The king had long been assisted on these occasions by officers who, because they never
left his side, had been called poursuivants du roi, and when the new name for these
proceedings began to prevail, the poursuivants began to bear the new designation maîtres
des requêtes de l’hôtel. Under Philip IV (r. 1285–1314), the king gradually ceased to
attend the sessions of the tribunal traditionally identified with him, and from ca. 1300 the
maîtres normally presided alone. This raised some difficulties about the competence of
the Court of Requests, and these were finally settled by an ordinance of 1346 that limited
the number of maîtres to five and limited their competence to cases concerned with
disputes over a royal office and personal claims against royal officers. The Court of the
Requests of the Household was thus largely reduced to a kind of domestic court, though
from 1344 it also had the right to judge charges of error against arrêts of the Parlement.
D’A.Jonathan D.Boulton
[See also: HOTEL DU ROI]
Lot, Ferdinand, and Robert Fawtier. Histoire des institutions françaises au moyen âge. 3 vols.
Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1957–62, Vol. 2: Institutions royales.
RESVERIE
. A nonsense genre practiced in 13th-century Picardy. The resverie alternates long and
short verses; the short verse simultaneously provides the logical conclusion to the thought
introduced in the previous verse and establishes the rhyme for the following verse, which
otherwise has no logical connection with it. Only three resveries survive: Oiseuses by
Beaumanoir, and the anonymous Dit des traverses and Resveries.
Elizabeth W.Poe
[See also: BEAUMANOIR, PHILIPPE DE REMI, SIRE DE; FATRAS/FATRASIE;
SOTTE CHANSON]
Bec, Pierre. La lyrique française au moyen-âge (XIIe-XIIIe siècles): contribution a une typologie
des genres poétiques médiévaux. 2 vols. Paris: Picard, 1977–78, Vol. 1: Études; Vol. 2: Textes.
REVERDIE
. A northern French lyrico-narrative genre of the 13th century. The reverdie is a joyful
song celebrating springtime greenery and recounting an amorous meeting between poet-
knight and lady. The loosely defined genre, of which eight specimens survive, is
characterized by stanzaic structure, dialogue, and the conspicuous use of diminutives,
such as roussignolet, praelet, matinet.
Elizabeth W.Poe
Bec, Pierre. La lyrique française au moyen-âge (XIIe-XIIIe siècles): contribution a une typologie
des genres poétiques médiévaux. 2 vols. Paris: Picard, 1977–78, Vol. 1: Études; Vol. 2: Textes.
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