Just found a lot of pics on a thumb drive I'd imported a lot of stuff to, and then forgotten about. The ones for this were taken with my first and only digital camera. (The Marais is pretty good; the Couperin, maybe a little less inspired. But it's been a while since I listened to the cd.) Marquisat de Provence. Raymond V (1148-1194; also Comte de Toulouse). Obv. Crescent and star, pellets above and below. +R. COMES (Count Raymond.) Rev. Cross pometée (Duplessy's word), 'coupant la légende' (thank you, more Duplessy). (In angles: ) D ... V ... X ... M. ('Dux Marchie;' 'Duke of the March,' or Marquis.) The counts of Toulouse (who issued the memorable series in their home county) fell into the neighboring, more northerly part of Provence (called a 'Margraviate' in this map) early in the 12th century. The elaborate reverse cross is the coat of arms of the counts of Toulouse. http://www.midi-france.info/19_toulouse.htm Culturally, it was a brilliant part of the world. Thanks largely to troubadour lyrics, Occitan literature was seeing its first flowering. --As such, easily as early as that other triumph of medieval European vernacular, the Icelandic sagas. ...But now I might have to post some more stuff (all 12th-13th c.), from the Comte de Provence, Aragon, and the rest of the more or less immediate neighborhood. --That was a threat!
A later Occitan cross, used in the early 1250s on the denier tournois of Alphonse de France as Count of Toulouse on a coinage of the Marquisat: And detail of the croix toulousaine in the mid 13th century:
Yes, @seth77 --great minds really think alike! I was kicking myself last night for forgetting the heraldry. (Incidentally, the Duplessy ref.s are 1604 for mine, 1608A for yours.) Here's a cool link featuring the coat of arms of the counts of Toulouse. (The website also has a good page on the troubadours, and lots of other cool stuff.) http://www.midi-france.info/1902_houseoftoulouse.htm
No, that was the soundtrack cd to the movie, "Tout les Matins du Monde," a drama about the French Baroque composer Marais and his mentor, Ste.-Colombe. ...Hence the somewhat cryptic beginning of the post. I'm a fan of French Baroque, especially pour clavecin, viole de gambe, et ensembles plus petits. The gambist for the soundtrack, Jordi Savall, has done lots of amazing things, including what amounts to fusion with early folk traditions. The reading of Bach's Musikalische Opfer which he conducted is among the best. Hopefully it's still on YouTube, live, with other big names in current European Baroque.
I'm asking because this was done on the cover of Duplessy Royales with direct sunlight, notice the very similar color and rather similar texture, but a crapier camera and/or camera user: I'm a fan of French film score composers -- everything from Francois de Roubaix, Nicolas Errera to Alexandre Desplat.
@seth77, thanks, also for the pic and the soundtrack. Listening to that now. The atmospheric beginning couldn't help evoking Debussy --but that was almost Pavlovian. Nice Conan III! That's Duplessy Feodales no. 57 (p. 23). Vol. 1 of Royales, anyway, is a different blue than the two so far of Feodales. And, Rats, can't find pics of my example. What my life looks like.... What should we do with the rest of this thread? Haven't even check the "Medieval Monday" one yet, or I'd be game to blow it open to medievals generally.
