Lebègue, Raymond. Le mystère des Actes des Apôtres. Paris: Champion, 1929.
GRECO-BYZANTINE ROMANCE
. Eloquent witnesses to the renaissance of the 12th century and its desire to explore and
integrate the riches of the Orient, along with the treasures of its classical past and the
matière de Bretagne, the Greco-Byzantine romances explore a variety of settings around
the Mediterranean basin. While these romances may differ widely in tone and orientation,
they each demonstrate the West’s fascination with an exotic and fabulous world, opened
up by travel reports and crusades, renewed commercial interests, and desire for political
expansion. Among the most important are the anonymous Floire et Blancheflor,
Guillaume de Palerne, and Partonopeu de Blois, Hue de Rotelande’s Ipomedon and
Protheselaus, Aimon de Varennes’s Florimont, Chrétien de Troyes’s Cligés, and Gautier
d’Arras’s Eracle.
Matilda T.Bruckner
[See also: AIMON DE VARENNES; CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES; FLOIRE ET
BLANCHEFLOR’, GAUTIER D’ARRAS; GUILLAUME DE PALERNE; HUE DE
ROTELANDE; PARTONOPEU DE BLOIS]
GREGORIAN CHANT
. The monophonic chant of the medieval Latin liturgy, sometimes known as “plainchant.”
Although the term is often used for chant compositions from the later Middle Ages,
“Gregorian chant” applies specifically to the music for the Mass and Divine Office
according to the Romano-Frankish liturgy as it was codified ca. 800. It excludes other
regional chant repertoires (Gallican, Milanese, Visigothic, Beneventan, Aquileian,
Ravennate), all of which, with the exception of Milanese, or “Ambrosian,” chant, finally
yielded to Gregorian chant, a repertoire promoted first by the Carolingians and later
spread throughout Europe. The epithet “Gregorian” derives from Pope Gregory I (r. 590–
604), who was thought to have played a decisive role in the shaping of western chant and
liturgy. A connection between Gregory and the music named after him has never been
demonstrated, however. The expression “Gregorian chants” (gregoriana carmina) does
not antedate the mid-9th century, even though a verse prologue found in earlier books of
Mass chants attributes the contents to one “Gregorius presul.” It has been argued that this
prologue was intended to celebrate the work of Gregory II (r. 715–31) and that the text
became associated with his more famous eponymous predecessor.
Although the origins of the medieval Latin chant repertoires are clouded in an
obscurity that will probably never be penetrated, a process of growth and transformation
can be assumed. The “Proper” chants of the Roman Mass (Introit, Gradual, Tract,
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