Archpoet
| Archpoet | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1130 |
| Died | c. 1165 |
| Pen name | Archipoeta |
| Language | Medieval Latin |
| Genre | Courtly poetry |
| Literary movement | Goliard |
| Notable works | "Confession" |
The Archpoet (c. 1130 – c. 1165), or Archipoeta (in Latin and German), is the name given to an anonymous 12th century author of ten medieval Latin poems, the most famous being his "Confession" found in the Carmina Burana manuscript (under CB 191). Along with Hugh Primas of Orléans (with whom he has sometimes been confused), he is cited as the best exemplar of Goliardic poetry and one of the stellar poets of the Latin Middle Ages.
Knowledge about him comes essentially from his poems found in manuscripts: his noble birth in an unspecified region of Western Europe, his respectable and classical education, his association with Archchancellor Rainald of Dassel's court, and his poetic activity linked to it in both content and purpose. As such, it has been recently speculated that the , extravagant personality emanating from his work could be only serving as a despite its apparent autobiographical trend.
His existence has been elaborated upon the authorial superscription "Archipoeta" appearing with the poems now ascribed to him in a small number of manuscripts. While some recent—and so far inconclusive—attempts have been made to identify the Archpoet as either one of two Rodulfuses from the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa's entourage, his real identity has never been found and is most likely lost for good.
It has been suggested by W. H. T. Jackson and others that his nickname could be a play on his patron Rainald of Dassel's title of Archchancellor (Archicancellarius in Latin), even if its exact origins are ultimately left open to speculation. Moreover, it is not known how he came to earn the nickname or who bestowed it to him: whether as a mark of esteem from the audiences, other poets, Rainald himself; as a satirical jest on his patron's title; or as an ironical mock self-attribution. There has been report of at least two other "clericus vagus", itinerant clerics, bearing the "Archipoeta" pseudonym or title around that time: one Nicholas who briefly resided with the Cistercians at their abbey, and Henry of Avranches (around 1250); yet both are distinct from the "Archipoeta" of Barbarossa's reigning period (1155–1190).
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