Music Books of Women: Private Treasures and Personal Revelations

Early Modern Women:
An Interdisciplinary Journal
2009, vol. 4
Music Books of Women:
Private Treasures and Personal Revelations
Lisa Urkevich
A
lthough the fact is often overlooked, many of the extant FrancoFlemish music manuscripts from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth
century were owned by, or affiliated with, women.1 The proportion is all
the more remarkable because French sources are quite rare: many were no
doubt destroyed during the Revolution, and others simply did not survive
into the twenty-first century.2  That women are associated with music books
is understandable since they were so active in music making. Professional
male musicians took the lead at public and sacred musical events, but royal
women and court ladies were expected to be skilled in many social settings.
Consequently, they often spent a great deal of time and effort honing their
musical talents, working with some of the most gifted musicians of the day.3
More importantly, during their studies and at private or social recitals, these
women regularly sang and played alongside other women of the court. Such
lengthy, intimate chamber music endeavors not only served to advance musicianship, but also to forge closer relationships.
Since music making was such a personal activity, as a matter of
course the music books of these women likewise have a personal, unique
nature. Volumes often served as repositories of favored compositions, but
frequently the collections represented much more: many were presentation
or commissioned books, that is, manuscripts prepared as prized possessions or impressive gifts. Music manuscripts not only disclose information
about the quality of musicianship of the performers and the musical tastes
of the patrons, but also often reveal other insights into the lives and even
the relationships of the women themselves.
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For instance if we look at the famous so-called Anne Boleyn music
book, MS 1070 of the Royal College of Music, London, we see clues that
shed light on a young Boleyn and her time at the French court.4 The source
is clearly a woman’s book, evidenced by the numerous images and texts that
invoke women.5 Boleyn (1501 or 1507–1536) received MS 1070 while she
was a girl in France. After having spent approximately a year in the court
of Margaret of Austria in Malines (1513), she went to France in 1514 to
assist Mary Tudor, the new bride of Louis XII.6 When Louis XII died
not long thereafter, Mary returned to England, but Boleyn, who was liked
by the royal sisters, “was detained by Claude, who later became queen.”7
Boleyn stayed in France for seven years and during this time surely became
close not only to Queen Claude but also to Louise of Savoy (1476–1531),
the mother of Francis I, and Marguerite d’Angoulême/Alençon (1492–
1549), his sister and later queen of Navarre.8 Claude’s brilliant in-laws
dominated the court, and Boleyn was no doubt regularly in the company
of the royal trio.9
The original owner of MS 1070 was apparently either Marguertie
d’Alençon or her mother, Louise of Savoy.10 The initial, decorated section of the volume, which dates from the generation before Boleyn, circa
1500–1505, was commissioned for nuptials evidently involving one of
these French women.11 Later layers of MS 1070 added around 1517
clearly point toward Marguerite.12 For instance, they include a favorite
song, “Jouyssance vous donneray,” which is a musical setting of a poem by
Clément Marot, a close friend of Marguerite.13
Boleyn is directly connected to MS 1070 because her name and title
appear in the book: “Mris A. Bolleyne” [Mris=Mistress] with her father’s
motto, “Nowe thus” (p. 157, fol. 79 r.  See fig. 1). Her name designation
does not have the appearance one would expect if she were the dedicatee:
it is rather small, modestly penned, bears no coloration, is in a hand otherwise foreign to the volume, and is on an inner page rather than at the
beginning of the manuscript or of a fascicle.14 Boleyn only used the title
“Mistress” before 1529, when she was a person of lowly rank, a girl without
fame or distinction who would not be in a position to have such a book commissioned. But the entry is important because it indicates that whomever
had Anne’s name inserted cared enough about this relatively inconsequential
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177
Figure 1. “Mris A. Bolleyne” [Mris = Mistress] with the motto, “Nowe
thus.” Reprinted by permission of the Royal College of Music Library,
London.
girl to be aware of her father’s motto. Moreover, Boleyn’s name is not haphazardly scribbled in, but is placed with some intention.
Scholars have often overlooked the relationship between Anne Boleyn
and Marguerite d’Alençon. Therefore, MS 1070 is of significance since it
manifests a tie between the two women. Moreover, Anne and Marguerite
were great lovers of music and most certainly sang or performed from
MS 1070 together. The apparent scenario is that Marguerite gave MS
1070 to Anne around 1520 when Marguerite learned that Boleyn was to
be recalled to her homeland for a proposed marriage. It would be a most
suitable (and thoughtful) gift, since MS 1070 was originally prepared for
a wedding. Moreover, Anne’s name is fittingly added in a nuptial composition, “Paranymphus” [Bridesman], which was an experimental work by
the composer Loyset Compère—unusual in that all the voice ranges are
equal, which meant that the composition could have been sung by an allfemale ensemble. Anne’s name is beneath the alto part, the part she probably sang. MS 1070 survived the destruction that befell so many other
French Renaissance music books because Boleyn transported the book to
England. Therefore, this Renaissance possession, a music book, discloses a
subtle understanding of the tastes, musical prowess, and close friendship of
two of the most significant women of the early sixteenth century.
Another example of a woman’s music book steeped in personal disclosures is MS Royal 20 A, xvi, British Library, London, the volume of Anne of
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France (Anne de Beaujeu), regent of France from 1483 to 1491, and perhaps
of her husband Pierre de Bourbon. Anne of France was the intelligent, formidable daughter of Louis XI, whom the king chauvinistically referred to as
“the least stupid woman I know.”15 Cunning and shrewd, “Madame la grande”
as she was known, was the master of the court as well as of her aging, mellow husband, who, although twenty-two years her senior, always deferred to
his highly competent wife, whom he adored. This songbook provides several
insights into the lives of Anne and Pierre: it manifests the struggles they had
in acquiring their Bourbon duchy which they would return to at the end of
the regency, their great affinity for this last grand fief, and the notable admiration Pierre had for his young and domineering spouse.
The source opens with two pages bearing prominent borders with
wings, the emblem of Bourbon heritage. On the first of these is the image
of a man reclined on a sofa in a melancholy position with his head resting
on his hand, elbow bent. Indicating that the man is despairing, scorning his
poor Fortune, the accompanying text begins, “The hour has come to feel
sorrow / I can no longer restrain the pain that would so harm me.”16 This
is an odd opening for a commissioned manuscript that is primarily comprised of texts of love. The subsequent work, “A la mignonne de fortune”
[To sweet Fortune], has a contrary sentiment and is accompanied by an
image of a standing man with extended arms giving his heart to a seated
woman playing the dulcimer (fig. 2). The woman is Fortune and she is to
be lauded exceedingly, as the text notes: “To Sweet Fortune, To be praised
above all. . . .” 17
The compositions and style of illustrations of MS Royal 20 A,
xvi date from the 1480s, and thus it can be deduced that the book was
prepared around 1488, one of the most historically important years in
the lives of Pierre and Anne de Beaujeu, when they were battling for the
Bourbonais. Pierre’s brother, Jean II had died—one of the song texts in the
volume is by Jean.18 The first work “L’eure est venue [Circumdederunt me],”
is most fitting for a death, with its implied Latin text and lamenting image.
But, in 1488, Pierre and Anne of France would have mourned both the loss
of Jean II and the possible loss of their inheritance, since another brother,
Charles, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Lyon, made his claim to the duchy.19
Anne and Pierre had coveted Bourbon for years; therefore, the disap-
Music Books of Women
Figure 2. Fol. 3v from MS Royal 20A, xvi. © British Library
Board. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.
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pointment they no doubt initially felt is reflected in “L’eure est venue” [The
Hour has come]. As the song states, the joy of Pierre “is prohibited” by
Fortune, who delights in “being able to undo [him].”20 But Beaujeau was
determined to alter this poor Fortune. Shortly after Jean’s death, as Regent
of France she left for Bourbon with a military escort and, along with loyal
troops of the Bourbonnais region, occupied important territories and
began negotiations with Cardinal-Archbishop Charles. Anne was victorious and acquired the duchy. Her strategic success is considered one of the
most historically important events of her life.
So the second piece, “A la mignonne,” fittingly portrays how Anne of
France assumed the role of Pierre’s good Fortune. The image of the man
presenting his heart, with his thin, strawberry-blond hair, strikingly resembles Pierre. 21 He adores his lady Fortune; he gives her his heart forever.22
Many other songs in the book, which is comprised of mostly French love
songs sung to a woman, aptly apply to Anne de Beaujeu, such as “La regretée en tous biens accomplie [Lamented lady, accomplished in all virtues]”
with text, “Because of the good reputation that grows in you / on account
of which I see France filled with honor / reason bends me to name you
if ever a woman was.”23  “En actendant [Waiting]” recounts a sentiment
Pierre must have felt, being devoted to such a young, dominant wife; “never
will I serve another, and with God’s help never will I be ridiculed for this.”24
Of course, at least three pieces in MS Royal 20 A, xvi call to mind or mention the Bourbon duchy, further signifying the great admiration that Anne
and her husband had for their beloved fief.
When we examine various Renaissance music sources, such as MS
1070 or MS Royal 20 A, xvi, we can see a pattern: these manuscripts
were viewed as personal treasures that to some extent served to reflect
private aspects of the activities or sentiments of the owner, her family, or
friends. The intimate and social nature of non-professional music making
extended into the volumes, and a closer evaluation, especially of women’s
manuscripts, provides an insightful perspective into the biography and
cultural history of Renaissance women.
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Notes
1.  Throughout much of the early and mid-Renaissance period, Franco-Flemish
music, that is, music by composers from what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg,
and part of northern France, dominated in most European palaces. It was heard at private
gatherings, ceremonies, banquets, and weddings, and was performed regularly in royal
chapels. Many surviving music books were owned by or associated with women, including
MS 1070, London, Royal College of Music (Marguerite d’Alençon and Anne Boleyn); MS
Royal 20 A, xvi, London, British Library (Anne de Beaujeu); MS Royal 8 G. vii, London,
British Library (Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII); MS Pepys 1760, Cambridge,
Magdalene College (Anne of Brittany and Louis XII); MS 11239, Brussels, Bibliothèque
Royale de Belgique (Margaret of Austria); MS 228, Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale de
Belgique (Margaret of Austria); MS Harley 5242, London, British Library (Françoise de
Foix); MS fonds fr.1596, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale (Marguerite d’Alençon).
2. Two of the most significant French-produced Franco-Flemish manuscripts,
MS Pepys 1760, Cambridge, Magdalene College, and MS 1070, London, Royal College
of Music, are no doubt only extant because they were transported to England.
3. Royal women and court ladies spent more time in music study than did men
of comparable rank. Indeed, women were alone with musicians quite frequently. Note,
for instance, it was a musician, Mark Smeaton, with whom Anne Boleyn was accused of
committing adultery.
4. In music history, MS 1070 RCM is extraordinary since no book of comparable
physical quality and content has been identified as emanating from the French court complex.
The volume is also of note because it is dominated by sacred (Latin) music yet was owned
and likely performed by amateur women and girls—this is unusual since long religious
motets, such as those found here, were typically relegated to professional (male) musicians
in sacred settings. This is a testament to the extraordinary musical skill of Anne Boleyn and
the French court ladies, since these pieces entail complex polyphony that is considered challenging for an amateur to perform. For more information on MS 1070, see Lisa Urkevich,
“Anne Boleyn’s French Motet Book: A Childhood Gift,” in Ars musica septentrionalis. Actes
du colloque, ed. Frederic Billiet and Barbara Haggh-Huglo (Paris: Presses de l’Universite de
Paris IV - Sorbonne, 2008), 95–120. For an earlier interpretation of the book’s patronage,
see Edward Lowinsky, “A Music Book for Anne Boleyn,” Florilegium historiale, ed. J.G. Rowe
and W. H. Stockdale (University of Toronto Press, 1971), 161–235. For more information
on the musical activities of royal and aristocratic women, see Lisa Urkevich, “Anne Boleyn,
A Music Book, and the Northern Renaissance Courts” (PhD diss., University of Maryland,
1997); and Linda Phyllis Austern, “Women’s Voices in Sixteenth-Century England,” Early
Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal 3 (2008): pp. 127–52.
5. Moreover, some of the pieces have notably close voice ranges, permitting for
an all female vocal ensemble.
6. Young Boleyn lived in a culture that was largely separated according to gender. It was standard practice for royal women to rear and supervise girls at their palaces.
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Claude was regularly surrounded by a number of young women who walked in procession with her to mass and formed part of her ensemble when she appeared in public.
She directed their endeavors, such as training in embroidery. See Seigneur de Brantôme,
Pierre de Bourdeille, Illustrious Dames of the Court of the Valois Kings, trans. Katharine
Prescott Wormeley (New York: Lamb, 1912), 30.
7. Lancelot de Carles, Epistre contenant le proces criminel faict a l’encontre de la
royne Anne Boullant d’Angleterre (Lyons, 1545). See also Edward Herbert, Lord Cherbury,
The Life and Raigne of King Henry the Eighth (London: Thomas Whitaker, 1649), 161,
and 218.
8. Louise of Savoy was supervising the sixteen-year-old Claude and had final
approval on whether or not Boleyn should stay at court.
9. See, for instance, Martha Walker Freer, The Life of Marguerite D’Angoulême,
Queen of Navarre, Duchesse D’Alençon and De Berry, 2 vols. (London: Hurst and Blackett,
1856), 1: 38; Dorothy Moulton Mayer, The Great Regent: Louise of Savoy 1476–1531
(London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1966), 59 and 69; Robert L. Lembright, “Louise of
Savoyard Marguerite d’Angoulême: Renaissance Patronage and Religious Reform” (PhD
diss., Ohio State University, 1974), 51.
10. It should be mentioned that Theodor Dumitrescu, in The Early Tudor Court
and International Musical Relations (University of Illinios Press, 2007), with little counterargument, dismisses the fact that MS 1070 is a woman’s songbook and that it was owned
by Marguerite d’Alençon or perhaps her mother. Dumitrescu’s interpretation disregards
an extraordinary amount of evidence regarding biography, cultural context, the lives of
Renaissance women, contemporary interpretation of images and texts, and the contextual
history of similar manuscripts. Therefore, his position cannot be supported.
11. Both Marguerite and Louise participated in matrimonial discussions in the
early 1500s: in 1509 Marguerite married the duc d’Alençon, but MS 1070 also could
have been prepared for the proposed marriages between Marguerite or her mother and
the English Tudors, circa 1502–1505. See Jack J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1968), 10; and John Lingard, A History of England, 13 vols
(London: C. Dolman, 1844), 4: 215
12. Specifically, the contributions of the last two scribes, scribes 4 and 5.
13. The music of this piece was composed by Claudin Sermisy, a prized composer
at the court of Francis I, where Marguerite had the virtual role of queen. Marguerite is
associated with “Jouyssance vous donneray” in several ways. One of her chansons spirituelles
was to be sung to the tune and, as queen of Navarre, she used this musical setting of it in
her comedy Trespas du Roy. Another of her plays, Mont de Marsan, includes a few lines from
“Jouyssance.” See Chanson 2 in Marguerite de Navarre: Chansons Spirituelles, ed. Georges
Dottin, (Geneva: Droz, 1971), 8–10; Marguerite de Navarre: Théâtre Profane, ed. Verdun
L. Saulnier, (Geneva: Droz, 1946), 218, 308; Howard Mayer Brown, Music in French
Secular Theater, 1400–1550 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963), 139, 243,
and 244–45. The quality of MS 1070 is what one would expect to find in the Angoulême
household in the earlier years before Francis assumed the crown. MS 1070 is on paper
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rather than more expensive parchment, bears no gold illumination, and the decorations
are relatively simple, without elaborate coloration. MS 1070 is similar to another music
book from the Angoulême court, MS fonds fr.1596, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, which
Marguerite acquired circa 1498; like MS 1070, it is also provincial in nature.
14. Moreover, the name designation is not in the front of the book, nor does it
introduce a gathering or section.
15. John S.C. Bridge, History of France from the Death of Louis XI to 1515, 5 vols.
(Oxford, 1921–1936), 1: 29.
16. “L’eure est venue de me plaindre / Veu que autrement ne puis contraindre.”
17. “A la mignonne de fortune / Qu’on doibt loer devant chascone.” For more
information on MS Royal 20 A, xvi, including descriptions and a discussion of patronage, see Lisa Urkevich, “The Wings of the Bourbons: The Chansonnier, London, British
Library, Ms. Royal 20 A. xvi Revisited” (paper delivered at Annual Meeting of the
American Musicological Society, New England Chapter, Worcester, MA, January 2003);
Louise Litterick, “The Manuscript Royal 20. A. xvi, of the British Library” (PhD diss.,
New York University, 1976); Stephen Bonime, “Anne de Bretagne (1477–1514) and
Music: An Archival Study,” (PhD diss., Bryn Mawr College, 1975); and Urkevich, “Anne
Boleyn, A Music Book.”
18. The text of song #15, “Alez regret vuydes de ma presence,” is that of a poem
written by Jean II.
19. For further information on Charles and his claim, see Jean-Charles Varennes,
Anne de Bourbon (Paris: Librairie Académique Perrin, 1978).
20. Fery-Hue, 301.
L’eure est venue de me plaindre
Veu que au[l]trement ne puis contraindre
Ne faire maindre
La douleur qui tant me veult nuyre
En riens plus ne me vueil deduire
Fors a me deduire
Toute ma vie a me complaindre
The hour has come to feel sorrow.
I can no longer restrain
The pain that would so harm me
For the rest of my life
I will be consumed with my grief.
Despitant fortune maudite
Par qui ma joy est interdite
Et se delite
A me vouloir du tout deffaire
Scorn wretched Fortune
By which my joy is prohibited
And who delighted
In being able to undo me.
En monstrant de tous l’eslite
Faulsement s’est vers moy desdicte
Sans m’avoir dite
La choison qui le luy fait faire**
Pointed out as the one all prefer,
Fortune has easily turned away from me
Without having told me why
This decision was made
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21. See for instance “Pierre II, Present Par Saint Pierre” (1492–1493) by the
Master of Moulins in the Louvre Museum, Paris.
22.
A la mignonne de fortune
Qu’on doibt loer devant chascone
Sans craindre a’cune
J’ay donne dont sage me tien
Le cueur qui souloit ester mien
Qui y a sien
Pour la servir plus que n’est une.
To Sweet Fortune
To be praised above all
Without fear of any.
Without a second thought,
I have presented to her my heart,
To serve her above all others.
Car qui en voudroit une es lire
Ou il n’y eust rien quten dire
Chascun de tire
Y courroit comme a la plus belle
Nothing about her is reproachable
Everyone will run to her,
As to the most beautiful
On ne pourroit d’elle trop dire
Il n’est bouche qul sceust souffire
Loer le pire
Dez parfaiz biens qui sont en elle
One cannot say enough about her
No mouth can glorify her sufficiently,
Or adequately appreciate even the worst of her perfect
qualities
Sa valeur croist comme la lune
Sa léaulté n’est point commune
On dit c’est lune.
De ce monde ou plus a de bien
Car il n’y a faulte de rien
Tout va si bien
Que de Tellez pas n’en n’est une.
Her value shines like the moon
Her faithfulness is singular
In the whole world she is of the highest value
For she lacks nothing and is so fine
That there is no one like her.
23.
La regretée en tous biens acomplie
De honneur de los et de grace renplye
Je vous supplie tres humblement quil vous plaise
madame
N’avoir desdaing se celui qui vous ame
De cueur et d’ame
A vous loer sens et langue desplye-
Lamented lady, accomplished in all virtues,
Filled with honor, renown, and grace
I humbly beg you, my lady, that it please you
Not to disdain him who loves you,
Body and soul,
And deploys his intelligence and tongue to praise
you
Pour le bonbruit quien vous multiplie
Dont je voy France honnourée et emplie
Raison me plie
A vous nommer se jamais le fut femme
Because of the good reputation that grows in you
On account of which I see France filled with honor
Reason bends me
To name you if ever a woman was
Se a vous amer je me emplie
Amour le veult bon vouloir luy supplie
Mais desamplie
Vous voye d’ung los qui tarnit vostre fameC’est que a pitié vostre cueur point rien t’ame
Qui vous est blasme
Mais en mon cueur ce mal tais et replie
If I apply myself to loving you
Love wishes it, good will entreats him [to do so],
But with abundance
That I see you with a renown of your fame
It is to pity your heart not your spirit.
Which is reproach to you.
But in my heart I keep this hurt silent and fold it
away.
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24. Song #4 “En actendant [waiting]” is uniquely tied to the opening page
with the reclining male. Both songs are in the same hand, a hand that is exclusive to the
book.
En actendant la grace de ma dame
Le al seray de corps et de ame
Et pour ce tant que j’ay vivray
Waiting on the mercy of my lady,
I will be true with body and soul
As long as I may live
Ja nulle autre ne serviray
Se dieu plaist ja ne n’auray blasme
Never will I serve another, and with
God’s help never will I be ridiculed for this
Ne pense personne ne ame
Que je change celle que j’ame
Ne ja le vouloir n’en auray
No one should think
That I would renounce my love
Or that I would ever have the will to do so
Si prenement je diz je l’ame
Car j’entens bien que sans diffame
Aucy cela je deffendray
Jusqu’au morir et mantiendray
Que mon cueur souvent la reclame.
I proclaim my love so strongly
Because I know I will honorably defend
That love forever
And my heart will often yearn for my lover