modern critics to this material range from enthusiasm to hostility but depend largely on
their appreciation of the genre rather than Gautier’s treatment of it.
The songs that begin each book are important in their own right, for they are the best
examples of religious lyric poetry from the 13th century. Despite his antipathy to secular
literature, Gautier’s lyric poetry was strongly influenced by the secular tradition. If his
musical compositions were not of the first rank, he was nevertheless a musician of
considerable skill and refinement.
Maureen B.M.Boulton
[See also: MIRACLE PLAYS; PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONAL MATERIALS;
SAINTS’ LIVES; SERMONS IN VERSE; VIES DES ANCIENS PÈRES]
Gautier de Coinci. Les miracles de Nostre Dame, ed. V.Frederic Koenig. 4 vols. Geneva: Droz,
1955–70.
——. Miracles de Gautier de Coinci: extraits du manuscrit de l’Ermitage, ed. Arthur Långfors.
Helsinki, 1937.
Drzewicka, A. “La fonction des emprunts a la poésie profane dans les chansons mariales de Gautier
de Coinci.” Moyen âge 91(1985):33–51, 179–200.
Ducrot-Granderye, Arlette. Études sur les Miracles Nostre Dame de Gautier de Coinci. Helsinki,
1932.
Långfors, Arthur. “Mélanges de poésie lyrique, II, III.” Romania 53(1927):474–538; 56(1930):33–
79.
Lommatzsch, Ernst. Gautier de Coincy als Satiriker. Halle: Niemeyer, 1913.
Verrier, Paul. “La ‘Chanson de Notre Dame’ de Gautier de Coinci.” Romania 59(1933):497–519;
61(1935):97.
GAUTIER DE MORTAGNE
(ca. 1090–1174). Born in Flanders, Gautier spent his career in northern France,
principally at Laon. He studied at Reims under Alberic, who himself was a student of
Anselm of Laon, perhaps the most influential theologian in the early decades of the 12th
century. Gautier had a reputation as a stern schoolmaster, first at Laon, then at the abbey
school of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris. Gautier became dean of the cathedral of Laon in
1150 and bishop of the diocese in 1155. His legacy includes letters on various theological
subjects to Abélard, Hugh of Saint-Victor, and other leading theologians of his day.
Mark Zier
[See also: THEOLOGY]
Gautier de Mortagne. De coniugo. PL 176.153–74 (in Summa sententiarum); Liber de Trinitate. PL
209.575–90.
Ott, Ludwig. “Untersuchungen zur theologischen Briefliterature der Frühscholastik.” Beiträge der
Geschichte der Philosophie des Mittelalters 34(1937):126–347.
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