Talk:Blondel de Nesle

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John Milsom's article "Blondel de Nesle"  in The Oxford Companion to Music. is not as definite as the current identification in wikipedia. He says "Beyond the likelihood that he came from Picardy, his identity is disputed. According to one theory he was a commoner, or the younger son of a minor nobleman; another theory identifies him as the magnate Jehan II de Nesle". I suggest that the first two parags in this article be amended to say "Blondel de Nesle was the 'professional name', or nickname, of a French trouvère, presumably derived from the colour of his hair. There is certainly a trouvère: some twenty-four or twenty-five works by him survive. The real name of the author behind the nickname cannot be identified with precision. John Milsom's article 'Blondel de Nesle' in The Oxford Companion to Music. says '1180–1200).  'Beyond the likelihood that he came from Picardy, his identity is disputed. According to one theory he was a commoner, or the younger son of a minor nobleman; another theory identifies him as the magnate Jehan II de Nesle.' This identification was first made by Holger Dyggve in 1942: Jean II of Nesle (near, in Picardy), who was nicknamed 'Blondel' for his long blond hair. He married at the time of his father's death in 1202, and that same year, went on the Fourth Crusade; he later fought in the Albigensian Crusade. in 1994, Yvan Lepage suggested that the poet may have been Jean I, father of Jean II, who was Lord of Nesle from 1180 to 1202; this Jean took part in the Third Crusade, which may explain the subsequent legend linking him with Richard I of England."

"If the works are correctly identified and dated, he was a significant influence on his European contemporaries, who made much use of his melodies. (The melody of 'L'amours dont sui espris' is used in Carmina Burana, for the song 'Procurans Odium'). His works are fairly conventional, and several have been recorded in modern times."

And can someone supply references for 'Holger Dyggve' and 'Yvan Lepage'? The Oxford Companion, of 2002, has more weight than an uncheckable work of 1942, or even 1994.