‘Philippe de Vitry at Meaux' with Andrew Wathey (University of Northumbria), as part of the Seminar in medieval and renaissance music, convened by Margaret Bent.
Abstract: Philippe de Vitry’s last decade, from his appointment as Bishop of Meaux in 1351 until his death ten years later, has often been positioned as a period of retirement disconnected from both creative activity and from the royal connection that marked his career up to this point. A new fluidity in the musical chronology of the mid century and literary work exposing more clearly the links between Vitry and his contemporaries invites a reassessment of this view; so too does new archival evidence in the records of the Parlement of Paris illuminating not only his work in Meaux but also its linkage with political society, the king and court. This paper explores Vitry’s life on the fringes of French government in the 1350s, in Meaux and Paris, and offers some wider reflections on the interplay of his career, personal networks and potential output in this period - alongside new perspectives on his house, family and relations with other authors.
