ALARD DE CAMBRAI
(fl. mid-13th c.). In the 13th century, Alard de Cambrai translated into French verse the
Moralium dogma philosophorum of Guillaume de Conches. In the teachings of the
resulting Dits ou moralités des philosophes, each proverb is attributed (wrongly) to a
classical philosopher, commented on, and adapted to the needs of the knightly society for
which Alard wrote.
Claude J.Fouillade
[See also: WILLIAM OF CONCHES]
Alard de Cambrai. Le livre de philosophie et de moralité, ed. Jean-Charles Payen. Paris:
Klincksieck, 1970.
ALBA/AUBE
. The Provençal alba (OFr. aube) is a lyric monologue or series of monologues, possibly
originating in a popular tradition indigenous to practically every culture, that expresses in
its most typical form the sadness of lovers who, having spent the night together, must part
and/or the concern of the watchman, whose duty it is to warn them of the fast-
approaching day. The Provençal dawn song contains a refrain consisting minimally of the
word alba and occasionally uses alba as a generic designation. Its French counterpart,
remaining closer to popular sources, makes no such use of aube. Whereas only five aubes
survive, four of them anonymously, eighteen albas are preserved, thirteen of which are
attributed. Music accompanies one aube and two albas. Though apparently never popular
in Italy, the form was adopted by the German Minnesänger as the Tagelied. The
troubadours, notably Guiraut Riquier, developed several variations on the standard dawn-
song theme, such as the counter-alba, in which the solitary lover longs for the coming of
night, when he will be united with his beloved, and the religious alba, in which the dawn
becomes a metaphor for the Day of Judgment.
Elizabeth W.Poe
[See also: GUIRAUT RIQUIER; TROUBADOUR POETRY; TROUVÈRE
POETRY]
Riquer, Martín de, ed. Las albas provenzales. Barcelona, 1944.
Poe, Elizabeth W. “The Three Modalities of the Old Provençal Dawn Song.” Romance Philology
37(1984):259–72.
——. “La transmission de l’ ‘alba’ en ancien provençal.” Cahiers de civilisation médiévale
31(1988):323–45.
Woledge, Brian. “Old Provençal and Old French.” In Eos: An Enquiry into the Theme of Lovers’
Meetings and Pelicier, at Dawn in Poetry, ed. Arthur T.Hatto. The Hague: Mouton, 1965.
The Encyclopedia 35