poet. Thus, while the search for independent, corroborating evidence continues, the
hypothesis that Léonin, known also as Magister Leoninus presbyter, was responsible for
the vanguard of virtually a new era in music with the Magnus liber organi should remain
compelling.
Sandra Pinegar
[See also: ANONYMOUS 4; NOTRE-DAME SCHOOL; PÉROTIN; RHYTHMIC
MODE]
Reckow, Fritz. Der Musiktraktat des Anonymus 4. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1967.
Wright, Craig. “Leoninus, Poet and Musician.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 39
(1986):1–35.
L’ÉPINE
. Commemorating a miraculous appearance of the Virgin, the church of Notre-Dame-de-
l’Épine (Marne) was established as a pilgrimage goal in the early 13th century; its
popularity reached an apogee in the late Middle Ages, when it attracted the interest and
devotion of French monarchs, including Charles VII and Louis XI. Construction of the
present edifice advanced in a complex sequence of campaigns. The eastern bays of the
nave, begun ca. 1405/
L’Épine (Marne), Notre-Dame, plan.
After Chauliat.
10, the transept, and western portions of the choir of ca. 1440 were built in a Late
Rayonnant style; the façade, probably inaugurated in the mid-1450s under master mason
Florent Bleuet, introduced a Late Gothic Flamboyant vocabulary of decoration. The
radiating chapels, ambulatory, and apse were erected from 1509 by Rémy Gouveau,
Guichart Antoine, and Antoine Bertaucourt. L’Épine’s architectural significance lies not
in formal inventiveness but in its masters’ skillful combination of structural and
compositional ideas from contemporary northern French buildings as well as 13th-
century models, particularly the cathedral of Reims. In its plan, with an ambulatory and
radiating chapels, three-story elevation, and twin-towered façade, L’Épine was conceived
as a cathedral in miniature.
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