'FLOWER OF THE LILY': LATE-MEDIEVAL RELIGIOUS AND HERALDIC SYMBOLISM IN PARIS, BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE, MS FRANÇAIS 146. (29th August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Caldwell, Mary Channen
• Is Part Of: Early music history. Volume 33(2014)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 60
• Publication Date: 2014-08-29
• Subjects: Music -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 780.9
• DOI: 10.1017/S0261127913000119
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-1279

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS français 146 (fr. 146), a manuscript well known for its inclusion of the <italic>Roman de Fauvel</italic>, also provides an important, albeit understudied, contribution to the history surrounding the allegorical 'flower of the lily', or fleur-de-lis – a floral symbol central to fourteenth-century theology and French royal heraldry. In medieval France, the fleur-de-lis emerges through text and music as a symbol capable of invoking, and being invoked by, the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary and the Virtues, all in the interest of supporting the religious and monarchical well-being of France. This study argues that the persistent return to the fleur-de-lis throughout the <italic>dits</italic>, the <italic>Chronique metrique</italic> and most especially the music and text of <italic>Fauvel</italic> in fr. 146 offers a necessary link between sacred and heraldic symbology both within the manuscript as well as within the larger historical development of this allegorical flower.</p> </abstract>