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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2008
The beginning of the second half of the fifteenth century marks the appearance of Jean de Ockeghem at the French royal court. Apparently he was the first composer to be involved in the chapel of Charles VII, at the time when this institution, which had previously included only a few chaplains, began to expand. We owe our knowledge of Ockeghem's biography to three particular studies. The first is that of Michel Brenet (Marie Bobillier), whose ‘biographical study following unpublished documents’ laid the foundations for subsequent research on the royal chapel of the Valois monarchs. The second is an article by Jean-Michel Vaccaro published nearly thirty years ago, which reveals the precise date of the composer's death.
1 With regard to the spelling of Ockeghem's name, I agree with Jaap van Benthem concerning the reliability of the signature reproduced in Giraudet, E., Les artistes Tourangeaux, Mémoires de la Société Archéologique de Touraine, 33 (1885), p. 312Google Scholar; see van Benthem, J., ed., Johannes Ockeghem. Mass and Mass Sections (Utrecht, 1994–), i, 1, p. viiGoogle Scholar. I think that the well-known spelling ‘Okeghem’, although found even in the municipal registers of the city of Tours, is not necessarily the most correct but is simply the most common one.
2 Brenet, M., ‘Jean de Ockeghem, maître de la chapelle des rois Charles VII et Louis XI’, Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, 20 (1893), pp. 1–25Google Scholar; see also Brenet, M., Musique et musiciens de la vieille France (Paris, 1911Google Scholar; rev. Paris, 1978).
3 Vaccaro, J. M., ‘Jean de Ockeghem, trésorier de l'église Saint Martin de Tours de 1459 (?) à 1497’, Johannes Ockeghem en zijn tijd. Tentoonstelling gehouden in het Stadhuis te Dendermonde, 14 november – 6 december 1970 (Dendermonde, 1970), pp. 60–76Google Scholar.
4 Perkins, L. L., ‘Musical Patronage at the Royal Court of France under Charles VII and Louis XI (1422–83)’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 37 (1984), pp. 507–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
5 de Busserolle, J. X. Carré, Dictionnaire géographique, historique et biographique ďIndre-et-Loire et de l'ancienne province de Touraine, 6 vols. (Tours, 1878–1884), vi, p. 247Google Scholar.
6 Florio, F., De probatione Turonica, ed. Salmon, A., Mémoires de la Société Archéologique de Touraine, 7 (1855), pp. 96–9Google Scholar.
7 The De probatione turonica of Florio is undated. Salmon proposed 1477 as the most likely date for the following reasons. In his description of the collegiate church of St Martin, Florio does not mention the silver grille placed around Saint Martin's tomb by Louis XI in 1478 (terminus ante quem). Moreover, Florio declares that he left Florence sixteen years earlier, and we know that he was in the service of Jean V ďArmagnac in 1461 (terminus post quem); see Salmon, A., ‘Description de la ville de Tours sous le règne de Louis XI’, Mémoires de la Société Archéologique de Touraine, 7 (1855), p. 88Google Scholar.
8 Higgins, P., ‘Antoine Busnois and Musical Culture in Late Fifteenth-Century France and Burgundy’ (Ph.D.diss., Princeton University, 1987), p. 143Google Scholar.
9 All the dates presented in the following study are given in New Style.
10 In the official records of the removal of Saint Martin's relics, on 10 March 1454, Ockeghem's name appears in the list of the canons present at the ceremony. He cannot have had another particular post at that time, otherwise it would have been specifically mentioned; see Magro, A., ‘Basilique, pouvoir et dévotion. Ockeghem à Saint-Martin de Tours’, in Vendrix, P., ed., Johannes Ockeghem. Actes du XLe Colloque International ďEtudes Humanistes, Tours, 3–8 02 1997 (Paris, 1998), pp. 85–6 and 100Google Scholar.
11 It is indeed the year 1459 and not 1458, which is the Old Style date.
12 AD, G 593, p. 284; see Appendix I, 2.
13 AD, G 538; see Appendix I, 1.
14 AD, G 538; see Appendix I, 1a.
15 AD, G 593, p. 284.
16 See Appendix I, 1b.
17 Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Coll. Baluze 77, fols. 367–367v; Appendix III, 1. See also Kirkwood, G., ‘Kings, Confessors, Cantors and Archicapellano: Ockeghem and the Gerson Circle at St Martin of Tours’, Johannes Ockeghem. Actes du XLe Colloque International ďEtudes Humanistes, Tours, 3–8 02 1997, p. 122Google Scholar.
18 The real possession of a benefice was indicated by the act of installation in the choir and by the assignment of a place in the chapter house. During the installation ceremony it was necessary to occupy the place either in person or through a procurator, as Ockeghem had done when he was appointed to a canonry at Notre Dame, after being sworn in; see Lesure, F., ‘Ockeghem à Notre-Dame de Paris (1463–1470)’, in Reese, G., ed., Essays on Musicology in Honor of Dragan Plamenac on His 70th Birthday (Pittsburgh, 1969), pp. 147–50Google Scholar. The judicial proceedings at the court in Rome or in the place of dispute – either in a case where the chapter of the church refused to accept the candidate or where there was litigation with the aspiring candidate – could be extended over a long and indeterminate period. Only the peaceful possession of the benefice for at least three years could protect the recipient against others’ claims; see Dictionnaire de droit canonique, ed. Naz, R., 6 vols. (Paris, 1942)Google Scholar: ‘Chapitre des chanoines’, col. 427.
19 Ibid., col. 427.
20 He entered the priesthood some time later; see Roth, A., ‘Anmerkungen zur Benefizialkarriere des Johannes Ockeghem’, Collectanea, i: Capellae Apostolicae Sixtinaeque Collectanea Acta Monumenta, 3 (Vatican City, 1994), pp. 126–7Google Scholar.
21 The Rituel/Cérémonial of Péan Gatineau (a canon of St Martin's in Tours) was compiled in the thirteenth century. Apart from a precise description of the ceremonial to be followed in various solemn services, this book also gives the rules for the uses and customs of the collegiate church. It was still considered a major influential source in the fifteenth century and was regularly referred to in internal disputes. For an analysis see Magro, A., ‘Jean de Ockeghem et Saint-Martin de Tours (1454–1497). Une étude documentaire’ (Thèse de Doctorat, C.E.S.R. – Université de Tours, 1998), pp. 11–74Google Scholar. The Rituel was published by Fleuret, A., Rituel de Saint-Martin de Tours, documents et manuscrits (Paris, 1899–1901)Google Scholar.
22 Fleuret, , Rituel, p. 104Google Scholar.
23 BN, Coll. Baluze 77, fol. 367v; see Appendix III, 2.
24 Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 524; the documents concerning this are Paris, AN, ms X1a, 4807, fols. 7v, 38v, 42, 59; ms X1a, 4808, fol. 329v.
25 Aveu of 1487; Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 558.
26 AD, G 422, p. 280, no. 10; see Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 63: ‘Vers 1465, – Un cahier intitulé: Instructions pour Mr Jean de Okenghem Trésorier, et Mrs du chapitre de Saint Martin appellans du bailly de Touraine […]’ See Appendix I, 9 for the complete text.
27 La Coutume de Touraine au XVe siècle, ed. ďEspinay, G., Mémoires de la Société Archéologique de Touraine, 34 (1888), pp. 10–11Google Scholar.
28 AD, G 421, p. 101v; see Appendix I, 22a and b.
29 The right to raise dead bodies was under the control of the haut justicier; see La Coutume de Touraine, p. 8.
30 AD, G 421, p. 101v; see Appendix I, 22c.
31 AD, G 421, p. 101v; see Appendix I, 22a.
32 AD, G 421, p. 102; Appendix I, 23. This extract is dated ‘vers 1489’, probably an error; the more likely date is 1459.
33 Aveu of 1487; Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 559.
34 Dictionnaire de droit canonique: ‘Cierges’.
35 BMT, ms 1295, fols. 299–300: AD. G 593, p. 565; G 422. p. 308; G 421. p. 9. no. 8; see Appendix III, 3 and Appendix I, 3, 4, 14 and 16e.
36 The chambrier (Camerarius) looked after the collegiate church treasure and the fabrica ecclesiae. He kept records of the account books and reported his activity to the treasurer. He kept two of the keys for the treasure: ‘De officio et potestate camerarii. Camerarius est juratus capitulo sicut et cantor, et insuper quod fidelis erit ecclesie de thesauro et fabrica ecclesie, et de hiis que ad cameram pertinent. Ipse habet duas claves de thesauro ecclesie, et alius clericus, pro capitulo, tertiam clavem, et duas claves de archis fabrice ecclesie; et duo clerici, de capitulo ad hoc destinati, alias duas. […] Et est capicerius, et dat majorem matriculariam, et habet sicut dicitur de capiceriis, et habet custodiam turrium, et facit sonare, exceptis classicis processionum Dominice, vigiliarum Mortuorum […]’; Fleuret, , Rituel, p. 108Google Scholar. The chevecier also looked after the collegiate church treasure and was responsible for dispensing justice to thieves: ‘De officio et potestate capiceriorum. Capicerii sunt jurati capitulo sicut et cantor, et insuper thesauro ecclesie, sed non jurant quod sint presbyteri. Ipsi presentantur tantum in domo decani, et post capitulo. Septimane eorum incipiunt Dominica post matutinas. Ipsi habent medietatem oblationum et mittunt medietatem luminaris et expensas custodum ecclesie, et septimanarii aliam. […] Et dant matricularias, et habent justiciam latronum ecclesie[…] Capicerii sonant, incensant, accendunt et extingunt in choro, si volunt; vel, si septimanarii ebdomade non sint presentes, quando volunt. Et faciunt officium prepositi, sed ceram none lectionis non habent, nisi pro alia dignitate’; ibid., pp. 109–10. There were several cheveciers at the time that the Rituel was compiled, but only one remained during Ockeghem's time.
37 Fleuret, , Rituel, pp. 41–3 and 82–4Google Scholar. For the feast of the Purification the Rituel says, ‘Ad omnes hos cereos faciendos, mittit fabrica ecclesie quinquaginta unam libras cere ad magnam, et quinquaginta unum denarios pro cera alba, et totidem thesaurarius, de quibus habet camerarius duodecim magnas libras, pro cereis faciendis et distribuendis’; see ibid., p. 42. For the winter feast of Saint Martin, ‘Et nota quod decanus habet, ad Matutinas, triginta libras magnas cere. Et omnes canonici de stallo et quarte et tertie stationis qui ad Matutinas fueriunt, habent unam magnam libram cere, […] excepto thesaurario, et capiceriis et septimanariis, qui non capiunt ceram, et septem libras Parisiensium a preposito Liriaci’; see ibid., p. 83.
38 BMT, ms 1295, fols. 299–300; AD, G 422, p. 308, no. 6; see Appendix III, 3 and Appendix I, 14b.
39 BMT, ms 1295, fol. 299; see Appendix III, 3.
40 AD, G 422, p. 308, no. 5; G 593, p. 565, no. 4; see Appendix I, 14a and 3.
41 Fleuret, , Rituel, p. 83Google Scholar; see note 37 above.
42 BMT, ms 1295, fol. 300; AD, G 422, p. 308, no. 7; see Appendix III, 3 and Appendix I, 14c.
43 AD, G 593, p. 565, no. 5; see Appendix I, 4.
44 AD, G422, p. 308, no. 8; see Appendix I, 14d.
45 Ibid.
46 AD, G 422, p. 308, no. 9; see Appendix I, 14e.
47 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7, art. 3; see Appendix I, 16d.
48 AD, C 593, pp. 562–4. Charles VI presented Louis de Chaumont, then aged 15, to the chapter on 16 April 1409. Chaumont was installed temporarily until 23 February 1412, from when he officially held the benefice; see AD, C 422, p. 291, and G 421, p. 15; see Appendix I, 18.
49 A hearing at the request of the ‘Palais de Paris’ is dated 1 February 1410. The chapter challenged Chaumont to pay, from the treasury account, for the following functions: ‘faire garder l'eglíse jour et nuit et de repondre de toutes les choses qui y étoient, tant au trésor qu'ailleurs; de faire encenser aux jour de fetes acoutumées […] et de fournir, à leur dépense, de cires pour les grands cierges du rateau du maître autel, et trois autres grands cierges que l'on met à trois grands chandeliers au vespres et matines de Dimanche et festes solennelles entre le choeur et le maître autel […] les offices de chambrerie et chefcerie sont tenus chacun an, à chacun des chanoines, ďune livre de cite ďune fonte au grand poids, qui vaut au petit poids deux livres et demie, pour les matines de Saínt Martin d'hiver […]’;, AD, G 422, p. 291. There is a parallel between this last case and Ockeghem's problem. After the hearing it was established that the treasurer, as well as his successors, would be responsible for providing good wax during the vacancy of the offices of chambrier and chevecier. It was also decided that the treasurer should assume the functions of the chambrier and chevecier at his own expense.
50 AD, G 593, p. 564.
51 AD, G 421, p. 9.
52 In the inventory of the fabrica titles we find the following: ‘[…] la trésorerie avait été foundée en justice et en domaines, par le roi et de son patrimoine, qu'il en étoi du au roi foi hommage, même pour ce que tenoient les chefvecier, chambrier et l'aumonier, pour avoir la garde et justice temporelle de l'eglise, la punition et correction de tons les délinquans de Chateau-neuf et les droits de chatellenie et baronnie. Que le roi donne la trésorerie sans le concours du pape, qu'un clerc à simple tonsure peut la tenir: que les principaux revenus des chambrier et chefvecier sont des oblations qui sont offertes en l'eglise et que pour cela on peut dire ces offices sont fondés des biens de l'eglise par le chapitre et de l'autorité du pape, excepté quelque peu de temporalité qu'ils tiennent à foi-hommage du trésorier. Que à la mort des chambrier et chefvecier, le chapitre prenoit les revenus de ces offices au profit de la fabrique pendant qu'ils étaient en vacance, depuis 3 à 400 ans jusqu'aux trepassement desdits Amevilles et Berthiné: que les accords faits entre le chapitre et le trésorier ses predecesseurs ne pouvaient lui prejudicier qu'il en avoit été relevé et déspensé de son serment, et que même ces accords n'avoient point été décretés par le pape pour la partie du chapitre, ni par le roi pour celle du trésorier’; AD, G 593, p. 564.
53 On this subject see below, ‘Treasurer of a royal foundation’; AD, G 421, pp. 7–9. In any case, it does not seem that these judgements had any permanent effect. The problem, especially concerning the wax distribution, continued to occur from time to time. The same thing happened, for example, in 1614; see AD, G 593, pp. 568–71.
54 BMT, ms. 1295, fols. 296–7. Perpignan was taken first on 9 January 1463; it was occupied again by Jean II ďAragon on 1 February 1473, and was liberated again twice, first on 7 September 1473 and definitively in March 1475. See, among others, Demurger, A., Temps de crises temps ďespoirs, Nouvelle Histoire de la France Médiévale, 5 (Paris, 1990), pp. 292–3Google Scholar.
55 AD, G 421, p. 7, no. 4; see Appendix I, 16a.
56 See Lelong, Ch., La Basilique Saint-Martin de Tours (Chambray-lès-Tours, 1986), p. 100Google Scholar.
57 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7, art. 15; see Appendix I, 16d.
58 AD, G 421, p. 7, no. 5; see Appendix I, 16b. If Ockeghem's claims appear more or less plausible, the situation was not clear on the chapter's side. On 2 January 1470, René Dreux, the king's lieutenant in Tours, wrote a report on this dispute adressed to ‘nosseigneurs des Requetes’. René Dreux presented himself to the collegiate chapter, in the name of the king, ‘pour y demander copie des titres et compte ďun don de 1200 écus fait par le Roy. Lesquels titres ne se sont pas trouvés ’; AD, G 421, p. 7v.
59 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7; see Appendix I, 16d.
60 The economic privileges which the treasurer of St Martin's enjoyed, notably when he also held the posts of chambrier and chevecier, were as follows: the oblations made in wax, in gold or in money belonged entirely to the treasurer, chambrier and chevecier, except those offered to the chest placed before the tomb of Saint Martin. The offerings to the chest of the fabrica were shared in equal parts between the fabrica on the one hand and the chambrier and chevecier (or, in case of vacancy, the treasurer) on the other hand. The treasurer had no rights to the offerings made to the chapels and altars, offerings which belonged entirely to the chambrier and chevecier and to the titular chaplain of the chapel or altar. The treasurer could take possession of these offerings only when he held the two offices mentioned. The offerings in gold or silver made to the chest of the ‘chapelle du chevet’ belonged half to the fabrica and half to the treasurer, chambrier and chevecier. The oblations made to the heads of Saint Martin and Saint Gregory, and to other relics, by princes visiting the basilica were divided in two equal parts between the fabrica and the chambrier and chevecier, or the treasurer in case of vacancy. The oblations made on Fridays to the ‘true cross’ belonged entirely to the two dignitaries or the treasurer, because on this day the cross was placed near the tomb of Saint Martin; see AD, G 593, p. 562.
61 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7, art. 1, 5 and 6; see Appendix I, 16d.
62 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7. art. 4; see Appendix I, 16d; see also Fleuret, . Rituel. p. 108Google Scholar.
63 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7, art. 11; see Appendix I, 16d.
64 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7, art. 15 and 20; see Appendix I, 16d. With the act of adjournment ‘la partie demanderesse […] somme son adversaire de comparaître devant le juge pour le faire juger. C'est l'entrée en matière nécessaire au début de tout procès’; La Coutume de Touraine, p. 102.
65 AD, G421, p. 8, no. 7, art. 14 and 18, see Appendix I, 16d. Charles VII held these offices until 1454. Unfortunately we do not know from what date he assumed both positions. This initiative was probably taken out of necessity because of the war.
66 The marguillers had various duties like looking after the church, cleaning the choir and presbytery, bringing holy water during the offices etc.; see Fleuret, , Rituel, pp. 113–14Google Scholar.
67 AD, G 421, p. 8, no. 7, art. 17 and 23; see Appendix I, 16d
68 AD, G 421, p. 9, no. 8–9; see Appendix I, 16e–f.
69 In the inventory, probably an error, this act is dated 1482; It is more likely the arrêt dating from 23 March 1465. See above, ‘A question of light’, and note 40.
70 See above, ‘A question of light’.
71 AD, G 421, p. 9, no. 9, art. 5; see Appendix I, 16f.
72 AD, G 421, p. 9, no. 9, art. 4; see Appendix I, 16f.
73 AD, G 421, p. 9, no. 8, art. 6; see Appendix I, 16f.
74 AD, G 421, p. 9; see Appendix I, 16g.
75 See above, ‘A question of light’, and note 52.
76 AD, G 421, p. 9, no. 9, art. 2 and 30; see Appendix I, 16f.
77 AD, G 421, p. 10, see Appendix I, 17.
78 AD, G 593, p. 565, no. 6; see Appendix I, 5. A doubt remains about the date for the title in which Ockeghem insists on retrieving the 1200 écus given by the king. At the beginning of the inventory we find the reference ‘around 1476’, and at the end the compiler indicates ‘14 March 1475’ (O.S.) for the taking of Perpignan. I have reason to believe that he based his report upon this latter date, which is the date of the final taking of the town (see above, note 54); but in fact it is impossible to date the document accurately.
79 Aveu of 1487; Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 561.
80 Ibid., p. 560.
81 AD, G 418, 21 July 1477; see Brenet, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 12; Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 65; Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, pp. 533–4. This document has been unpublished until now; see Appendix I, 32.
82 AD, G 421, p. 53v, no. 7; see Appendix I, 19.
83 The right of indemnity is the ‘droit payé par les communautés religieuses pour les biens tenus par elles depuis plus de 40 ans, au seigneur justicier dans le ressort duquel cesbien sont situés’; La Coutume de Touraine, p. 280.
84 Appendix I, 32a and c.
85 Appendix I, 32d.
86 Appendix I, 32e.
87 Appendix I, 32f.
88 Appendix I, 32g.
89 Appendix I, 32h.
90 Appendix I, 32i.
91 An arrêt of the Parlement is dated 21 July 1479. The text is reproduced in the aveu of Ockeghem; see Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’. p. 561; AD, G 421, p. 54, no. 9, and AD, G 418, liasse A, cotte 10, no. 9. At the end of this latter document (of the eighteenth century) we see: ‘Cette cinquième partie vault présentement plus de quatre vingt livres par an et si mons. l'abbé désire le retirer’ [sic] see Appendix I, 7 and 19.
92 Aveu of 1487; Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 560.
93 AD, G 421, p. 2, no. 11; see Appendix I, 15.
94 AD, G 422, p. 302. no. 32; see Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 64. For the complete text, see Appendix I, 13.
95 AD G 422, p. 286, no. 29; see Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 63. For the complete text, see Appendix I, 10.
96 In general, the inventories follow a precise chronological order. The document considered here is not dated. Its inventory number is 29; no. 30, which follows, has the date 1 August 1491. Thus our document must be dated 1490–1; it is certainly before August 1491.
97 AD, G 421, p. 138; see Appendix I, 24.
98 We find the same widow Grenadon in the aveu of 1487. She was able to make an annual payment to Ockeghcm of 5 sols and ‘ung chappeau de rozes vermelles audit jour de Penthecoste’ for certain gardens she possessed in the barony; see Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 560.
99 AD, G 422, p. 287, no. 32; see Appendix I, 11.
100 AM, AA4; BB12 – Délibérations de la ville de Tours, fols. 13v–14 and 141–2.
101 AM, BB 12, fols. 13v–14; see Appendix I, 1.
102 Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, pp. 525–6 and 558–63.
103 Appendix II, 1a.
104 Appendix II, 1c.
105 The reference is to be found in the registers of the town council of Tours: AM, BB 12, BB 13.
106 AM, BB 12, fols. 141–2; see Appendix II, 2.
107 Appendix II, 2a.
108 Appendix II, 2b.
109 Appendix II, 2c.
110 For more details, see Appendix II, 3 and 4.
111 Aveu of 1487; Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 561.
112 Published in Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, pp. 558–63.
113 AD, 421, p. 3, no. 17: ‘Mémoire des Doyen Trésorier et Chapitre de St Martin. Sans datte, écriture du XVème siècle. […] les Doyens et Trésorier doivent une fois dans leur vie hommage au Roi’.
114 AM, GG 23, parchment.
115 AD, G 422, p. 294, no. 14.
116 AD, G 422, p. 299, no. 18 and 20; see Appendix I,12. Chartin did not immediately take possession of the office of chambrier, since until 1469 the two offices of chambrier and chevecier remained in Ockeghem's hands; see above, lsquo;The offering of Louis XI’.
117 AD, G 418; see Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 66: see Appendix I, 6. For a more complete transcription, see Carré de Bousserolle, Dictionnaire géographique: ‘Châteauneuf’.
118 Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 555.
119 AD, G 1172, see Appendix I, 30.
120 AM, CC 36, fol. 121; see Appendix II, 6b and 7a.
121 AM, CC 35, fol. 49; see Appendix II, 5a.
122 See above, ‘Barony and town’.
123 AD, G 418, liasse A, cotte 2; see Appendix I, 8. His predecessors were Mace Hoyau and Jacques Dargouges; AD G 423, p. 18; see Appendix I, 25.
124 AD, G 423, p. 18; see Appendix I, 25.
125 AD, G 421, p. 63; see Appendix I, 21.
126 See Magro, ‘Basilique, pouvoir et dévotion’, pp. 97 and 100.
127 AD, G 381, p. 179; Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 63. For the complete text, see Appendix I, 26.
128 AD, G 1172, liasse 3, cotte 8, parchment; see Appendix I, 31.
129 AD, G 1172, parchment; see Appendix I, 30.
130 The first impression is that Ockeghem had founded a chapel at one of the altars of St Martin's and that Chiron was the chaplain attached to it. This however raises a question over the date 1467. Knowing the date of the composer's death, 1467 would seem too early a date for such a foundation, unless Ockeghem had been seriously ill at this time or that he had reached quite an advanced age. But if it were so, we would have to find out why his will was written in 1488, twenty years later. Another possibility is that Ockeghem had his own chapel within the ‘hôtel de la tresorerie’. Unfortunately, no document proves the existence of such a building.
131 AD, G 381, p. 297–8; Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 63. For the complete text, see Appendix I, 29.
132 The inventories consistently use Old Style dating. Ockeghem's will was therefore drawn up on 17 March 1488 (n.s.), and not 1487 (o.s.) as was previously thought.
133 AD, G 381, p. 289; Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 63. For the complete text, see Appendix I, 28.
134 AD, G 381, p. 282; ibid., p. 64. For the complete text, see Appendix I, 27.
135 Brenet, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 15.
136 G 422, p. 302, no. 32; see Appendix I, 13. And yet in one of the extracts of the titles concerning the conclusion of the legal proceedings against the chapter of St Martin becausc of the ‘droit ďindemnité’ on the Chaumont estates one finds in a note: ‘Cette cinquième partie vault présentement pìus de quatre vìngts lìvres par an et si mons. l'abbé désire le retirer’ [sic]. Thus the chapter still owed that sum in the eighteenth century, thanks to the court action set into motion by Ockeghem, whose original acts were jealously preserved; AD G 418, liasse A, cotte 10, no. 9; see Appendix I, 7. One is reminded here that Ockeghem's aveu was used as a model by his successor, Evrard de la Chapelle, and that in the eighteenth century the inventory of the titles of the treasury report six copies of it: ‘Six copies, dont deux collationnés de l'aveu et dénombrement rendu par Mr Jean de Okenghem’; AD, G 422, p. 299. Naturally, one must not forget the titles produced by the king in favour of Ockeghem. such as the letters patent of Louis XI which confirm the treasurer's privileges. The extract is found in the inventory of the titles of the barony of Châteauneuf, compiled in 1787, which says in a note: ‘Ces lettres sont en faveur de Mr Jean Obreghen trésorier qui vivoit en’ [sic]; AD, G 421, p. 2, no. 11; see Appendix I, 15.
137 The document which gives evidence of a visit by Ockeghem to Bruges in August 1484 does not stop merely at ‘domino Thesaurario Turonensi […] primo capellano regis Francie’, but adds ‘musico eccellentissimo’; Bruges, Bisschoppelijk Archief, Kapittelakten van St Donaas, 1483–1492, fol. 48; see Brenet, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 13.
138 Table 1, 1465; 8 August 1468; 1469; 1 July 1469; 26 February 1470; 1470(?); 1472; 1476(?).
139 Table 1, 23 March 1465; 4 September 1465; 20 November 1466; 1 July 1469; 19 October 1469; 24 March 1472.
140 Table 1, 8 August 1468; 1469; 1470(?); 7 September 1470; 24 March 1472; 31 January 1474; 1476(?); 21 July 1477; 1479; 1491; 23 August 1493; 4 June 1495.
141 Table 1, 1459; 16 September 1459; 23 March 1465; 4 September 1465; 20 November 1466; 1 July 1469; 24 March 1472; 1472.
142 Table 1, 22–3 July 1473.
143 Table 1, 15 May 1464.
144 Table 1, 21 December 1479.
145 AM, CC 35 – CC 50; see Appendix II, 5–20.
146 Chevalier, B., Tours, ville royale, 1356–1520, Publications de la Sorbonne, N S Recherches 14 (Louvain–Paris, 1975)Google Scholar.
147 For the problems that Tours experienced and the advantages it obtained because of the residence of the kings, see Chevalier, , Tours, pp. 214–362Google Scholar.
148 Ibid., pp. 66–7. The viscounty of Tours was isolated in the middle of lands belonging to the St Gatien chapter. The ‘seigneurie des Ponts’ generally included St Symphorien; the ‘fief du Péage’ included the area stretching from the Loire to the ‘rue de la Sellerie’ and from the ‘rue du Cygne’ as far as the ‘place Foire-le-Roi’.
149 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 67Google Scholar.
150 Table 1, 1459; 31 January 1474; 1491(?); 4 June 1495.
151 Chevalier, , Tours, pp. 64–6Google Scholar; The outlying parishes included the Ville-aux-Dame, Vençay, Beaumont, Joué-lès-Tours, Ballan, Chambray, Larçay, Saint-Ouen, Saint-Georges, Parçay, Notre-Dame-ďOé, Chanceaux, Saint-Cyr, Fondettes, Vallières, la Chapelle-Saint-Remy and later also Mettray, Berthenay, Montlouis and Véretz.
152 Ibid., 66.
153 In the aveu of 1487, Ockeghem described his rights in this way: ‘Item, les meres et eschevins de la ville de Tours, dix livres tournois a moy adjugez par arrestz de la court de parlement pour souffrir avoir cours l'apetissement de viii vendeurs en detail qui pieça fut mys sus en madite baronnie de Chasteauneuf’; see Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 561.
154 See Appendix II, 5–20.
155 AM, CC 35, fol. 48.
156 The municipal account books are generally well conserved, but they are missing for the years 1458–9, 1467–9, 1474–5, 1484–6, 1490–2, and 1495–6. At All Saints' Day in 1497 Ockeghem was already dead. No payment appears for the rights due to the new treasurer. That signifies that Evrard de la Chapelle, his successor, was not yet installed. In fact, Evrard, presented by Charles VIII on 9 February 1497 (Brenet, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 16; Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 67), was at first refused by the chapter, which accused him of being illegitimate (AD, G 422, p. 492).
157 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 167Google Scholar.
158 Ibid., p. 167.
159 Ibid., pp. 434–5.
160 Table 1, 21 June 1477.
161 La Coutume de Touraine, p. 227 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 499Google Scholar. See also above, ‘The barony of Châteauneuf’.
162 Dictionnaire historique de la France, ed. Lalanne, L. (Paris, 1872)Google Scholar: ‘Chatelain’.
163 Table 1, 21 March 1459; 15 May. The lieutenants, who were in charge of the financial, legal and military administration when the feudal lords were absent, were already called baillifs in the North in the eleventh century, and seneschals in the South. The kings also had their bailiffs, charged with verifying the administration of the territories which were far from the crown's power. They soon became public officers at the head of a bailliage and were obliged to account to the Parlement on a regular basis (Philippe II, 1199). They had lieutenants to dispense justice. These lieutenants, starting under Charles VII, became true magistrates, inheriting most of the duties which had formerly belonged to the bailiff. The bailiff also gradually lost control of financial administration, which was entrusted to the receveur. All in all, they were at the head of a bailliage without being the true heads; see Dictionnaire historique de la France: ‘Bailliage’. For Tours, the bailiff was often ‘un homme ďépée qui choisit lui-même ses lieutenants. parfois même avec l'assentiment de l'assemblée municipale’; Chevalier, , Tours, p. 168Google Scholar.
164 AM, CC 35, fol. 49.
165 AM, CC 35, fol. 49; see Appendix II, 5a.
166 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 471Google Scholar.
167 Ibid., p. 436.
168 AM, CC 36, fol. 56v.
169 Carré de Busserolle, Dictionnaire géographique: ‘Tours’.
170 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 170Google Scholar.
171 Carré de Busserolle, Dictionnaire géographique: ‘Tours’. The two Bernards, moreover, were present with Ockeghem at the ‘gala’ given at the hôtel de ville to greet the ambassadors of the Empire; see Appendix II, 4.
172 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 435Google Scholar; AM, CC 48, fol. 26.
173 See Appendix II, 1b.
174 AM, BB 12, Délibérations de la ville, fol. 1. For the reform of Louis XI, see Chevalier, , Tours, pp. 107–12Google Scholar.
175 AM, CC 49 fol. 248v.
176 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 249Google Scholar.
177 Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 554.
178 AM, CC 44, 1479–80, fol. 4.
179 Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 555.
180 Ibid., p. 554.
181 AM, BB 12, Délibérations de la ville de Tours, fols. 9 and 18.
182 For a close analysis of the matter, see Chevalier, , Tours, pp. 107–12Google Scholar.
183 Ibid., pp. 109–10.
184 See above, ‘The barony of Châteauneuf’.
185 G 422, p 280, no. 10, liasse A; see Appendix I, 9.
186 AM, BB 12, fol. 13v; see Appendix II, I.
187 See above, ‘Barony and town’.
188 Chevalier, , Tours, pp. 93–4Google Scholar.
189 Ibid., p. 95.
190 Ibid., pp. 222–4.
191 The treasurer's office itself had the right of collation, as soon as he had the right to appoint the chambrier, the chevecier and the almoner.
192 See Fleuret, , Rituel, pp. 97–8Google Scholar.
193 The Varenne was divided into two parts: the Haute-Varenne was in the St Gatien jurisdiction, the Basse-Varenne in that of St Martin's.
194 ‘Prepositi habent justicias terrarum et homagia servientium et militum, et procurationes et redditus’; Fleuret, , Rituel, p. 110Google Scholar.
195 AD, G 422, p. 321; Vaccaro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’, p. 61.
196 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 247Google Scholar.
197 Ibid., pp. 244–5.
198 Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, pp. 522–3.
199 For the documents see Roth, ‘Anmerkungen’, pp. 155–79 and 198–220. Richard Wexler has recently analysed the question from the point of view of a historical context; see Wexler, R., ‘The politics of Ockeghem's Canonicate’, Johannes Ockeghem. Actes du XLe Colloque International ďEtudes Humanistes, Tours, 3–8 02 1997, pp. 65–78Google Scholar.
200 In a Vatican dispensatio – September 1472 – Ockeghem is identified as presbyter Cameracensis diocesis. In reading the documents published by Adalbert Roth one has the impression that Ockeghem was already a priest in 1463; see Roth, ‘Anmerkungen’, pp. 155–79.
201 Perkins, L. L., ‘Jean de Ockeghem, musicien méconnu’, Johannes Ockeghem. Actes du XLe Colloque International ďEtudes Humanistes, Tours, 3–8 02 1997, pp. 22–3Google Scholar. According to Adalbert Roth, Ockeghem took holy orders (priesthood) in order to obtain the dignity of treasurer ‘in peaceful possession’ – that is to say, without any further possible opposition; see Roth, ‘Anmerkungen’, p. 127. This hypothesis would seem plausible; but, as the Rituel of Gatineau shows, the treasurer of St Martin's was the only dignitary among the priores who was not required to be a priest; see Fleuret, , Rituel, p. 101Google Scholar. The problem might relate to the fact that as subdeacon he did not automatically have the right to occupy the upper stalls; but, as we have seen, this was resolved by a gratia speciali (see above, ‘The treasurer's stall’). The reasons, therefore, are to be found elsewhere.
202 The foundation act of the royal chapter, which is in the municipal archives in Tours (AM, GG 23), attests that Louis XI founded in the château of Plessis an ‘église et chapelle Saint Jean l'apôtre et évangéliste’. In 1482 it was transformed into a collegiate church. Louis XI seems to have set up rather strict rules concerning the conduct of his new religious institution: compulsory residence and presence at the celebration of the offices, and the obligation to be in holy orders and to be 55 years old (this applied to the canons as well as for the vicars). Ceremonies were to take place as was customary at St Martin's and St Gatien (their form and conduct were also specified), and their conduct was to be impeccable, under the responsibility of a cantor; see Magro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem et Saint-Martin de Tours’, pp. 169–88.
203 See above, ‘The offering of Louis XI’.
204 Maître René Dreux was the king's prosecutor in Tours from 1453 to 1462 and lieutenant until 1473; see Chevalier, , Tours, p. 435Google Scholar and above, note 58.
205 Table 1, 1470(?).
206 Table 1, 7 September 1470; see above, ‘Ockeghem as feudal lord’.
207 Table 1, 22–3 July 1473; see above, ‘Ockeghem as representative of the city’.
208 See note 202 above.
209 ‘[…] quandam capellam in honore et sub vocabulo dictis Joannis Apostoli et Evangelistae construi et edificari notabiler fecit, in qua ut pote dietim Missas et alia divina officia audire consuevit […]’; BMT, Ms 1295, fol. 312; AM, GG 23. See Magro, ‘Jean de Ockeghem et Saint-Martin de Tours’, pp. 184–5.
210 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 309Google Scholar.
211 Ibid., pp. 310–13.
212 For the date see note 132 above.
213 Perkins, ‘Musical Patronage’, p. 552. This concerns a list of the members of the royal chapel for whom Charles VIII asked the Pope for benefices in different dioceses; see also Roth, ‘Anmerkungen’, pp. 179–97.
214 Ibid., p. 554.
215 AD, G 593, p. 547 – Inventory: ‘Comptes et journaux de la Fabrique’.
216 See Magro, ‘Basilique, pouvoir et dévotion, p. 85; see also Kirkwood, ‘Kings, Confessors’, p. 121.
217 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 223Google Scholar.
218 See note 48 above.
219 In any case, by 1474 Louis Chartin was already chambrier of St Martin's; see Appendix I, 12.
220 See Appendix II, 6a.
221 Nothing excludes the possibility that Ockeghem was in Tours but did not choose, or was unable, to draw this retainer personally; see Appendix II, 7a.
222 Wright, C., ‘Dufay at Cambrai: Discoveries and Revisions’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 28 (1975), p. 207CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
223 For the possible identification of this Jean Regis, canon of St Martin's and treasurer of the church of Reims, with the composer of the same name, see Starr, P. F., ‘Southern Exposure: Roman Light on Johannes Regis’, Revue Belge de Musicologie, 49 (1995), pp. 27–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Magro, A., ‘Le compositeur Johannes Regis et les chanoines de Saint-Vincent de Soignies et Saint-Martin de Tours. Une nouvelle contribution’, Revue Belge de Musicologie, 52 (1998), pp. 369–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
224 Brenet, ‘Jean de Ockeghem’ p. 13.
225 Chevalier, , Tours, p. 252Google Scholar.
226 For this difficult period in the history of Tours, see ibid., pp. 250–3.
