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THE FEAST OF THE SEVEN SORROWS OF THE VIRGIN: PIETY, POLITICS AND PLAINCHANT AT THE BURGUNDIAN-HABSBURG COURT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2016

Emily S. Thelen
Emily S. Thelen*
Affiliation:
Mishawaka, Indiana
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Devotion to the Virgin of Seven Sorrows flourished in the Low Countries in the late fifteenth century during a period of recovery from civil war, famine and economic instability. The Burgundian-Habsburg court took a special interest in this popular lay movement and, in an unusual move, sponsored a competition to generate a liturgy – a plainchant office and mass – for the growing devotion. This article identifies new sources for the text and music of the Seven Sorrows liturgy and ties them to the court’s competition. An examination of the surviving office and mass demonstrates the texts’ dependence on an earlier Marian celebration of the Compassion of the Virgin. The reworking of this older devotion reveals that the plainchant competition and the creation of the new Seven Sorrows liturgy were part of the court’s political agenda of restoring peace and unity to their territories.

Type
Research Article
Information
Early Music History , Volume 35 , October 2016 , pp. 261 - 307
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

I wish to thank Susie Speakman Sutch, Barbara Haggh-Huglo, David Burn, Paula Higgins and the anonymous readers of this article for their comments and suggestions, and Grantley McDonald for his translations, which appear in the appendices. I gratefully acknowledge the Hill Museum & Monastic Library for granting me a Heckman Stipend for research for this article and the institutional support that I received from KU Leuven and the project ‘New Perspectives on Polyphony: Alamire’s musical legacy revealed through high-technology research tools’.

The following abbreviations are used:

Brussels 215–16 Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique/Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, MS 215–16

Brussels 21123 Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique/Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, MS 21123

GWGesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, www.gesamtkatalogderwiegendrucke.de

ILCIncunabula Printed in the Low Countries: A Census, ed. Gerard van Thienen and John Goldfinch (Nieuwkoop, 1999)

ISTCIncunabula Short Title Catalogue, www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/

Vienna3787 Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Palatin. Vindobonensis 3787

References

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6 See Appendix I for the complete passage from Van Coudenberghe’s letter that describes these events.

7 On François de Lille, see Reusens, E.-H.-J., ‘Franchois (Michel) ou Francisci’, in Biographie nationale, vii, ed. L’Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique (Brussels, 1880–5), pp. 232–234 Google Scholar; and on Busleiden, see Néve, F., ‘Busleiden (François)’, in Biographie nationale, iii, ed. L’Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique (Brussels, 1872), pp. 204–205 Google Scholar and Cauchies, J.-M., ‘“Croit conseil” et ses “ministres”: L’entourage politique de Philippe le Beau (1494–1506)’, in A. Marchandisse and J.-L. Kupper (eds.), A l’ombre du pouvoir: Les entourages princiers au moyen âge (Geneva, 2003), pp. 385–405 Google Scholar, at 390, 394, 396 and 404.

8 Fruytier, J., ‘Verhoeven (Petrus)’, in Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek, ed. P. J. Blok and P. C. Molhuysen (Leiden, 1927)Google Scholar, vii, pp. 1243–4 and de Ridder, F., ‘Petrus de Manso en de Staties der VII Weeën’, Mechlinia, 1 (1922), pp. 116–122 Google Scholar, at 117–18.

9 On Du Wez, see Haggh, B., ‘Dufay and Josquin at the Collegiate Church of St. Gudila’, Revue Belge de Musicologie/Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Muziekwetenschap, 55: Six siècles de vie musicale à Bruxelles/Zes eeuwen muziekleven te Brussel (Brussels, 2001), pp. 41–52 Google Scholar, at 48.

10 de Lille, M. François, Quodlibetica decisio perpulchra et devota de septem doloribus christifere virginis marie ac communi et saluberrima confraternitate desuper instituta (Antwerp: Thierry Martens, c. 1494)Google Scholar (ILC 998) (hereafter Quodlibetica). On the dating of this print, see Soulier, La Confrérie, 23 and Duclos, A. J., De eerste eeuw van het Broederschap der Zeven Weedommen van Maria in Sint-Salvators te Brugge (Bruges, 1922), p. 24 Google Scholar.

11 François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Fir–iiijv.

12 Soulier, La Confrérie, p. 20; Lépicier, A. M., Mater dolorosa: Notes d’histoire, de liturgie et d’iconographie sur le culte de Notre-Dame des Douleurs (Spa, 1948), p. 243 Google Scholar; Haggh, ‘Charles de Clerc’, p. 188; Robijns, ‘Eine Musikhandschrift des frühen 16. Jahrhunderts’, pp. 29–30. Robijns mistakenly claims that Verhoeven’s texts appear in Stratius’s translation of Van Coudenberghe’s account, Onse L. Vrouwe (see above, n. 1). The rhymed office and the mass that follow Van Coudenberghe’s account do not correspond to the texts in the Quodlibetica. For the office and mass texts, see Stratius, Onse L. Vrouwe, pp. 267–316.

13 François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Eviiir. Michael Hillen van Hoochstraten printed the Quodlibetica without the liturgical texts in 1527. See Nijhoff, W. and Kronenberg, M. E., Nederlandsche bibliographie van 1500 tot 1540 (The Hague, 1923–71), i, p. 343 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Confraternitas dolorum beatissime virginis marie Autore domino Philippo archiduce austrie duce burgondie brabantie etc. novissime erecta [Antwerp: Govaert Bac, after Dec. 1492], fols. 11r–18v (ICL 611) (hereafter Confraternitas). On Bac, see Cockx-Indestege, E., ‘Govaert Bac’, in De Vijfhonderdste Verjaring van de Boekdrukkunst in de Nederlanden (Brussels, 1973), pp. 466–478 Google Scholar and on his connection to Van Coudenberghe, see p. 477.

15 Confraternitas, fol. 10r. Leeu’s letter begins on fol. 7v. On Leeu, see Hellinga-Querido, L., ‘Gérard Leeu à Gouda’, in Cinquième centenaire de l’imprimerie dans les anciens Pays-Bas (Brussels, 1973), pp. 280–306 Google Scholar.

16 Whereas there is no distinction made between sung and spoken texts in the Quodlibetica, the layout of the Confraternitas follows liturgical convention, having a larger font size for texts to be read than for the texts to be sung.

17 Confraternitas, fol. 10r. See Appendix II for a transcription and translation of the relevant portion of the letter.

18 Leeu uses the first person to describe the editing of the text, most likely in reference to his preparing the text for publication rather than compiling the original office and mass himself.

19 Dit es een seer deuote salige ende profitelicke ghedenckenisse van den vij. weeden oft droefheyden onser liever vrouwen. O. L. V. (Antwerp: Gheraert Leeu, 14 July 1492) (ILC 888) (hereafter Ghedenckenisse).

20 The letter is transcribed in full in de Ridder, F., ‘Brief van Petrus de Manso over de VII Weeën van Maria’, Mechlinia, 2 (1923), pp. 23–30 Google Scholar. For the original copy, see Aartsbisschoppelijk archief, Mechelen, Cameracensia 17, fols. 95r–96v (note that at the time of the publication of De Ridder’s article, this volume was catalogued as register III).

21 For the prescription of this feast date, see François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Dviiir–v and Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biijr–v. The rubric with this date of celebration appears in François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Fir and Confraternitas, fol. 11r. The feast date is also recorded in the sixth statute of the confraternity regulations in the member registry of the Seven Sorrows confraternity of Brussels, Liber authenticus sacratissimae utriusque sexus christifidelium confraternitatis septem dolorum Beatae Mariae Virginis nuncupatae (Brussels, Archives of the City of Brussels, Historical Archives, Register 3413), fol. 1v (hereafter Liber authenticus).

22 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biijr.

23 For the complete edition of this homily, see Augustine, , ‘Tractatus CXIX’, in Sancti Aurelii Augustini: In Iohannis Evangelium, ed. R. Williams (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 36; Turnhout, 1954), pp. 658–659 Google Scholar. For a translation, see Augustine, , ‘Tractate CXIX’, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vii: St. Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies, trans. J. Gibb, ed. P. Schaff (Buffalo, NY, 1888), pp. 433–434 Google Scholar. For other editions, see Fitzgerald, A., ‘In Johannis evangelium tractatus’, in Augustine through the Centuries: An Encyclopedia, ed. A. Fitzgerald (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1999), pp. 474–475 Google Scholar.

24 François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Fir: ‘Lectiones de septem marie doloribus ex scriptis plurimorum doctorum Et sit mentio de primis quinque doloribus in quinque primis lectionibus Sexta vero lectio sextum et septimum dolores comprehendit.’

25 On Brussels 215–16, see Haggh, ‘Charles de Clerc’, pp. 185–202; Robijns, ‘Eine Musikhandschrift des frühen 16. Jahrhunderts’, pp. 28–43; Kellman, H., ‘Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, 215–216’, in Kellman (ed.), The Treasury of Petrus Alamire: Music and Art in Flemish Court Manuscripts 1500–1535 (Ghent, 1999), pp. 66–67 Google Scholar; and Census-Catalogue of Manuscript Sources of Polyphonic Music: 1400–1550, ed. C. Hamm and H. Kellman (Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1979–1988), i, p. 91 and iv, p. 294.

26 Brussels 215–16, fols. 44r–49v.

27 Brussels 21123, fols. 61r–75v.

28 Vienna 3787, fols. 184r–186r. Haggh, ‘Charles de Clerc’, p. 193.

29 François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Fir and Confraternitas, fol. 11r.

30 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biiv.

31 Ibid., sig. Aiijv: ‘acta virginis de compassione que nunc vulgo dicitur de septem doloribus’.

32 Ibid., sig. Biiv. On Compassion celebrations, see Wilmart, A., Auteurs spirituels et textes dévots du moyen âge latin (Études Augustiniennes; Paris, 1932, repr. 1971), pp. 505–536 Google Scholar and Grotefend, H., Zeitrechnung des deutschen Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (Aalen, 1970), i, pp. 26–27 Google Scholar.

33 Mansi, G. D. and Labbe, P., Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, 28 (Graz, 1960)Google Scholar, cols. 1057–8.

34 Ibid., col. 1057.

35 Ibid., col. 1058. The synod specifically condemns John Wycliff, John Huss, Hieronymus of Prague and their followers for not conforming themselves to the Council of Constance and asks them to recant; cols. 1055–6.

36 Wilmart, Auteurs spirituels, p. 511. See also Lütolf, M., Analecta hymnica medii aevi: Register (Bern, 1978), pp. 96–97 Google Scholar, 106 and Hughes, Andrew, Late Medieval Liturgical Offices: Resources for Electronic Research (Toronto, 1994)Google Scholar, YC31–YC43.

37 Other contemporary offices with a Compassion rubric were printed in cities such as Lübeck, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Speyer. For other Compassion prints from the 1480s and 1490s, see ISTC ib00938550, ih00283720, ih00435150, io00051280, io00051295, io00065990, iw00041400 and iw00041500. For a complete musical setting of a Compassion office from this period and its use in Hamburg, see Kartsovnik, V. and Neubacher, J., Das Hamburger Antiphonar ND VI 471: Ein wiederentdecktes Musikdenkmal des 15. Jahrhunderts aus dem Hamburger Dom (Wiesbaden, 2010), pp. 13–16 Google Scholar and 37–57.

38 Related sources of this office can be found in Fiecht, Benediktinerabtei Sankt Georgenberg-Fiecht, Codex 284, fols. 208r–212r; Klosterneuburg, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex Claustroneoburgensis 1035, fols. 177v–199r; Kremsmünster, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex Cremifanensis 393, fols. 77r–84v; Aberdeen University Library, MS 25, fols. 288v–300r; Herzogenburg, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex Herzogenburgensis 89, fols. 68v–96v; Weimar, Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Oct 62, fols. 95r–133r; Innsbruck, Universitätsbibliothek, Codex 717, fols. 13r–20r; and Psalterium maius Beatae Virginis Mariae [Leipzig: Martin Brandis, c. 1485], fols. 57r–68r (ISTC ib00938550, GW 4799). One of the Vespers antiphons in these sources does correspond to the text used for the introit, taken from Ps. 68, of the Quodlibetica mass.

39 Historia de veneranda compassione beatissime dei genitricis semper virginis marie [Augsburg: Anton Sorg, c. 1478–80] (ISTC io00051230, GW M27613) and [Basel: Michael Wenssler, c. 1478] (ISTC io00051220, GW M27619). The office was later printed in Augsburg by either Christmann Heyny, c. 1481 or Günther Zainer, c. 1480 (ISTC io00051235, GW M27614). On Zainer as the printer, see Scherrer, G., Verzeichniss der Incunabeln der Stiftsbibliothek von St. Gallen (Sankt Gall, 1880), pp. 178–189 Google Scholar.

40 A print too late to be considered as source material for Verhoeven but one that contains the same texts as the Augsburg and Basel prints is Historia de veneranda compassione beatissime dei genitricis semper virginis marie [Ulm: Johann Schäffler, c. 1497–8] (ISTC io00051270; GW M27636). Though the office texts are the same, the Mass is incomplete, lacking the sequence, offertory and communion texts.

41 Historia de veneranda compassione gloriose virginis marie [Deventer: Jacobus de Breda, 31 Aug. 1489 and 31 Oct. 1492]) (ISTC io00051240, GW M27620 and ILC 1662). The communion chant, Coronam dedit, is taken from Isaiah 61:3. On the dating of Breda’s printing types and the date of this print, see W. and Hellinga, L., The Fifteenth-Century Printing Types of the Low Countries (Amsterdam, 1966)Google Scholar, i, pp. 108–11 and ii, pp. 410–15.

42 The second version, printed later between 1492 and 1495, contains the same texts as the Augsburg source for the mass and the first nocturn of the office, but it is incomplete, lacking the second and third nocturns of Matins. Historia de veneranda beatissime dei genitricis semper virginis marie [Deventer: Jacobus de Breda, 16 Nov. 1492 and 29 Apr. 1495]). See ISTC io00051260, GW M27621 and ILC 1663. On the date of this print, see Hellinga and Hellinga, The Fifteenth-Century Printing Types, ii, p. 413.

43 The other cities Van Coudenberghe mentions are Rome, Cambrai and Douai, though he also says that offices were received from all over Holland. Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biiv.

44 The Quodlibetica mass texts with the exception of the sequence and Paschal options appear under a Compassion rubric in an undated print with offices for the Name of Jesus and St Anne, possibly printed in Leuven by Johannes de Westfalia, not before 1488 (ISTC io00051100, ILC 1661). Because insufficient data exists to determine whether this mass was printed before the chant competition and because the mass is incomplete, these texts will not be considered as a source for the Quodlibetica setting.

45 Philip’s competition had probably taken place c. 1492–4, by the time of the publication of the Quodlibetica (sometime before Dec. of 1494) and not significantly before or after the publication of Bac’s volume (sometime after Dec. of 1492). For further discussion, see my dissertation: Snow, E., ‘The Lady of Sorrows: Music, Devotion, and Politics in the Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands’ (Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 2010), pp. 62–66 Google Scholar.

46 For the standard version of this homily, see Augustine, ‘Tractatus CXIX’, in Sancti Aurelii Augustini, pp. 658–9.

47 The rubric for the first reading of the mass identifies it as being taken from the Book of Wisdom, but the text actually consists of a compilation of verses from the Song of Songs (1:12–13, 2:3, 2:16, 8:6). On the use of the Song of Songs in Marian liturgy and in particular the feast of the Assumption, see Fulton, R., ‘“Quae est ista quae ascendit sicut aurora consurgens?”: The Song of Songs as the Historia for the Office of the Assumption’, Medieval Studies, 60 (1998), pp. 55–122 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48 The Quodlibetica office and the Compassion office do share the same psalms for the antiphons of Matins, but these psalms were commonly used in all offices for the Blessed Virgin Mary. See Baltzer, R. A., ‘The Little Office of the Virgin and Mary’s Role at Paris’, in M. Fassler and R. Baltzer (eds.), The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages: Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography (New York and Oxford, 2000), pp. 463–484 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 466.

49 On the history of Compassion devotion, see Luis, A., ‘Evolutio historica doctrinae de compassione B. Mariae Virginis’, Marianum, 5 (1943), pp. 268–285 Google Scholar; Schuler, C. M., ‘The Sword of Compassion: Images of the Sorrowing Virgin in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art’ (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1987), pp. 20–117 Google Scholar and 168–88; and Ellington, D. S., From Sacred Body to Angelic Soul: Understanding Mary in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Washington, DC, 2001), pp. 77–100 Google Scholar.

50 ‘Tuam ipsius animam ait Symeon ad Mariam pertransibit gladius ut revelentur ex multi cordibus cogitationes.’ François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Fir.

51 Luke 2:34–5. English translations of scriptural passages are taken from the Challoner revision of the Douay–Rheims Bible.

52 Schuler, ‘The Sword of Compassion’, pp. 118–19 and Ellington, D. S., ‘Impassioned Mother or Passive Icon: The Virgin’s Role in Late Medieval and Early Modern Passion Sermons’, Renaissance Quarterly, 48 (1995), p. 237 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 Schuler, C. M., ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin: Popular Culture and Cultic Imagery in Pre-Reformation Europe’, Simiolus, 21 (1992), pp. 5–28 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 7 and Schuler, ‘The Sword of Compassion’, pp. 124–7.

54 Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, pp. 6 and 9–10.

55 Ibid., p. 6 and Ellington, ‘Impassioned Mother or Passive Icon’, p. 238.

56 Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, pp. 9–10. She draws on the writings, among others, of Pseudo-Bernard (Tractatus in laudibus sanctae Dei genetricis) and Pseudo-Anselm (Dialogus Beatae Mariae et Anselmi de Passione Domini).

57 Ellington, ‘Impassioned Mother or Passive Icon’, pp. 232–4.

58 Neff, A., ‘The Pain of Compassion: Mary’s Labor at the Foot of the Cross’, Art Bulletin, 80 (1998), pp. 254–273 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 255.

59 Mansi and Labbe, Sacrorum conciliorum, col. 1057.

60 Schuler, ‘The Sword of Compassion’, pp. 119–24 and Neff, ‘The Pain of Compassion’, pp. 254–73.

61 Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 12.

62 Ibid., pp. 7, 13, and 17.

63 Ibid., p. 13. On the role of empathy in Passion devotion, see Benjamin, L. W., ‘The Empathic Relation of Observer to Image in Fifteenth-Century Northern Art’ (Ph.D. diss., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1973), pp. 202–283 Google Scholar.

64 This sequence is found under the Compassion rubric in several sources. See Dreves, Analecta hymnica, ix, pp. 52–3 and Morel, P. Gall, Lateinische Hymnen des Mittlealters (New York, 1868), p. 94 Google Scholar.

65 Chevalier, U., Repertorium hymnologicum: Catalogue des chants, hymnes, proses, séquences, tropes en usage dans l’Église latine depuis les origines jusqu’à nos jours (Leuven, 1892–1912, Brussels, 1920–1), i, p. 527 Google Scholar; Dreves, Analecta hymnica, viii, pp. 54–5; and Morel, Lateinische Hymnen, p. 92.

66 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Aiijv; François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Bviiiv; Ghedenckenisse, fol. 4v, and Hier beghint een goede oefeninghe ende een seer deuote meditacye van sonderlinghen vij. ween onser sueter vrouwen ende moeder gods marien (Antwerp, [Gheraert Leeu, c. 1492]) (ILC 887) (hereafter Goede oefeninghe), fol. 7v. For various enumerations of the Virgin’s sufferings, see Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 16.

67 Brussels 21123, fol. 61r.

68 The office appears in a breviary of 1508, printed in Utrecht by the Brothers of Gouda. On this breviary, see Bohatta, H., Liturgische Bibliographie des XV. Jahrhunderts mit Ausnahme der Missale und Livres d’heures (Vienna, 1911), p. 263 Google Scholar and Post, R. R., The Modern Devotion Confrontation with Reformation and Humanism (Leiden, 1968), p. 552 Google Scholar. For the complete text of the office, see Dreves, Analecta hymnica, xxiv, pp. 133–5.

69 Vienna 3787, fols. 92v–95v. The Salve virgo generosa sequence appears in this mass setting. Rubrics for a Compassion mass with the Augsburg texts also appear in several other missals: Sankt Florian, Augustiner-Chorherren Stift, Codex San-Florianensis XI, 397, fol. 1r–v; Sankt Florian, Augustiner-Chorherren Stift, Codex San-Florianensis XI, 484, fol. 8r–v; and Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS 3782, fol. 214r–v.

70 Brussels 215–16, fols. 47r–49r and Vienna 3787, fols. 95v–96v.

71 Kraß, A., Stabat mater dolorosa: Lateinische Überlieferung und volkssprachliche Übertragungen im deutschen Mittelalter (Munich, 1998), pp. 76–80 Google Scholar. For the text on which the Astat virgo virginum is based, see Migne, J.-P., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina (Paris, 1844–64)Google Scholar, cxxiii, cols. 598B–598C.

72 See, for example, Sankt Florian, Augustiner-Chorherren Stift, Codex San-Florianensis XI, Codex XI 470, fols. 41r–43r; Klosterneuburg, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 616, fols. 299v–300r; Klosterneuburg, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 617, fol. 264r–v, Missale Salisburgense (Vienna, 1506), fol. 261r–v; and Missale Salisburgense (Vienna, 1510), fols. 240v–241r.

73 For a history of the visual representation of the Virgin of Sorrows, see Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, pp. 21–8.

74 For close-up images of individual scenes of this painting, see: http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=X044417&objnr=89064&nr=1#relatedphoto. On this painting, see Wilson, J. C., Painting in Bruges at the Close of the Middle Ages (University Park, Pa., 1998), pp. 96 Google Scholar and 123–5. For similar representations, see Bernard van Orley, triptych of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Besançon and The Seven Sorrows of Mary (1526), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp.

75 This treatise was later printed again in Schrattenthal, Austria (20 Mar. 1501). See Gaselee, Stephen, ‘The Austrian Post-Incunabula’, The Library, 4 (1938), p. 3 Google Scholar and François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Fiiiv.

76 Fruytier, J., ‘Van Coudenberghe (Jan)’, in Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, ed. P. J. Blok and P. C. Molhuysen (Leiden, 1927), vii, pp. 333–334 Google Scholar.

77 Ghedenckenisse, fols. 1v and 2v. See Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 20. On the original Roman paintings, see Henze, C., Lukas der Muttergottesmaler: Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis des Christlichen Orients (Leuven, 1948), pp. 48–50 Google Scholar, 96–8 and plates 4 and 8. On the use of icons in Netherlandish art, see Ainsworth, M. W., ‘“À la façon grèce”: The Encounter of Northern Renaissance Artists with Byzantine Icons’, in H. C. Evans (ed.), Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557) (New Haven, 2004), pp. 545–555 Google Scholar, at 547–8.

78 The text of the poem appears in Van Coudenberghe, Ortus progressus, sig. Aiijv; François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Bviiiv; Ghedenckenisse, fol. 4v; and Goede oefeninghe, fol. 7v. The sorrows are numbered only in the Quodlibetica printing. For a translation of this text, see Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 19.

79 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Aiiijv.

80 De Ridder, ‘Brief van Petrus de Manso’, pp. 23–30.

81 See above, n. 19. On Verhoeven’s authorship of this treatise in conjunction with his letter to Van Coudenberghe, see de Ridder, F., ‘De Devotie tot O. L. Vrouw van VII Weeën, haar ontstaan’, in Handelingen van het Vlaamsch Maria-Congres te Brussel, 8–11 September 1921 (Brussels, 1922), pp. 87–104 Google Scholar, at 93–6. The Ghedenckenisse mentions that the text is drawn from Verhoeven’s letter to Van Coudenberghe on fol. 3v, and the scriptural passages cited as the basis for each meditation correspond in both the Ghedenckenisse and Verhoeven’s letter.

82 The woodcut of the Virgin of Ara Caeli in the Ghedenckenisse served as the basis of the woodcut for the frontispiece of the first printing of the Quodlibetica, helping to link François de Lille’s texts to the popular devotion. See Ghendenckenisse, fol. 2v. Seven swords and tears were added to the original woodcut to emphasise the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin.

83 Ghedenckenisse, fol. 1r: ‘Ende oec op dat die leeke lieden die niet lesen en konnen, die personagien aensiende, hem daer inne oec sullen mogen oefenen Want die beelden sijn der leecker luden boecken.’

84 On the other editions, see Speakman Sutch and Van Bruaene, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 260.

85 On the importance of miracles for a saint’s credibility and the creation of a cult, see Swanson, R. N., Religion and Devotion in Europe c. 1215–c.1515 (Cambridge, 1995), pp. 145–164 Google Scholar.

86 On the published miracle reports, see Speakman Sutch and Van Bruaene, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, pp. 270–1.

87 François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Eiiijr–vr, Soulier, La Confrérie, pp. 15–16 and 26–7, and Duclos, De eerste eeuw van het Broederschap, p. 29. The letter of approval by the bishop appears in the Quodlibetica with the date of 9 Aug. 1494.

88 On miracles reported in Delft, Reimerswaal and Abbenbroek, see Soulier, La Confrérie, pp. 43–51.

89 On the membership, liturgical activities and dramatic and artistic productions of this confraternity, see Thelen, E. (ed.), The Seven Sorrows Confraternity of Brussels: Drama, Ceremony, and Art Patronage, 16th–17th Centuries (Studies in European Urban History, 1100–1800, 37; Turnhout, 2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

90 Liber authenticus, fol. 1v.

91 François de Lille was also instrumental in establishing the Holy Rosary confraternity in Cologne and had written a quodlibet for this devotion as well. See Winston-Allen, A., Stories of the Rose: The Making of the Rosary in the Middle Ages (University Park, Pa., 1997), pp. 67–69 Google Scholar and Schuler, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 18.

92 Speakman Sutch and Van Bruaene, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 264.

93 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Bir; Stratius, Onse Lieve Vrouwe, pp. 195–7.

94 Goede oefeninghe, fol. 1r.

95 In 1507, this confraternity would be joined by the members of De Violette (The Violet) and would be renamed Het Mariacransken (The Garland of Mary). Van Bruaene, A.-L., Om Beters Wille: Rederijkerskamers en de Stedelijke Cultuur in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden (1400–1650) (Amsterdam, 2008), pp. 70–71 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

96 Liber authenticus, fol. 49v.

97 Membership records through the eighteenth century can be found in Liber authenticus, fols. 161r–350v.

98 The coats of arms of the first four provosts of the Brussels confraternity appear on fol. 159v of the Liber authenticus, and an index of names of some of the membership appears on fol. 3v and includes, for example, Popes Alexander VI and Leo X, Jacques de Croy (Bishop of Cambrai), Jean de Hornes (Bishop of Liège), François Busleiden and Olivier de La Marche, memorialist of the house of Burgundy.

99 Liber authenticus, fols. 49r–51r and 70r.

100 Charles the Bold’s reign extended from 1467 to 1477. See Blockmans and Prevenier, The Promised Lands, pp. 176–93.

101 For a detailed account of the battle at Nancy at which Charles the Bold died and the events that precipitated it, see Vaughn, Charles the Bold, pp. 399–432 and Blockmans and Prevenier, The Promised Lands, pp. 193–5. On the rebellions with which Mary had to contend, see Haemers, J., For the Common Good: State Power and Urban Revolts in the Reign of Mary of Burgundy (1477–1482) (Turnhout, 2009), pp. 153–185 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (Bruges), pp. 228–36 (Ghent), pp. 251–62 (Ypres).

102 Haemers, For the Common Good, pp. 11–18 and Blockmans and Prevenier, The Promised Lands, pp. 196–9.

103 Blockmans, W. and Prevenier, W., The Burgundian Netherlands, trans. P. King and Y. Mead (Cambridge, 1986), p. 200 Google Scholar.

104 Wellens, R., ‘La revolte brugeoise de 1488’, Handelingen van het Genootschap voor Geschiedenis ‘Société d’Emulation’ te Brugge, 1 (1965), pp. 5–52 Google Scholar.

105 Blockmans and Prevenier, The Promised Lands, p. 207; Blockmans and Prevenier, The Burgundian Netherlands, pp. 48–68; and Spufford, P., Monetary Problems and Policies in the Burgundian Netherlands 1433–1496 (Leiden, 1970), pp. 160–162 Google Scholar.

106 Blockmans and Prevenier, The Promised Lands, p. 207.

107 Ibid., pp. 206–16.

108 Blockmans and Prevenier, The Burgundian Netherlands, pp. 199–200.

109 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Aiiijr.

110 Speakman Sutch and Van Bruaene, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 254.

111 Ibid., p. 277 and Van Bruaene, ‘The Habsburg Theatre State’, p. 138.

112 Brown and Small, Court and Civic Society, p. 239.

113 Brown, ‘Bruges and the Burgundian “Theatre-state”’, p. 588.

114 Brown, ‘Ritual and State-building’, pp. 17–26.

115 Ibid., p. 20.

116 On the Burgundian court’s participation in devotional confraternities, see Brown, ‘Bruges and the Burgundian “Theatre-state”’, pp. 577–87.

117 Soulier, La Confrérie, pp. 24–6; Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biijv; and Stratius, Onse L. Vrouw, p. 210. The Pope’s request is preserved in the Liber authenticus, fols. 15v–16r. On the dating of this bull, see Duclos, De eerste eeuw van het Broederschap, p. 25 and Soulier, La Confrérie, p. 26, n. 1.

118 Soulier, La Confrérie, pp. 37–40. A copy of the original letter appears in the Liber authenticus, fols. 16v–18r.

119 Liber authenticus, fols. 29r–30v and Speakman Sutch and Van Bruaene, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 275.

120 Speakman Sutch and Van Bruaene, ‘The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin’, p. 263 and Van Bruaene, ‘The Habsburg Theatre State’, p. 139.

121 Blockmans and Prevenier, The Promised Lands, pp. 132–3.

122 Brown, ‘Ritual and State-building’, pp. 6–8 and Brown, ‘Bruges and the Burgundian “Theatre-state”’, pp. 575–6.

123 Van Bruaene, ‘The Habsburg Theatre State’, pp. 134–5.

124 Arnade, Realms of Ritual, p. 7.

125 Van Bruaene, ‘The Habsburg Theatre State’, p. 135.

126 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biiir.

127 Ibid. As noted earlier, the principal feast date prescribed for this liturgy was the Saturday before Palm Sunday unless the Annunciation conflicted with this date, in which case the feast could be moved to the Sunday following Easter.

128 One exception is a comparable situation in the fourteenth century with the creation of an office for the feast of St Thomas Aquinas by the Dominican Order. In this instance, the Order was looking for specific texts for the feast of St Thomas Aquinas rather than using the office from the Common of a Confessor. In 1334, all Dominican provincials were ordered to have a new office with texts and plainchant composed and to bring the compositions to the next chapter meeting, at which point the best would be selected. See Bonniwell, W., A History of the Dominican Liturgy, 1215–1945 (New York, 1945), p. 235 Google Scholar. These events are recounted in the Dominican chapter acts; see Acta capitulorum generalium Ordinis Praedicatorum, ii, ed. B. M. Reichert (Rome, 1899), p. 224.

129 Haggh, B., ‘The Celebration of the “Recollectio festorum Beatae Mariae Virginis”, 1457–1987’, in Atti del XIV congresso della Società Internazionale di Musicologia, Bologna, 1987: Trasmissione e recezione delle forme di cultura musicale, iii (1990), pp. 559–571 Google Scholar.

130 Ibid., p. 560.

131 Erasmus, , ‘On Praying to God/Modus orandi Deum’, in Collected Works of Erasmus: Spiritualia and Pastoralia, ed. J. W. O’Malley, trans. and ann. J. N. Grant (Buffalo, 1998), p. 201 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

132 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biv–iir. See also Michels, L. C., ‘De Letteren in Dienst van de Propaganda voor Coudenberghes Broederschap van de VII Weeën’, Publications de la Société Historique et Archéologique dans le Limbourg, 85/2 (Album Van Gils, 1949), pp. 147–158 Google Scholar, at 151; Soulier, La Confrérie, pp. 17–18; Duclos, De eerste eeuw van het Broederschap, pp. 8–10. On the theology faculty, see de Jongh, H., L’ancienne faculté de Théologie de Louvain au premier siècle de son existence (1432–1540) (Utrecht, 1980), pp. 30–103 Google Scholar.

133 De Ridder, F., ‘Stichting eener Broederschap van O.L.V. van VII Weeën te Antwerpen en te Mechelen einde der XVe eeuw’, Mechlinia, 3 (1924), pp. 19–21 Google Scholar and 74–9. De Ridder transcribes the letter in full, pp. 20–1; it is found in Aartsbisschoppelijk Archief, Mechelen, Cameracensia 17, fols. 96v–97v (note that at the time of the publication of De Ridder’s article, this volume was catalogued as register III). See also Duclos, De eerste eeuw van het Broederschap, p. 144.

134 De Ridder, ‘Stichting eener Broederschap’, p. 20.

135 The letter is transcribed in De Ridder, ‘Stichting eener Broederschap’, pp. 77–8 and found in Aartsbisschoppelijk Archief, Mechelen, Cameracensia 17, fol. 98r.

136 Soulier, La Confrérie, p. 38.

137 François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sigs. Aiiijr and Aviiir.

138 Ibid., sigs. Bir, Biiijr and Cir.

139 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biiv–iiir.

140 This position was founded on 9 Oct. 1439 and was awarded to François de Lille on 15 July 1496. Hierarchia catholica medii aevi, ed. C. Eubel (Münster, 1910), ii, p. 228 and Duval, A., ‘François (Michel)’, in Dictionnaire de Spiritualité (Paris, 1964)Google Scholar, v, cols. 1108–9.

141 Haggh, B., ‘Music, Liturgy, and Ceremony in Brussels, 1350–1500’ (Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1988), pp. 563–564 Google Scholar.

142 Hierarchia catholica medii aevi, ed. C. Eubel, ii, p. 106.

143 See Fiala, D., ‘Le mécénat musical des ducs de Bourgogne et des princes de la Maison de Habsbourg 1467–1506’ (Ph.D. diss., University of Tours, 2002), p. 477 Google Scholar; Marix, J., Histoire de la musique et des musiciens de la Cour de Bourgogne sous le règne de Philippe le Bon (1420–1457) (Strasbourg, 1939), pp. 214–215 Google Scholar and 258–63; Straeten, E. Vander, Histoire de la musique aux Pays-Bas avant le XIXe siècle, iii (Brussels, 1875), pp. 213–214 Google Scholar; and Van Doorslaer, G., ‘La chapelle musicale de Philippe le Beau’, Revue Belge d’Archeologie et d’Histoire d’Art, 4 (1934), pp. 21–57 Google Scholar and 139–65, at 23, 42 and 145.

144 Haggh, ‘Music, Liturgy, and Ceremony’, p. 582 and Merkley, P., ‘Josquin Desprez in Ferrara’, Journal of Musicology, 18 (2001), pp. 544–583 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

145 For complete transcriptions of these mass settings and the plainchant for Vespers in Brussels 215–16, see Snow, ‘The Lady of Sorrows’, pp. 109–26 and 207–21.

146 See Graduale Romanum (Solesmes, 1979), p. 27. The introits of Brussels 215–16 and Vienna 3787 do not include a differentia; Brussels 21123 provides an incipit for the doxology. For the purposes of Examples 1–3, the doxologies are not written out but could be expanded according to the psalm tone given.

147 Haggh, ‘Charles de Clerc’, p. 193.

148 Schlager, K., Alleluia-Melodien II ab 1100 (Monumenta Monodica Medii Aevi, 8; Kassel, 1987), p. 907 Google Scholar. See also Haggh, ‘Charles De Clerc’, p. 193.

149 De Clerc’s coat of arms appears on Brussels 215–16, fol. 2r. On De Clerc, see de Bouvekercke, A. van Langenhove, ‘Les De Clerc, de Bouvekercke’, seigneurs, Recueil de l’office généalogique et héraldique de Belgique, vi (Brussels, 1957), pp. 69–96 Google Scholar, at 69–79. For his positions in the court, see See Jean, M., La chambre des comptes de Lille: L’institution et les hommes (1477–1667) (Paris, 1992), p. 318 Google Scholar.

150 Brussels 21123, fol. 95r and Brussels, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS III 1484, ‘Inventaire des manuscrits de la 1ère série, no 18001 à 21597’.

151 Brussels 21123, fol. 60v. The antiphon Vidi dolorosam was added for First Vespers on fol. 60v, preceding the original office; another setting of the gradual, Plorans ploravit, was copied on fol. 52v; and the tract Attendite obsecro universi populi was added on fol. 53v.

152 Graduale Romanum, p. 333.

153 See Schlager, Alleluia-Melodien II ab 1100, p. 417 for a model for the Alleluia of Brussels 21123 with the verse Dilectus meus and p. 275 for the Alleluia with the verse Vox turturis.

154 Graduale Romanum, p. 148. The verse of the gradual of Vienna 3787 ends abruptly without a final melisma, but a custos indicates that the next note would have been G. Because the final word in both the response and the verse is eius, I inserted the melisma from the end of the response, such that the last fourteen notes in Example 6 are my addition.

155 The Alleluias of Vienna 3787 are transcribed in Schlager, Alleluia-Melodien II ab 1100, pp. 144 and 574.

156 For sources preserving a musical setting of this sequence, see Snow, ‘The Lady of Sorrows’, pp. 150–1 and for transcriptions of the melodies, pp. 220–7.

157 Van Coudenberghe, Ortus, sig. Biiv.

158 I have silently expanded the abbreviations in the original documents transcribed in this appendix and the following one the appendices.

159 Lamentations of Jeremiah 3:20. This same passage is also cited by François de Lille. See François de Lille, Quodlibetica, sig. Dvir.

160 Van Coudenberghe’s statement that Verhoeven was the dean of Den Briel cannot be verified. See Fruytier, ‘Verhoeven (Petrus)’, pp. 1243–4.

161 Omnia appears in the original.

162 Caeteris appears in the original.

163 See ‘Adage II, ix, 54’ in Collected Works of Erasmus, 34: Adages II vii 1 to III iii 100, trans. R. A. B. Mynors (Toronto, 1992), p. 111.

164 Intuitu appears in the original.

165 Enargie appears in the original.

166 Qui appears in the original.