytelling.

Harpo Jaeger is a sophomore at Brown, studying Education History & Policy. When not meditating on the multifaceted manifestations of medieval masculinity, he’s likely to be a) haulin’ on the bracers with Brown’s most fearsome co-ed pirate a cappella group, b) sleeping in the garden at Rochambeau House, or c) boldly and foolishly launching some new venture that will take up all of his spare time.

Jeremy Wagner is an undergraduate at Brown University in the class of 2013. He has been playing the trombone for about a decade, and singing for a little bit longer. If you pass him on the street, he probably will be singing quietly to himself, but that doesn't mean he is crazy. An engineering student and amateur Latinist, he likes to think about his favorite lines of Vergil as well as how many copies of Vergil could be supported by a slender rod of a 1080 tempered plain-carbon steel.

Erik-Dardan Ymeraga hails from the verdant Pacific Northwest and Albania. A dedicated Sacred Harp singer and enthusiastic disciple of ancient American roots music, he can often be caught red-handed making field recordings of local bands, street musicians, and Sunday morning church-goers. Once the Folk Director for Brown Student Radio, he is now Station Manager and uses his powers primarily for good. He enjoys raw asparagus, vinyl records, and long walks on the beach.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Sayings 76 and 77 from the Hávamál (trans.: W.H. Auden and P.B. Taylor)

The Hávamál, found in the 13th-century Icelandic Codex Regius and attributed to the god Odin, seems to have been a collection of proverbs, sayings, and other pieces of oral tradition written in Old Norse (the language of the Vikings). Here are two verses that together sum up medieval manhood with great austerity and power. In homage to the medieval Icelandic seeress or shamaness known as the vǫlva, this piece is recited by a female voice.

Deyr fé, Cattle die, deyja frændr, kindred die, deyr sjalfr it sama, every man is mortal. en orðstírr But the good name deyr aldregi, never dies hveim er sér góðan getr. of one who has done well.

Deyr fé, Cattle die, deyja frændr, kindred die, deyr sjalfr it sama, every man is mortal. ek veit einn, But I know one thing at aldrei deyr: that never dies: dómr um dauðan hvern. the glory of the great dead.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ L’homme armé Missa L’homme armé: Kyrie (trans. S.H.)

“L’homme armé” was an extremely popular song in the late Middle Ages. In fact, over forty Mass settings from the 15th to the 17th century are based on it, written by a veritable who’s-who of late-medieval and Renaissance composers. Dufay, Ockeghem, Josquin, Morales, Palestrina, and other luminous noteworthies all created their own Missa l’homme armé on this catchy and robust tune. Here, we sing the original song and then launch into the Kyrie (which alludes to a very different sort of power and might) from the exquisite Mass by the Franco-Flemish master Johannes Ockeghem. The tune to the popular song is sung by Jeremy in the tenor.

L’homme, l’homme, l’homme armé, The man, the man, the armed man, L’homme armé doibt on doubter. The armed man must be feared. On a fait partout crier, It has been proclaimed everywhere Que chascun se viengne armer That each man shall arm himself D’un haubregon de fer. With a mail coat of iron.

Kyrie eleison Lord, have mercy. Christe eleison Christ, have mercy. Kyrie eleison Lord, have mercy.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Je chevauchoie l’autrier (trans. Samuel N. Rosenberg et al)

This is a delightful little ditty about a bad husband, his rebellious lady, and what is surely a knight out on a jaunt. These were stock characters in 13th-century French popular culture, and there are countless songs about lusty encounters in the countryside beyond a husband’s watchful eye. As if male sexual potency was enhanced by emasculating or denigrating another male, the courtship—or, rather, proposition—consists entirely of vitriolic complaint against the lady’s husband. Painting the husband an enemy of female desire allows the knight to ride in and play the sexual savior of this damsel-in-distress.

Je chevauchoie l’autrier I was out riding the other day Seur la rive de Saine. along the banks of the Seine. Dame dejoste un vergier Beside an orchard I noticed Vi plus blanche que laine; a lady whiter than wool; Chançon prist a conmencier she began to sing Souëf, a douce alaine. softly and sweetly. Mult doucement li oï dire et noter: Very softly I heard her singing these words: “Honi soit qui a villain me fist doner! “Shame to the one who wed me to a boor! J'aim mult melz un poi de joie a demener I would much rather have a little joy Que mil mars d'argent avoir et puis plorer.” than get a thousand silver marks and then weep.”

Hautement la saluai I greeted her out loud De Dieu le filz Marie. in the name of God, the son of Mary. El respondi sanz delai: She was quick to respond: “Jhesu vos beneïe!” “Jesus bless you!” Mult doucement li proié Very gently I asked her Q’el devenist m’amie. to become my beloved. Tot errant me conmençoit a raconter Right away she began to tell me Conme ses maris la bat por bien amer. how her husband beat her for being in love.

“Dame, estes vos de Paris?” “My lady, are you from Paris?” “Oïl, certes, biau sire; “Yes, indeed, dear sir; Seur Grant-Pont maint mes maris, my husband lives on the Great Bridge; Des mauves tot le pire. he is the worst of the bad. Or puet il estre marris: Now he has grounds to be angry: Jamés de moi n’iert sire! he’ll never be my master! Trop est fel et rioteus, trop puet parler, He is cruel and quick-tempered and says what he likes: Car je m’en vueil avec vous aler jöer.” I want to go have a good time with you.

“Mal ait qui me maria! “Curse the one who marries me off! Tant en ait or le prestre, Same for the priest, Qu’a un vilain me dona for he wed me to a boor Felon et de put estre. who is cruel and base-born. Je croi bien que poior n’a I am sure there is no worse man De ci tresqu’a Vincestre. between here and Winchester. Je ne pris tot son avoir pas mon souler, I wouldn’t give my shoe for all his wealth, Quant il me bat et ledenge por amer.” Since he beats and insults me for being in love.”

“Enondieu, je amerai “By God, I will love Et si serai amee and I’ll be loved, too, Et si me renvoiserai and I’ll go frolicking El bois soz la ramee under the trees in the woods Et mon mari maudirai and I’ll curse my husband Et soir et matinee.” night and day.” “Dame de Paris, amez, lessiez ester “Lady of Paris, let yourself love, forget Vostre mari, si venez o moi jöer!” your husband, and come have a good time with me!”

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Planctus David super Saul et Ionatha (excerpt) (trans.: John Stevens)

The relationship between David and Jonathan is recounted in the biblical book of Samuel. After David killed Goliath, he was brought before King Saul. Jonathan, Saul’s son, loved David (who was “ruddy and good-looking” [1 Sam. 17:42]) at first sight and the two formed a “covenant” with each other [1 Sam. 18:1-3]. I won’t narrate the full story here, but eventually Jonathan and his brothers are killed on Mt. Gilboa by the Philistine army and Saul commits suicide. David’s lamentation over Saul and Jonathan can be found in 2 Sam. 19-27.

Needless to say, the precise nature of David and Jonathan’s relationship has sparked much speculation. Abelard (yes, that Abelard) here offers his take. In the biblical lament, David gives equal time to Saul and Jonathan; Abelard’s lament, however, gives brief lipservice to Saul and then broods lengthily over Jonathan with verse after verse of deep anguish. Here, David and Jonathan are clearly lovers, but the question of any sexual component to their love is superfluous. What seduces the listener is the intimacy and passion between these two men, an engrossing temperature or texture that renders any whisper of a sex act limply banal.

Dolorum solatium My harp, laborum remedium my consolation in sorrow mea michi cithara, and cure for pain, nunc quo maior dolor est is now the more needful to me iustiorque meror est as my sorrow is greater plus est necessaria. and my grief more fitting.

Strages magna populi The great slaughter of the nation, regis mors et filii the king’s death and his son’s, hostium victoria, the triumph of the enemy, ducum desolacio the desolation of the leaders, vulgi desperatio the commons in despair— luctu replent omnia. these fill all things with mourning.

Saul regum fortissime O Saul, most valiant of kings, virtus invicta Ionathe, O invincible courage of Jonathan, qui vos nequivit vincere, one who could not defeat you permissus est occidere; was permitted to slay you. quasi non esset oleo As if he had not been consecrated consecratus dominico, with the oil of the Lord, sceleste manus gladio he is slaughtered in battle iugulatur in prelio. by the sword of a wicked hand.

Plus fratre michi, Ionatha, O Jonathan, more than a brother to me, in una mecum anima, sharing a single soul with me, que peccata, que scelera what sins, what wicked deeds nostra sciderunt viscera. have sundered our living flesh. Ve ve tibi madida Woe, woe to you, tellus cede regia, earth drenched with royal blood, qua et te, mi Ionatha, where a hand of wickedness felled you too, manus stravit impia! O my Jonathan!

Tu michi, mi Ionatha, O my Jonathan, it is for you flendus super omnia, I have to weep above all else; inter cuncti gaudia amidst all that gives delight, perpes eris lacrima. my tears shall be unending. Heu, cur consilio Alas, why did I assent adquievi pessimo, to the worse counsel, ut tibi presidio so that I could not protect you non essem in prelio? in the battle?

Vel confossus pariter Or else, struck down at your side morerer feliciter I could have died happy, cum quid amor faciat since love has no greater thing maius hoc non habeat, than this it can do, et me post te vivere and since for me to live on after you mori sit assidue is a perpetual death. nec ad vitam anima For life half a soul satis sit dimidia. is not enough.

Vicem amicicie Then at the time vel unam me reddere of utmost distress oportebat tempore I should have paid summe tunc angustie, friendship’s debt, triumphi participem either in one way as a sharer in your victory vel ruine comitem, or else as your companion in death; ut te vel eriperem then I should either have rescued you vel tecum occumberem, or have fallen with you. vitam pro te finiens In your defense I would thus have ended this life quam salvasti tociens, which you saved so often; ut et mors non iungeret thus would death have united magis quam disiungeret. rather than parted us.

Do quietem fidibus; I give rest to my harp-strings; vellem ut et planctibus would that I could do so sic possem et fletibus. to my lamentations and tears. Lesis pulsu manibus My hands are sore with striking, raucis planctu vocibus my voice is hoarse with lamenting deficit et spiritus. and my breath fails me.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Beowulf XXII, lines 1473-1528 (trans.: Seamus Heaney)

In this portion of the Old English epic, Beowulf battles the monster Grendel’s mother, a fierce opponent and one of the most formidable females in Old English literature. Although Beowulf is the epitome of heroic manliness, his bout with Grendel’s mother renders his trusty sword—the sword that had never failed him before—completely impotent. The listener may interpret this as he or she wills.

This performance is based on my research into possible recitation techniques for medieval tales (I have also tackled the Old Norse Lay of Thrymr to the Old Spanish El Cid). For Beowulf, I use a collection of endlessly varied melodic formulae and a continuum between speech and song. The melodic formulae I use are based on the earliest-known secular Danish melody, the ballad fragment “Drømde mig en drøm i nat,” written in runes in the 13th-century Codex Runicus. My use of this fragment gives a nod to the Danish setting of much of the poem’s action. In the earliest centuries, English stories were accompanied by the lyre; around the 9th or 10th century, triangular harps such as mine showed up. In homage to the six-stringed lyres found in early Anglo-Saxon burials, I use only six strings of my harp.

Bēowulf maþelode, bearn Ecgþēowes: Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke: “Geþenc nū, se mǣra maga Healfdenes, “Wisest of kings, now that I have come snottra fengel, nū ic eom sīðes fūs, to the point of action, I ask you to recall gold-wine gumena, hwæt wit geō sprǣcon, what we said earlier: that you, son of Halfdane gif ic æt þearfe þīnre scolde and gold-friend to retainers, that you, if I should fall aldre linnan, þæt ðū mē ā wǣre and suffer death while serving your cause, forð-gewitenum on fæder stǣle. would act like a father to me afterwards. Wes þū mundbora mīnum mago-þegnum, If this combat kills me, take care hond-gesellum, gif mec hild nime; of my young company, my comrades in arms. swylce þū ðā mādmas þe þū mē sealdest, And be sure also, my beloved Hrothgar, Hrōðgār lēofa, Higelāce onsend. to send Hygelac the treasures I received. Mæg þonne on þǣm golde ongitan Gēata dryhten, Let the lord of the Geats gaze on that gold, gesēon sunu Hrǣdles, þonne hē on þæt sinc starað, let Hrethel’s son take note of it and see þæt ic gum-cystum gōdne funde that I found a ring-giver of rare magnificence bēaga bryttan, brēac þonne mōste. and enjoyed the good of his generosity. Ond þū Unferð lǣt ealde lāfe, And Unferth is to have what I inherited: wrǣtlic wǣg-sweord, wīd-cūðne man to that far-famed man I bequeath my own heard-ecg habban; ic mē mid Hruntinge sharp-honed, wave-sheened wonderblade. dōm gewyrce, oþðe mec dēað nimeð.” With Hrunting I shall gain glory or die.” Æfter þǣm wordum Weder-Gēata lēod After these words, the prince of the Weather-Geats efste mid elne, nalas andsware was impatient to be away and plunged suddenly: bīdan wolde; brim-wylm onfēng without more ado, he dived into the heaving hilde-rince. Đā wæs hwīl dæges depths of the lake. It was the best part of a day ǣr hē þone grund-wong ongytan mehte. before he could see the solid bottom. Sōna þæt onfunde, sē ðe flōda begong Quickly the one who haunted those waters, heoro-gīfre behēold hund missēra, who had scavenged and gone her gluttonous rounds grim ond grǣdig, þæt þǣr gumena sum for a hundred seasons, sensed a human æl-wihta eard ufan cunnode. observing her outlandish lair from above. Grāp þā tōgēanes; gūð-rinc gefēng So she lunged and clutched and managed to catch him atolan clommum; nō þȳ ǣr in gescōd in her brutal grip; but his body, for all that, hālan līce; hring ūtan ymb-bearh, remained unscathed: the mesh of the chain-mail þæt hēo þone fyrd-hom ðurhfōn ne mihte, saved him on the outside. Her savage talons locene leoðo-syrcan lāþan fingrum. failed to rip the web of his warshirt. Bær þā sēo brim-wylf, þā hēo tō botme cōm, Then once she touched bottom, that wolfish swimmer hringa þengel tō hofe sīnum, carried the ring-mailed prince to her court swā hē ne mihte, nō hē þæs mōdig wæs, so that for all his courage he could never use wǣpna gewealdan; ac hine wundra þæs fela the weapons he carried; and a bewildering horde swencte on sunde, sǣ-dēor monig came at him from the depths, droves of sea-beasts hilde-tūxum here-syrcan bræc, who attacked with tusks and tore at his chain-mail ēhton āglǣcan Đā se eorl ongeat in a ghastly onslaught. The gallant man þæt hē in nīð-sele nāt-hwylcum wæs, could see he had entered some hellish turn-hole þǣr him nǣnig wæter wihte ne sceþede, and yet the water did not work against him nē him for hrōf-sele hrīnan ne mehte because the hall-roofing held off fǣr-gripe flōdes: fȳr-lēoht geseah, the force of the current; then he saw firelight, blācne lēoman beorhte scīnan. a gleam and flare-up, a glimmer a brightness. Ongeat þā se gōda grund-wyrgenne, The hero observed that swamp-thing from hell, mere-wīf mihtig; mægen-rǣs forgeaf the tarn-hag in all her terrible strength, hilde-bille, hond sweng ne oftēah, then heaved his war-sword and swung his arm: þæt hire on hafelan hringmǣl āgōl the decorated blade came down ringing grǣdig gūð-lēoð. Đā se gist onfand and singing on her head. But he soon found þæt se beado-lēoma bītan nolde, his battle-torch extinguished: the shining blade aldre sceþðan, ac sēo ecg geswāc refused to bite. It spared her and failed ðēodne æt þearfe; ðolode ǣr fela the man in his need. It had gone through many hond-gemōta, helm oft gescær, hand-to-hand fights, had hewed the armour fǣges fyrd-hrægl; ðā wæs forma sīð and helmets of the doomed, but here at last dēorum madme, þæt his dōm ālæg. the fabulous powers of that heirloom failed.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Iohannes Hiesu Christo multum dilecte virgo (excerpt) (trans. S.H.)

John the Evangelist has been identified with the disciple “whom Jesus loved” that leaned on Jesus’s chest during the Last Supper [John 13:23]. In the Middle Ages, John was often portrayed in this position, appearing as a beardless youth sweetly reclining against a bearded Jesus. Why should the disciple whom Jesus loved be so-depicted, as if beardlessness were a marker of the male beloved? What may come to mind, perhaps, is the ancient Greek paiderastia, a homoerotic and educational relationship between the bearded and the beardless. Love—and possibly sometimes homoerotic love—continued into medieval master/disciple relationships and it is no surprise that depictions of John and Jesus should settle into the tradition.

This little song is full of gender issues. “Virgin” was usually a female title since it was unclear whether males could be virginal after gaining the ability to ejaculate (and so, for celibate monks, there was some anxiety over nocturnal emission). Although adult male virgins were not unheard of in medieval lore, the title was usually reserved for young boys. And so it is given to John, the beardless, the young, the “greatly beloved.” But even here the normal roles of paiderastia are reversed: although the master is usually the penetrator/masculine and the disciple is the penetrated/androgynous/effeminate, here the master becomes the disciple’s wife/mother, from whose “tender bosom” the disciple is able to draw sustenance and repose. In this role reversal, one may recall Jesus’s washing of the disciples’ feet during the Last Supper.

Iohannes Hiesu Christo multum dilecte virgo John, virgin, greatly beloved by Jesus Christ, Alleluia Alleluia Tu eius amore carnalem Because of your love for him Alleluia Alleluia In navi parentem liquisti You forsook your carnal father in the boat.1 Alleluia Alleluia Tu leve coniugis pectus respuisti You rejected a wife’s tender bosom messiam secutus to follow the Messiah Alleluia Alleluia Ut eius pectoris sacra meruisses So that you might be worthy to drink from his bosom fluenta potare the sacred stream. Alleluia Alleluia Iohannes christi care John, Christ’s beloved. Alleluia Alleluia

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Deo gracias Anglia redde pro victoria!

The Battle of Agincourt (October 25, 1415) was a major victory for England during the Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453), when England and France went head to head over the right to the French throne. Henry V, king of England, went into battle himself (unlike his opponent, Charles VI), and this song invites all the people of England to celebrate his victory. It is worth remembering that this victory—which the song celebrates as a victory for England—was, essentially, a victory in an elite, political dynastic struggle. Whose victory was it, then? Was it a victory for all of England and its inhabitants? A victory for the Angevin dynasty of Henry V (known as the House of Plantagenet)? A victory for both, as king and country and people were all symbolically intertwined?

Deo gracias Anglia redde pro victoria! England, give thanks to God for victory!

Owre kynge went forth to Normandy Our king went forth to Normandy With grace and myght of chyvalry With grace and might of chivalry Ther God for hym wrought mervelusly; There God for him wrought marvelously; Wherefore Englonde may call and cry Wherefore England may call and cry

He sette a sege, sothe for to say, He set siege, forsooth to say, To Harflu toune with ryal aray; To Harfleur town with royal array; That toune he wan and made afray That town he won and made a fray That Fraunce shal rywe tyl domesday. That France shall rue ‘til Doomsday.

1 “When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.” Mark 1:19-20. See also Matt. 4:21-22.

Than went oure kynge with all his oste Then went our king with all his host Throwe Fraunce, for all the Freshe boste; Through France, in spite of all the French boasting; He spared no drede of lest ne moste He spared no dread of least nor most Tyl he come to Agincourt coste ‘Til he came to Agincourt coast.

Than, forsoth that knyght comely, Then, forsooth, that comely knight In Agincourt feld he faught manly; In Agincourt field he fought manly; Throw grace of God most myghty he Through grace of God most mighty, he Had bothe the felde and the victory. Had both the field and the victory.

Ther dukys and erlys, lorde and barone There dukes, earls, lords, and barons Were take and slayne and that wel sone, Were taken and slain and that full soon, And summe were ladde into Londone And some were led into London With joye and merthe and grete renone. With joy and mirth and great renown.

Now gracious God he save owre kynge, Now gracious God he save our king, His peple, and alle his well-wyllynge, His people, and all his well-willing, Yef hym gode lyfe and gode endynge; Give him good life and good ending; That we with merth mowe savely synge: That we with mirth may safely sing:

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ I have a gentil cok (trans. S.H.)

Apparently, most people have considered this song to be a cute little piece about a rooster. What do you think?

I have a gentil cok, I have a noble cock, Crowyt me day; Who crows to announce the day He doth me rysyn erly, He makes me rise early My matyins for to say. So that I can say my matins.2

I have a gentil cok, I have a noble cock, Comyn he is of gret; Who comes from a great family; His comb is of reed corel, His comb is of red coral, His tayil is of get. His tail is made of jet.

I have a gentyl cook I have a noble cock, Comyn he is of kynde; Who is of good lineage; His comb is of red corel, His comb is of red coral, His tayl is of inde. His tail is made of indigo.

His legges ben of asor, His legs are made of azure, So gentil and so smale; So noble and so small, His spores arn of sylver qwyt, His spurs are made of white silver, Into the wortewale. Into his spurs’ roots.

His eynyn arn of cristal, His eyes are made of crystal,

2 Matins was the prayer service offered at cock-crow. Lokyn al in aumbry; All set in amber; And every nyght he perchit hym And every night he perches In myn ladyis chaumbyr. In my lady’s chamber.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Sia laudato san Francesco (trans. Nello Barbieri)

A concert about medieval masculinity could hardly be complete without St. Francis, the man who mobilized generations of men in radical poverty and untiring service in the hearts of Europe’s growing cities. Here, Francis is called a knight, but he is a knight who carries different sorts of weapons and commands a different sort of army. And, unlike worldly knights, Francis draws his power from abjection, from wounds and from weeping.

Sia laudato san Francesco, Let Saint Francis be praised, que’ che aparve crucifixo the one who bore the marks of crucifixion3 come Redemptore. like the Redeemer.

A Cristo configurato, Made to resemble Christ, de le piache fue signato he was branded with His wounds, inperciò che avea portato because he had carried scripto in core lo suo amore. the love for Him written in his heart.

Molti messi avea mandate The Divine Majesty la divina Maiestate, had sent many messengers, et le genti predicate and peoples were evangelized come dico le Scripture. as the Scriptures say.

Intra quali non fue trovato Among them no other nullo privilegiato, privileged knight was found, d’arme nuove corredato, equipped with new arms cavaliere a tanto honore. in such an honorable way.

A La Verna, monte sancto, On the holy mount of La Verna stava ’l sancto con gran pianto; the holy man was weeping copiously; lo qual pianto tornò in canto the comforting seraphim il seraphyno consolatore. turned that weeping into a song.

Quando fu da Dio mandato When blessed Saint Francis san Francesco lo beato, was sent by God, il mondo ki era intenebrato the world, that was in the darkness, recevette gran splendore. received great splendor.

Per divino spiramento By divine inspiration fugli dato intendimento he was given the aspiration di salvare da perdimento to save from perdition molti ch’eran peccatori. many sinners.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠

3 St. Francis was the first to receive the stigmata. Sancto Agostin, doctor (trans. Nello Barbieri)

Intellectual endeavor (particularly of the philosophical/theological variety) is not, these days, usually associated with manliness. But according to this song, warriors and the enemies they slay can take many forms. In Augustine, we have the archetype for medieval ecclesiastical manhood: he is learned, pastoral, and vigilant in illuminating the mysteries of the faith and confounding all heterodoxy.

Sancto Agostin, doctor Let us praise Saint Augustine, confessor et pastore doctor, confessor, et pien di sapientia, si’ laudato. and shepherd full of wisdom.

Luminatore et doctore Enlightener and teacher della fe’ divina; of the divine faith; difenditore, guardatore defender and guardian colla sancta doctrina; through holy doctrine; distrugitore d’ogne errore, destroyer of all false beliefs, facesti gran ruina. you left great ruins. Tutti di sì gram sancto Let us now all sing a new song novel or facciam canto, of such a great saint, che nn’è sie degno et alo ben meritato. for he is indeed worthy and truly deserves it.

Tal don avesti et tenesti Such a gift you received—and retained— da Dio onipotente, from the almighty God, che ti facesti et divenisti that you grew and became perfecto sapiente, a perfectly learned man, et confondesti et distruggesti and confounded and destroyed ogne resia fallente. every fallacious heresy. La tua molta scriptura Your many writings [santissima et pura] were most holy and pure: che tutto ’l mondo n’era alluminato. by them all the world was enlightened.

O glorioso, amoroso, O glorious and loving one, noi ti vogliam pregare; we want to pray to you; o pietoso, largioso, O merciful and generous one, tu ne fa’ perdonare; obtain pardon for us; o gaudioso et gioioso, O mirthful and joyful one, tu ne degie guardare you must protect us da lo invidioso from the envious one ch’è sì desideroso who so desires di noi menare al luogo tenebrato. to lead us to the place of darkness.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Qan vei la lauzeta mover (trans.: William Paden)

Fin’amor (what the modern world knows as “courtly love”) is, perhaps, one of the most well-known manifestations of medieval masculinity. In fin’amor, the man denigrates himself before the woman he adores, placing her on a pedestal and pining for her attention, her affection, her kiss, her embrace. “Qan vei la lauzeta mover”—the most beloved troubadour song of their era and ours—is unsurpassed for beauty, pathos, and grace. This is why I have chosen it to be the last troubadour song I sing at Brown.

Qan vei la lauzeta mover When I see the lark beat de joi sas alas contra.l rai, his wings with joy in the [sun’s] ray, que s’oblid’e.is laissa cazer that forgets himself and lets himself fall per la doussor c’al cor li vai, for the warmth that goes to his heart, Ai! Tant grans enveia m’en ve Oh! Such great envy comes to me de cui que veia jauzion, of anyone I see rejoicing meravillas ai car desse [that] I’m amazed that right away lo cors de desirier no.m fon. my heart doesn’t melt with desire.

Ai las, tant cujava saber Alas, I thought I knew so much d’amor, e qant petit en sai! of love, and how little I know! Car ieu d’amar no.m puosc tener Since I cannot keep from loving celei don ja pro non aurai, her, from whom I shall never get favor, tolt m’a mon cor e tolt m’a se she has taken my heart and taken herself e mi meteus e tot lo mon, and my myself and all the world, e qan si.m tolc no.m laiset re and when she took herself she left me nothing mas desirier e cor volon. but desire and a yearning heart.

De las dompnas mi desesper; I despair of the ladies; ja mais en lor no.m fiarai, never again will I trust them, c’aissi cum las suoil captener for just as I have always defended them Enaissi las descaptenrai. so I shall stop defending them. Pois vei c’una pro no m’en te Since I see that not one of them does me good vas lieis qe.m destrui e.m cofon, with her who destroys me and confounds me, totas las dopt’e las mescre, I fear them all and distrust them, car ben sai c’atretals si son. for I just know they are all the same.

Amors es perduda, per ver, Love is lost for sure, et ieu non o saubi anc mai; and I never even knew it; que cil que plus en degr’aver for she who should have had the most no n’a jes, et on la qerrai? has none at all, so where shall I seek it? Ai, cum mal sembla qui la ve Oh! how bad it looks to anyone who sees her, c’az aquest caitiu desiron, that she lets this yearning wretch, que ja ses lieis non aura be, who will never have any good without her, laisse morir que no.il aon. die, since she won’t help him.

Puois ab midonz no.m pot valer Since with my lady God helps me not, Dieus ni merces ni.l dreitz q’ieu ai, nor mercy, nor the right I have, ni a lieis no ven a plazer and it does not please her qu’il m’am, ja mais no lo dirai; to love me, I shall never tell her; e si.m part de lieis e.m recre, and if she casts me off and denies me, mort m’a, e per mort li respon; she has killed me, and I answer her as a dead man; e vau m’en, s’ella no.m rete, so I’ll go away, if she doesn’t keep me, caitius, en issill, no sai on. a wretch, in exile, I know not where.

Anc non agui de mi poder, I have never had power over myself no non fui mieus de l’or’en sai or been my own, ever since qe.m laisset en sos huoills vezer she let me look into her eyes, en un miraill que mout mi plai. in a mirror that pleases me greatly. Miraills, pois me miriei en te, Mirror, since I saw myself in you, m’ant mort li sospir de prion; sighs from deep down have killed me; c’aissi.m perdiei cum perdet se for I lost myself, just as handsome Narcissus lo bels Narcisus en la fon. lost himself in the fountain.

D’aisso.s fai ben femna parer My lady looks just like a woman ma dompna, per q’ieu lo retrai for this, and so I reproach her, car non vol so que deu voler for she doesn’t want what she should want, e so c’om li deveda, fai. and she does what she is forbidden to do. Cazutz sui e mala merce, I have fallen into ill favor, et ai ben faich co.l fols e.l pon; and I have acted just like the fool on the bridge; e non sai per que m’esdeve, and I don’t know why it happens to me, mas car pojei trop contr’amon. except because I climbed too high.

Tristan, no.n auretz jes de me, Tristan, you’ll get nothing [no news] from me, que vau m’en, marritz, no sai on. for I’m going away, grief-stricken, I know not where. De chantar mi lais e.m recre, I cease and desist from singing, e de joi e d’amor m’escon. and conceal myself from joy and love.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Laudes Regiae (trans. S.H.)

Based on ancient Roman acclamations to the emperor, the ubiquitous pan-European Laudes Regiae drew clear associations between the earthly king and Christ, the heavenly king. In this 13th-century English version, a confederation of men on earth (even the queen is given a male pronoun!) is upheld and empowered by a confederation of men in heaven. By summoning and amplifying this cosmic relationship, male power was actually enacted and made manifest whenever this song was performed.

Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christ triumphs, Christ reigns, Christus imperat. Exaudi Christe! Christ rules. Hear us, O Christ!

Summo pontifici et universali pape vita. Long live the pontifical and universal pope. Salvator mundi: tu illum adiuva Savior of the world, come to his aid. Sancte Petre: tu illum adiuva St. Peter, come to his aid. Sancte Clemens: tu illum adiuva St. Clement, come to his aid. Sancte Sixte: tu illum adiuva St. Sixtus, come to his aid.

Regi Anglorum a deo coronato To the king of the English, crowned by God, salus et victoria health and victory. Redemptor mundi: tu illum adiuva Redeemer of the world, come to his aid. Sancte Aedmunde: tu illum adiuva St. Edmund, come to his aid. Sancte Ermingilde: tu illum adiuva St. Hermenegild, come to his aid. Sancte Oswalde: tu illum adiuva St. Oswald, come to his aid.

Regine Anglorum salus et vita To the queen of the English, health and life. Redemptor mundi: tu illum adiuva Redeemer of the world, come to his aid. Sancta Maria: tu illum adiuva St. Mary, come to his aid. Sancta Felicitas: tu illum adiuva St. Felicity, come to his aid. Sancta Aetheldrida: tu illum adiuva St. Æthelthryth, come to his aid.

Archiepiscopum et omnem clerum May God save the archbishop sibi commissum deus conservet and all the clergy committed to him. Salvator mundi: tu illum adiuva Savior of the world, come to his aid. Sancte Ealphege: tu illum adiuva St. Alphege, come to his aid. Sancte Thoma: tu illum adiuva St. Thomas, come to his aid. Sancte Dunstane: tu illum adiuva St. Dunstan, come to his aid.

Episcopum et omnem clerum May God save the bishop sibi commissum deus conservet. and all the clergy committed to him. Salvator mundi: tu illum adiuva Savior of the world, come to his aid. Sancte Oswalde: tu illum adiuva St. Oswald, come to his aid. Sancte Ulstane: tu illum adiuva St. Wulfstan, come to his aid. Sancte Egwine: tu illum adiuva St. Egwin, come to his aid.

Omnibus principibus et cuncto exercitui To all the princes and the entire army anglorum salus et victoria of the English, health and victory. Salvator mundi: tu illos adiuva Savior of the world, come to their aid. Sancte Maurici: tu illos adiuva St. Maurice, come to their aid. Sancte Gregori: tu illos adiuva St. Gregory, come to their aid. Sancte Sebastiane: tu illos adiuva St. Sebastian, come to their aid.

Rex regum Christus vincit Christ, the King of kings, triumphs. Rex noster Christus regnat Christ, our King, reigns. Gloria nostra Christus imperat Christ, our glory, rules. Auxilium nostrum Christus vincit Christ, our help, triumphs. Fortitudo nostra Christus regnat Christ, our strength, reigns. Liberatio et redemptio nostra Christus imperat. Christ, our liberation and redemption, rules. Victoria nostra invictissima Christus vincit Christ, our unconquerable victory, triumphs. Murus noster inexpugnabilis Christus regnat Christ, our invincible fortress, reigns. Defensio et exultatio nostra Christus imperat. Christ, our defense and exultation, rules.

Ipsi soli imperium, gloria et potestas To him alone be the kingdom, the glory, and power per immortalia secula seculorum amen. through the immortal ages, amen. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat Christ triumphs, Christ reigns, Christ rules. Ipsi soli laus et iubilatio et benedictio To him alone be the praise, jubilation, and blessing per infinita secula seculorum amen. through the infinite ages, amen. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat Christ triumphs, Christ reigns, Christ rules. Ipsi soli honor et claritas et sapientia To him alone be the honor, clarity, and wisdom per infinita secula seculorum amen. through the infinite ages, amen. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat. Christ triumphs, Christ reigns, Christ rules.

✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ ✠ Thank you, as always, to Maria Sokolova and the Program in Medieval Studies for all their help and support!