for wisdom; Wednesday, of the Holy Ghost; Thursday, of the angels; Friday, of the
Cross; and Saturday, of the Blessed Virgin.
James McKinnon
[See also: MASS, CHANTS AND TEXTS]
Jungmann, Josef. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development, trans. Francis
X.Brunner. 2 vols. New York: Benziger, 1951–55.
VOW CYCLE
. A cluster of verse romances that center on the concept of making and fulfilling elaborate
vows—representing a tradition that stretches back to the boastings and verbal warfare of
Germanic warriors—appeared in the early 14th century. The Vœux du paon (ca. 1310)
with its two continuations, Restor du paon and Parfait du paon, form a late entry into the
Alexander romance cycle; the Vœux de l’épervier and the Vœux du héron derive their
substance from historical events. The Vœux du faisan by Philip the Good, duke of
Burgundy, is based on the festivities at Lille, February 17, 1454, when vows were made
to reconquer Constantinople from the Turks.
The Vœux du paon, by Jacques de Longuyon, was by far the most popular. An
independent poem (despite its insertion into the Alexander canon) of some 8,500 rhymed
Alexandrine lines, it has survived in thirty-four manuscripts and five fragments, along
with two modern transcriptions and a 15th-century prose adaptation. The poem can be
divided into two parts: the prelude to the vows, the vows and their accomplishment. In
the first part, Clarus besieges the castle of Epheson in order to force Gadifer’s sister
Fesonas to marry him. Gadifer’s ally Casamus has obtained the succor of Alexander in
the conflict. After several clashes, the lords and ladies end by amusing themselves in the
castle at games. The second part begins with a résumé of the preceding events, as if there
were a new start, a second poem. At this point, Porrus kills Fesonas’s peacock, causing
her some consternation, but the venerable Casamus calms emotions by proposing that the
peacock be the centerpiece of vows, so that all can show their prowess. After a series of a
dozen or so vows directed against the enemy besieging them, the knights accomplish
them. Ladies, too, make vows, to seek a husband of Alexander’s choice. After the battle
is won, Alexander distributes husbands according to the ladies’ wishes, the dead are
buried, and so ends the poem.
The Restor du paon is a continuation of some 2,800 Alexandrines written by Jean le
Court de Brisebarre shortly after the completion of the Vœux du paon—at least before
1338, the date of the earliest manuscript. Jean composed several pious works: Escole de
foy, a serventois, chansons, and the Dit de l’esvesque et de droit, the latter strongly
influenced by the Roman de la Rose. The Restor du paon exists only in manuscripts that
also contain the Vœux. The Parfait du paon has been preserved in two manuscripts, one
of which lacks some 100 lines at the end. Its author, Jean de le Mote, who leaves his
name in an acrostic near the end, claims in his explicit to have completed this sequel to
the Vœux in 1340.
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1826