The Medieval French Pastourelle Tradition: Poetic Motivations and Generic Transformations

One of the most popular genres created and performed by Medieval troubadours and trouvères was the pastourelle. Though it varied greatly in its details, the genre was dominated by the following theme: a passing knight encounters and attempts to seduce a shepherdess who, in turn, defends herself against his advances in a variety of ways. The brilliance of the artists who manipulated the genre was revealed in their ability to innovate, synthesize, and elaborate upon the constraints of the form.

In this work--the first major evaluation of the Northern French pastourelle to appear in decades--Geri Smith examines the genre in the hands of three Medieval masters: Adam de la Halle, Jean Froissart, and Christine de Pizan. She explores the very different ways in which these individuals engaged with the form and subject matter of the pastourelle and transformed it, variously, into a stage for their dramatic artistry, a forum for their responses to social and ideological conditions, and, ultimately, into a distinctive statement bearing their individual mark. The result sheds new light on the evolving concept of author in the Middle Ages.