MASSELIN, JEAN
(d. 1500). Cleric, lawyer, and historian. Masselin was a canon at the cathedral of Rouen,
doctor of civil and canon law, and officialis of the archbishop of Rouen when he was
chosen to represent the bailliage of Rouen at the Estates General that convened at Tours
between January and March 1484. His lengthy journal of the proceedings of the Estates,
one of the most valuable sources for the history of medieval representative assemblies,
remains Masselin’s claim to fame, although he later served with distinction as dean of the
chapter of Rouen.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
Bernier, Adhelm, ed. Journal des États-Généraux de France tenus a Tours en 1484 sous le règne
de Charles VIII, rédigé en latin par Jean Masselin. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1835. [Collection
of unedited documents.]
MATFRE ERMENGAUD
. Author of the Breviari d’Amor, an Occitan encyclopedic work in rhyming octosyllabic
couplets, dated 1288, preserved entire (35,600 lines) in twelve manuscripts from
Languedoc, Toulouse, and Catalonia. The author, otherwise unknown, was a native of
Béziers and drew upon the earlier Image du monde.
Organized as a “Tree of Love,” Matfre’s encyclopedia popularizes theology more than
science. Beginning at the roots with the Trinity, he discusses angels, demons, the zodiac,
and the planets. He provides a cursory account of the natural world. Under “Natural
Law,” he discusses the proper way to worship God. A section on sin offers portraits of
greed and duplicity drawn from contemporary society: the castle lord, the lawyer, the
apothecary, the merchant, the gambler. Under “The Love of God,” he summarizes the
articles of faith and the life of Christ, then several saints’ lives.
In the last 8,000 lines, the “Perilhos tractat d’amor de las donas,” Matfre uses 266
quotations from troubadour poetry (including his own) to support his precepts. Through
imaginary dialogue with Love’s followers and critics, he answers questions and
objections. The impulse to love, natural but potentially dangerous, must be managed
wisely. Ladies should be honored; good love must not be criticized. A 138-line verse
letter to his sister, explaining the symbolism of a Christmas capon, follows the Breviari.
Amelia Van Vleck
[See also: DIDACTIC LITERATURE (OCCITAN); ELEDUS ET SERENE, ROMAN
DE; IMAGE DU MONDE; MORAL TREATISES]
Matfre Ermengaud. Le breviari d’amor de Matfre Ermengaud, suivi de sa lettre à sa soeur, ed.
Gabriel Azaïs. 2 vols. Béziers: Société Archéologique, Scientifique et Littéraire de Béziers,
1862–81.
The Encyclopedia 1137