Guillaume de Machaut at the Court of Aragon, 1380-1430

Abstract

Knowledge of Guillaume de Machaut's literary and musical works is attested since 1380 in the Francophile court of Aragon, where his art exerted an influence that endured well into the fifteenth century. Catalan poets such as Andreu Febrer and Pere Torroella were greatly influenced by Machaut's poetry. This can be seen in the way they adapted the lay and ballade forms, and in the French section of chansonnier Vega-Aguiló (Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya, MSS 7-8), an important witness to the poetry that originated with the troubadours and was fashionable in the Crown of Aragon until the end of the fifteenth century. This article approaches the role of Machaut's poetry and music in the construction of a literary canon in the Crown of Aragon.