French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Butterfield, Poetry and Music in Medieval France. From Jean Renart to Guillaume de Machaut
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
BUTTERFIELD, Ardis, Poetry and Music in Medieval France. From Jean Renart to Guillaume de Machaut
New York, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature), 2009, 397 p.
ISBN 9780521100922
ABSTRACT
Ardis Butterfield examines the relationship between the poetry and music of medieval France. Beginning when French song was first set in writing in the early thirteenth century, Butterfield describes the wide range of contexts in which secular songs were quoted and copied. Including narrative romances, satires and love poems, the book reveals the development of French song and narrative genres during a significant period of history.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of illustrations; List of tables; List of music examples; Acknowledgments; Bibliographical note; List of abbreviations; Prologue; Part I. Text and Performance: 1. Song and written record in the early thirteenth century; 2. The sources of song: chansonniers, narratives, dance-song; 3. The performance of song in Jean Renart's Rose; Part II. The Boundaries of Genre: 4. The refrain; 5. Refrains in context: a case study; 6. Contrafacta: from secular to sacred in Gautier de Coinci and later thirteenth-century writing; Part III. The Location of Culture: 7. ‘Courtly' and ‘popular' in the thirteenth century; 8. Urban culture: Arras and the puys; 9. The cultural contexts of Adam de la Halle; Part IV. Modes of Inscription: 10. Songs in writing: the evidence of the manuscripts; 11. Chante/fable: Aucassin et Nicolette; 12. Writing music, writing poetry: Le Roman de Fauvel in Paris BN fr. 146; Part V: Lyric and Narrative: 13. The two Roses: Machaut and the thirteenth century; 14. Rewriting song: chanson, motet, salut, and dit; 15. Citation and authorship from the thirteenth to the fourteenth century; Part VI. Envoy: The New Art: 16. The Formes fixes: from Adam de la Halle to Guillaume de Machaut; Epilogue; Glossary; Appendix; Bibliography.
This scholarly study investigates how secular songs were integrated into narrative romances, satires, and love poems during a transformative era of French literary and musical history. Ardis Butterfield analyzes manuscript sources, performance practices, and the complex boundaries of genre, shedding light on the transition from oral traditions to written records. By examining key figures such as Jean Renart, Adam de la Halle, and Guillaume de Machaut, the volume illuminates the evolving relationship between text and melody across diverse cultural environments.
The book will prove particularly valuable to students and scholars of medieval literature, musicology, and cultural history seeking a deeper understanding of the Ars Nova and the development of lyrical forms like the *formes fixes*. It addresses central questions regarding authorship, the interplay between courtly and urban cultures, and the methods by which texts and musical notation were preserved. Readers interested in the interdisciplinary connections between medieval poetry and musical composition will find it an indispensable resource.