quar3 molt est langage alosée,"

de gentilhome est molt amée"

I, débonnaire. 2, courtois. 3, car. 4. beaucoup. 5, estimé. 6, aimé.

GEOFFROI GAIMAR,

This trouvère, who wrote in the middle of the twelfth century, has left us many works in verse, the most remarkable of which are a history of the AngloSaxon kings, and one of the first two Anglo-Norman kings, forming a sequel to the preceding. The following extract, taken from the latter, gives some curious details of the functions of the Jongleurs in the army of William the Conqueror. Wace also speaks of them (see page 275), and both mention a certain Taillefer who was so distinguished by his talents that this prince granted him the honor of striking the first blow on the memorable day of Hastings. That a class of men who cultivated the arts of amusement as a profession were known and esteemed by the Normans, at the time of the conquest, is moreover proved by the evidence of the "Domesday-book" in which we find a certain Berdic possessed of a large tract of land in Gloucestershire, under the title of Joculator regis. The register, of course, does not explain the talents of this joculator or jongleur, but it may be fairly assumed that they were similar to those of the minstrel Taillefer, above mentioned and alluded to in the following extract. As the army was drawn up in battle array, he spurred his horse forward in front and began the song, famous throughout Gaul, of the exploits of Charlemagne and Roland. As he sang, he performed many marvelous feats of dexterity, throwing his lance high up in the air as if it were a small stick, catching it by the point before he cast it against the enemy, and repeating the same operation with his sword, so that those who beheld him considered him a conjuror. Having trained his horse to run with his mouth wide open, he at last made a sudden attack on the Saxons, who, apprehensive of being bitten by the furious animal, opened their ranks for a moment, but soon surrounded the brave jongleur who, overcome by the number, perished, giving by his death the signal of combat.

1, Beaucoup. 2, y. 3, eut. 4, des deux cotés. 5, hardiesse. 6, hâta. 7, autres. 8, celui-ci. 9, jongleur. 10, était. 11, mit. 12, pointe. 13, comme. 14, ce. 15, baguette. 16, en l'air. 17, haut. 18, jeta. 19, reçu. 20, trois fois. 21, ainsi. 22, la quatrième fois. 23, à travers. 24, corps. 25, frappa. 26, tire. 27, son épée. 28, arrière. 29, que. 30, reçoit. 31, qui. 32, voit. 33, était. 34, avec. 35, gueule. 36, béante. 37, se ruer. 38, quelques-uns. 39, craignent. 40, bâillait. 41, lui.

ROBERT Wace.

Wace was born in the isle of Jersey. His father followed Duke William in the conquest of England, according to a roll preserved by Leland, in which his name figures as one of the chieftains who accompanied this prince on his expedition. The author informs us that he occupied the place of clerc-lisant under Henry I and Stephen, and that he has written many romances, of which two alone have been handed down to us. The first, which bears the date of 1155, is the Roman du Brut d'Angleterre, so called from the fabulous history of Brutus, great grandson of Eneas and first king of the Britons. It includes the history of the kings who reigned in Britain from nearly the epoch of the ruin of Troy to the year 689. This poem was afterward translated by Layamon into Early English (see page 393). The second work of Wace is a history in verse of the dukes of Normandy, improperly called Roman de Rou., which he commenced in 1160 and finished in 1174. He states that he wrote in French for the instruction of those who did not understand Latin. The following is the author's version of the doings of Taillefer on the day of the battle of Hastings, referred to in the preceding extract. His style is clearer than that of his predecessor, and his diction more fluent and easy:

Taillefer, qui mult1 bien chantout,2
sor3 un cheval qui tost * alout,"
devant le duc alout chantant
de Karlemaigne et de Rollant
e d'Olivier e des vassals

I, très. 2, chantait. 3, sur. 4, vivement. 5, allait. 6, moururent. 7. eurent. 8, chevauché. 9, aux. 10, approchant. 11, dit. 12, vous. 13, tout. 14, aujourd'hui. 18, plait. 15, pour. 16, recompense. 17, aussi. 19, veux, 20, fortement. 21, accordez-moi. 22, coup. 23, piqua brusquement des deux. 24, tous. 25, autres. 26, mit. 27, ferit. 28, il le tua. 29, abattit. 30, puis. 31, environné. 32, second. 33, eut. 34, voilà. 35, de part et d'autre. 36, se

mit en mouvement.

BENEOÎT DE SAINTE-MORE.

This trouvère flourished during the reign of Henry II, from whom he received an order to write, in French verse, the history of the Dukes of Normandy. This flattering command leads us to believe that he was already known, by his compositions, as a poet of distinguished talents. Wace had then been engaged for several years on the same work, but being indolent, had made slow progress. When, however, he heard of the royal command to Benëoft de Sainte-More, and knew that his own reputation was at stake, he hastened to resume his work, and, as he had already written as far as the life of Duke Richard II, he had no difficulty in completing his history of the Dukes of Normandy before Benëoît could finish his. The latter, however, far from being discour aged by the success of his rival, redoubled his zeal, and fulfilled in time the command of his sovereign. His work commences with the first invasion of the Normans under Hastings and ends with the death of Henry I. Though inferior to Wace's, it is by no means without merit. As a specimen of his style, we extract the following lines, in which, to extol the glory of William the Conqueror, who in one day, and by a single battle, obtained the crown of England, he recalls the useless efforts of the kings of Greece against a single city during ten years:

Agamemnon ne les Grezeis,'

ne bien plus de cinquante reis,

3

2

ne porent Troie en dix ans prendre ;
unkesni sorent tant entendre:"

e' ici dux od 10 ses Normanz,

1, Grecs.

2, rois. 3, purent. 4, jamais. 5, surent. 6, espérer. 7, et.
II, braves.
12, royaume. 13, entier. 14, peuple.
17, six heures du matin. 18, le soir.

8, ce. 9, duc. 10, avec. 15, fut. 16, seulement.

EVRARD.

Evrard, monk of Kirkham, lived in Scotland about the middle of the twelfth century. He has left us a translation of the distichs of Cato into French verse, and is, in this language, the first known poet who wrote in mixed rhymes. He informs us that he was a canon of the order of St. Augustin in the abbey of Kirkham, and that when, in 1150, King David of Scotland founded the abbey of Holme Cultram, he created him its first abbot, in reward of his merits :

1, Caton. 2, était. 9, écrit. 10, contre. 16, y. 17, attention.

3, païen. 4, rien. 5, loi. 6, pourtant. 7, dit. 8, son. II, foi. 12, partout. 13, pourra.

14, celui. 15, qui.

GUILLAUME HERMAN.

This poet wrote only on moral and religious subjects. His talent gained him the favor of the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I, and the esteem of the high dignitaries of the Church; at least, he states that many of his compositions were written at their solicitation. We have no personal account of this author, except that by mentioning the eminent personages for whom he wrote, he gives us to understand that he lived in the twelfth century. His works exhibit a good deal of genius, and oftentimes an elevated mind. The following extract is a good specimen of his style:

I, celui.

mencement.

2, fit. 3, homme.

34

32

4, nous. 5, voyons. 6, pouvons. 7, voir. 8, tonnez. 9, pleuvoir. 10, vents. II, croyez-vous. 12, difficile. 13, com14, prît. 15, toutes. 16, donc. 17, bêtes. 18, poisson. 19, 20, soit. 21, jour. 22, fut. 23, ténèbres. 24, cela, 25, guère. 26, soient. 27, deux. 28, le, 29, donné. 30, alors. 31, soleil. 32, voyez. 33. éclairés. 34, cours. 35, déclin. 36, détruira. 37, heure. 38, lui.

oiseau.

GUICHARD DE BEAULIEU.

This author, who lived at the end of the twelfth century, was a monk of the priory of Beaulieu, a dependency of the abbey of St. Albans. His principal work is a poem, or rather a kind of sermon in verse, on the vices of his century. The author confesses that he himself has enjoyed all the pleasures which he is about to censure, and that it is from his own experience that he intends to speak. From this it has been supposed that he was one of those knights who, after a turbulent and worldly life, took the cowl to end their days in a monastery which they themselves had founded or endowed. He begins by stating to his readers that he will not address them in Latin, but in French, in order to be more generally understood. The idea of writing sermons in verse may perhaps seem a strange one; but it must be recollected that it was a general custom, at that time at least, with the Norman priests, on Sunday and festival days, to read to the people the lives of the saints in French verse, so that there was, after all, nothing strange in preaching the truths of the gospel in the same manner. The following lines, in which there is much charm in the simple and graceful naïveté with which the author portrays the birth of our Saviour, will give an idea of the poem referred to above: