CONTRAFACTA AND TRANSCRIBED MOTETS: VERNACULAR INFLUENCES ON LATIN MOTETS AND CLAUSULAE IN THE FLORENCE MANUSCRIPT

Abstract

Dated to the 1240s, the Florence manuscript (F: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 29.1) is the earliest surviving source to contain a collection of motets. The exclusively Latin-texted motets in F are widely regarded as the oldest layer(s) of pieces in this new genre. This study closely analyses three motets in F, demonstrating that they are Latin contrafacta reworkings of vernacular motets extant only in chronologically later sources. It traces the influences of secular, vernacular refrains in two supposedly liturgical clausulae in F, proposing that these clausulae are textless transcriptions of French motets, and engages with wider questions concerning scribal practices, the relationship between sine littera and cum littera notations and issues of consonance and dissonance. Reasons as to why clausulae might have been transcribed in F and the possible extent of vernacular influences in this manuscript are explored. These findings challenge established chronological narratives of motet development. The three case studies offer methodological models, demonstrating ways in which relationships between clausulae and Latin and French motets can be tested and their relative chronologies established.