In Chapters 1 and 2, we saw that rather than circulating freely as a common stock of poetic clichés, intertextual refrains were often tied to specific genres and communities. By situating them within their transmission history, it is possible to isolate another corpus of intertextual refrains that can be connected to the trouvères and composers active in a specific region: the city of Arras. Examining a regional intertextual network provides an opportunity to witness poetic interaction between the composers of Arras and to examine the ways in which these composers respond to refrains in their works. Recent historical research by Carol Symes encourages us to view Arras as a city with a unique ethos defined by both social mobility and education. It will therefore be instructive to sketch this cultural context briefly before turning to the city's musical traditions.

The city of Arras was ruled by two different political institutions: the episcopal City, under the domain of the Bishop of Arras, and the Town, which was part of the county of Flanders under the lordship of the abbey of Saint- Vaast. The latter possessed a representative government controlled by échevins, elected representatives chosen from a body of probi viri (proven men). Its booming textile trade and status as a center for the minting of coins fostered the rise of a class of merchants and tradesmen who enjoyed a degree of upward mobility.