Noble, Thomas F.X. The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680–825.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984.
Riché, Pierre. The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe, trans. Michael I.Allen.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
CARON, FIRMINUS
(fl. late 15th c.). Composer active in the years 1460–80, to judge from the sources and
styles of his music. None of the proposed identifications has the correct first name, as
attested by the generally reliable Johannes Tinctoris and by one musical source. A
Firminus Caron was a senior musician at Amiens Cathedral in 1422, too early to be our
composer, though conceivably related to him. Given the large number of musical
institutions for which no adequate documentation survives, it should be no surprise that
direct biographical information is lacking for an important and influential composer.
Caron’s known works comprise five Mass cycles (surviving only in Italian
manuscripts) and some twenty French chansons. His Mass L’homme armé shows the
distinct influence of Guillaume Dufay (d. 1474), as does his rondeau Du tout ainsy. Two
of his songs set poetry by Alain Chartier. His prime distinction is in certain songs that
were repeatedly copied: Accueilly m’a la belle (nine sources), Cent mille escus (fifteen
sources), Le despourveu (eleven sources), and particularly Helas que pourra devenir
(twenty-one sources)—this last being an extreme case of the intricate close imitation with
offbeat rhythms that he so often explored in his music.
David Fallows
Caron, Firminus. Les œuvres complètes de Philippe (?) Caron, ed. James Thomson. 2 vols.
Brooklyn: Institute of Mediaeval Music, 1971–76.
Thomson, James. An Introduction to Philippe (?) Caron. Brooklyn: Institute of Mediaeval Music,
1964.
CARTA CARITATIS
. Relations among houses of the Cistercian order were governed by the Carta caritatis,
drawn up probably in 1114, when Cîteaux founded Pontigny, its second daughter house.
This document, intended as a basis for regulating the relations between the New
Monastery of Cîteaux and her daughters, emphasized the uniformity of practice at
Cistercian houses and the mutual love that should bind them together. Like most of the
early institutes of the Cistercian order, the Carta caritatis was produced by Abbot
Stephen Harding (r. 1108–33).
Constance B.Bouchard
[See also: CISTERCIAN ORDER; MONASTICISM; STEPHEN HARDING]
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