references. It is one of the most frequently edited, translated, studied, and performed
plays from medieval Europe.
Lynette R.Muir
[See also: ANGLO-NORMAN LITERATURE; STAGING OF PLAYS; THEATER]
Noomen, Willem, ed. Le jeu d’Adam (Ordo representacionis Ade). Paris: Champion, 1971.
Muir, Lynette R. Liturgy and Drama in the Anglo-Norman Adam. Oxford: Blackwell, 1973.
JEU-PARTI
. The occasional joc-partit, or partimen, of the troubadours blossomed into a 13th-century
trouvère corpus of almost 200 jeux-partis, about half preserved with music. The earliest
are due to Thibaut de Champagne, whose renown no doubt contributed to the genre’s
success among the poet-musicians of Arras, especially Jehan Bretel and Adam de la
Halle. In six alternating stanzas of identical form and of the courtly chanson type, two
poets debate a dilemmatic question, normally concerning amorous behavior and often
playful as well as reflective of bourgeois circumstances, posed by one of them in the first
stanza; then, in separate envois, they ask two judges for their verdict, which is never
recorded.
Samuel N.Rosenberg
[See also: ADAM DE LA HALLE; JEHAN BRETEL; TENSO/ DÉBAT;
TROUVÈRE POETRY]
Långfors, Arthur, Alfred Jeanroy, and Louis Brandin, eds. Recueil général des jeux-partis français.
2 vols. Paris: Champion, 1926.
Gally, Michèle. “Les Arrageois et le jeu-parti.” Romania 107 (1986):55–76.
Stewart, M.F. “The Melodic Structure of Thirteenth-Century ‘Jeux-partis.’” Acta Musicologica
51(1979):86–107.
JEWELRY AND METALWORKING
. As early as the 5th century, the working of precious and nonprecious metals became a
leading craft in Gaul. Through contact with peoples from central Asia during the period
of migration, the Germanic tribes learned the art of working refined metals. However, the
processes used were not always an improvement over earlier Gallo-Roman ones. The
earlier trempe technique, for example, in which hot metal was dipped in cold water to
give the object rigidity, gave way to the recuit process, which consisted of heating metal
objects several times while letting them cool down between each heating. On the other
hand, the development of soldered joints between different metals, metal plating, and
inlaying allowed the forging of sturdy, reliable weapons that were largely responsible for
Frankish military successes. In this period, iron was still a rare and precious commodity,
reserved almost exclusively for military and court use. Most early metalwork therefore
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