Far more important than these appendages to the Vœux du paon, however, are the
Vœux de l’épervier and the Vœux du héron. Though derivative, they exploit the qualities
that the Vow Cycle seems to represent. Both are short and feature as their centerpiece a
vowing session. Of the Vœux de l’épervier’s 562 Alexandrines, 425 are devoted to the
pronouncement of vows. This obscure and slender piece, composed to commemorate
Henry of Luxembourg’s 1310 expedition to Rome, recounts his assassination. Wolfram,
who edited the poem, suggested that Simon de Marville, treasurer of the cathedral chapel
at Metz, was the author. Since he died before 1326, we can conjecture that it was created
1310–26, probably nearer the later date. The poem survived in a single 15th-century
manuscript (Metz Mun. Libr. 831; destroyed in 1944).
The Vœux du héron (ca. 1340) purports to dramatize in 422 rhymed Alexandrines an
event in 1338 that led to the Hundred Years’ War. Robert d’Artois has been banished
from France by Philippe de Valois, who also imprisoned his family. Robert publicly
labels Edward III of England a coward for failing to maintain control over France and
instigates a vowing session in which the English king promises to invade France and
renounce the treaty he had concluded in his naive youth. The bird chosen to be honored is
the heron, the symbol of cowardice, captured by Robert to antagonize Edward. The text
has been preserved in five manuscripts, two 19th-century transcriptions, and four critical
editions. Nothing is known about the author, but he was obviously familiar with the
events he related and in fact might have been present if the vows were actually
pronounced. A comment by Froissart on Gautier de Magny (Walter of Manny) hints that
something of the sort occurred.
John L.Grigsby
[See also: ALEXANDER ROMANCES; LE MOTE, JEAN DE; PHILIP THE
GOOD]
Grigsby, John L., ed., and Norris J.Lacy, trans. The Vows of the Heron (Les Vœux du Héron). New
York: Garland, 1992.
Le Mote, Jean de. Le parfait du paon, ed. Richard Carey. Geneva: Droz, 1966.
Longuyon, Jacques de. Les vœux du paon, ed. Camillus Casey. Diss. Columbia University, 1956.
Bertoni, Giulio. “I Vœux du Hairon (ms. di Berna, no. 323).” Archivum romanicum 5(1921):426–
36.
Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate. “The Poetics of Continuation in the Old French Paon Cycle.”
Romance Philology 39(1985–86):437–47.
Coville, Alfred. “Les vœux du héron.” In Histoire littéraire de la France. Paris: Imprimerie
Nationale, 1949, Vol. 38, pp. 268–82.
Gégou, Fabienne. “Du Roi de Sicile aux Vœux de l’épervier.” In Jean Misrahi Memorial Volume:
Studies in Medieval Literature, ed. Hans Runte et al. Columbia: French Literature, 1977, pp.
71–88.
Thomas, Antoine. “Jacques de Longuyon, Trouvère.” In Histoire littéraire de la France. Paris:
Imprimerie Nationale, 1927, Vol. 36, pp. 1–35.
Wolfram, Georg, and François Bonnardot, eds. Les vœux de l’épervier. Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft
für Lothring: Geschichte und Altertumskunde 6(1894):177–280.
The Encyclopedia 1827