L'homme armé

"L'homme armé" is a French secular song from the time of the Renaissance. Set in Dorian mode, it was the most popular tune used for musical settings of the Ordinary of the Mass: over 40 separate compositions entitled Missa L'homme armé survive from the period.

$\relative c'' { \key f \major \time 3/4 g2 g4 c2 c4 bes4 a2 g2. d'4 d g, r d' d d c2 bes4 a2 g2. d'4 d d g,2. g'2 g4 f2 f4 g2 g4 d2. g2 g4 f2 f4 g2 g4 d2 g4 a2 g4 f e2 d2. r g,2 g4 c2 c4 bes4 a2 g2. d'4 d g, r d' d d c2 bes4 a2 g2. \bar "|."} \addlyrics { L'hom -- me, l'hom -- me, l'hom -- me_ar -- mé, l'hom -- me_ar -- mé, L'hom -- me_ar -- mé doibt on doub -- ter, doibt on doub -- ter, On a fait par -- tout cri -- er, Que chas -- cun se viegne ar -- mer d'un hau -- bre -- gon de fer L'hom -- me, l'hom -- me, l'hom -- me_ar -- mé, l'hom -- me_ar -- mé, L'hom -- me_ar -- mé doibt on doub -- ter. }$

The armed man should be feared.
Everywhere it has been proclaimed
That each man shall arm himself
With a coat of iron mail.
The armed man should be feared.

The origins of the popularity of the song and the importance of the armed man are the subject of various theories. Some have suggested that the 'armed man' represents St Michael the Archangel. The composer Johannes Regis (c. 1425 – c. 1496) seems to have intended that allusion in his Dum sacrum mysterium/Missa l'homme armé based upon the melody, which incorporates various additional trope texts and cantus firmus plainchants in honour of St Michael the Archangel. Others have suggested it merely represents the name of a popular tavern (Maison L'Homme Arme) near Dufay's rooms in Cambrai. It may also represent the arming for a new crusade against the Turks. There is ample evidence to indicate that it held special significance for the Order of the Golden Fleece. It is useful to note that the first appearance of the song was exactly contemporaneous with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks (1453), an event which had a huge psychological effect in Europe; composers such as Guillaume Dufay composed laments for the occasion. Yet another possibility is that all three theories are true, given the feeling of urgency, pervasive in central and northern Europe at the time, in organizing a military opposition to the recently victorious Ottomans.

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