Michel Touppe

fl. 1492-1511†

Map

Displaying 4 events/geographical origins

Biography

Papal chapel, 1504-1510
Touppe, a cleric of the diocese of Chartres may be the “Michael Toppe” who requested a benefice in the diocese of Chartres in 1492 (V-CVaav, RS 964, f. 127: supplication dated 14 November 1492). In 1504, he is identified as a member of the papal chapel in a supplication requesting a canonry and prebend in the cathedral of Chartres (V-CVaav, RS 1191, f. 103-103v: supplication dated 4 October 1504) and in a supplication requesting another benefice in the diocese of Chartres in 1505 (V-CVaav, RS 1216, f. 67v-68: supplication dated 16 October 1505). He appears in all the extant chapel lists from 1506-1509 (there are many gaps in these lists, but beneficial documents testify to his membership in the chapel during those years) and was still a member of the chapel in 1510. He had died outside of Rome by 16 November 1511 (the earliest date of a supplication requesting benefices vacant because of his death - V-CVaav, RS 1381, fols. 21-21v). Touppe was also a member of the household of Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici (the future Leo X) as were the papal singers Jean Pocquetoy* and Lambertus Martini de Rummersvallis*. In common with his colleagues, he used the Indult of Innocent VIII to claim benefices made vacant by the deaths of papal singers and former papal singers (see Sherr 1998 on the Indult): in 1505, he claimed a canonry and prebend in the church of St Pierre in Lille, vacant on the death of former singer Valentin de Bersée*, a member of the chapel from 1474-1479 (Haberl 1888; V-CVaav, RS 1197, f. 22v: supplication dated 18 February 1505); in 1507, he claimed benefices in Avignon, vacant on the recent death of Bertrand Vaqueras (before 21 April 1507; V-CVaav, RS 1256, f. 26v-27: supplication dated 4 June 1507); in 1510, he claimed the church of Ste Hélène in Froberville, vacant on the recent death of Jean Pocquetoy (before 10 September 1510; V-CVaav, RS 1356, f. 69: supplication dated 10 September 1510). At the time of his own death, Touppe was in litigation about a canonry and prebend in the church of St Omer in Saint-Omer, vacant on the death of the former singer Guillaume Caut, a member of the chapel from 1461-1476 (Starr 1987; V-CVaav, RS 1381, fols. 21-21v: supplication dated 16 November 1511). He seems also to have been interested in benefices in the cathedral of Metz, which he claimed by virtue of an expectative (many supplications, the first of which is dated 10 July 1508- V-CVaav, RS 1297, f. 114-114v), and even tried to get a benefice in Arezzo (V-CVaav, Annate 50, f. 137: entry dated 2 July 1506). There is, however, no confirmation that he actually took possession of any of the benefices he pursued.

Sherr Richard

Information

  • Roles

    Cleric
    Member of a court chapel (musician)
    Member of a princely/private household

  • Gender

    Male

Events

(YYYY-MM-DD)

4 in database

Geographical origins

Chartres (France)

Benefice

Cleric
1492
Chartres (France)


Comments: Supplication in Rome

Musical position

Member of a court chapel (musician)
1504/1510
Città del Vaticano (Vatican City State)


Patron: Julius II

Institution: Papal chapel, Città del Vaticano (Vatican City State)

Bibliography: Sherr PCR

Musical position

Member of a princely/private household
circa 1505
Città del Vaticano (Vatican City State)


Patron: Leo X

Institution: Household of Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici (future Leo X, Città del Vaticano (Vatican City State)

Death

before 1511-11
Unknown (Unknown)


Comments: Death outside of Rome is first mentionned in a Vatican document of 16 November 1511.

Variant names

No variant.

Associated people

No associated person.

Bibliography

[Haberl Bst]

Haberl, F. X., 1885, Bausteine für Musikgeschichte [I. Wilhelm Du Fay (Haberl 1885); II. Bibliographischer und thematischer Musikkatalog des päpstlichen Kapellarchives im Vatikan zu Rom (Haberl 1888); III. Die römische « Schola Cantorum » und die päpstlichen Kapellsänger bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts. (Haberl 1887)], Leipzig http://www.sudoc.fr/108372987.

[Sherr 1998]

Sherr, R., 1998, A Curious Incident in the History of the Papal Choir, dans R. Sherr (éd.), Papal music and musicians in late Medieval and Renaissance Rome, Oxford : New York, p. 224‑239 http://www.sudoc.fr/010749500.

[Sherr PCR]

Sherr, R., 2008, Contribution directe à la Prosopographie des chantres de la Renaissance / Direct contribution to the Prosopography of Renaissance Singers.

[Starr 1987]

Starr, P. F., 1987, Music and Music Patronage at the Papal Court, 1447-1464, Thèse de doctorat soutenue à New Haven, 1987.

Archival references

[V-CVaav]

S. d., Archivio Apostolico Vaticano, Città del Vaticano (V-CVaav) https://rism.online/institutions/30077317 (consulté le 5 avril 2025).

Contributors

David Fiala - Project manager

Richard Sherr - Biography author

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Sherr Richard, Michel Touppe, in RicercarDataLab [https://ricercardatalab.cesr.univ-tours.fr/people/3555/] (accessed 15 July 2026).

Last modification: June 17, 2026