put on two to four years of growth, the pond was drained to harvest them, seeded to grain
for a year or so, then refilled and restocked with fry. Full-grown carp or pike could grace
a lord’s table or, as those from the many ponds of the last Capetian dukes of Burgundy,
yield rich returns from sales to bourgeois merchants or the popes in Avignon. The same
pressure of commercial demand caused overfishing of French fish stocks. In 1289, Philip
IV initiated royal regulation of fishing gear, seasons, and the size of a legal catch.
Probably as effective in changing the role of French fisheries, however, was the late-
medieval expansion of the sea fishery, especially after the Dutch learned better ways to
preserve herring for shipment inland.
Richard C.Hoffman
[See also: FOOD TRADES; HUNTING AND FOWLING]
FLAGELLANTS
. See POPULAR DEVOTION
FLAMENCA
. An Occitan romance dating from ca. 1240–50, Flamenca (also called Las novas de
Guilhem de Nivers) survives in one manuscript (Carcassonne, Bibl. Mun. 34, formerly
2703) with several important lacunae, including first and last pages. Comprising 8,095
lines of octosyllabic rhymed couplets, this zestful narrative develops with wit and
sympathy the stylized motifs of fin’amors into a full-length roman. It mischievously
plays the church and marriage against an “underground” world where love rules.
Flamenca’s father, Count Gui de Nemurs, consults his wife and advisers before
marrying his daughter to the worthy Archimbaut de Bourbon. Archimbaut’s love for his
bride soon turns to jealousy. He locks her in a tower with two maids, allowing her out
only for church and for medicinal baths. Guilhem de Nivers, the outlandishly perfect man
in love with Flamenca by reputation alone, then takes rooms at the local bathhouse. His
book-learning abets hypocrisy and his wealth facilitates bribery: he obtains the church
office of circulating “the Peace.” Each Sunday, the lovers exchange two syllables, finally
agreeing to meet in the baths. After four months, Flamenca sends Guilhem and her
husband away to prove themselves in tournaments, pledging fidelity to Archimbaut
provided he end his jealousy. The men become friends. Archimbaut unwittingly delivers
a love poem from Guilhem to his wife. At a final home tournament, Flamenca triumphs
more than the men.
Stylistic elements suggest “realism” and hence value as a cultural and historical
document. Abundant concrete details enliven lists of spices, musical instruments, songs,
gifts; baths are sulfurous; a letter is illuminated. Feast days in the main action correspond
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 664