Mathieu de Gavre

fl. 1460-1479†

Carte

Affichage de 6 événements/origines géographiques

Biographie

Cathedral of Cambrai, 1460-1464
He was a tenorist and minor vicar at the cathedral of Cambrai from 2.6.1460 to 17.6.1464 (Planchart PCR / 2018, p. 757 after F-AD 59, 4G 7458, f. 6; 4G 7463, f. 5v). Although the accounts of the wine and the minor vicars refer to him only by his first name, an act of 2.12.1463 reports scandalous behavior by "Mathieu de Gavre, minor vicar", at a time where there is only one Mathieu in the list vicars. He had previously been absent during 20 days in August 1463 in a breach of discipline (ibid. after F-CA, MS 1060, f. 184v and 176v).
He then served the ducal chapel of Anjou, where he was hired before June 1470, possibly right after his departure from Cambrai, since no account of the Anjou court chapel in the 1460s has been preserved.

Court chapel of René d'Anjou, before 1470-1479†
The will drawn up by this singer of René d'Anjou in 1479 and the documentation following his death were signaled by Esquieu 1981, p. 300: F-AD 13, 307 E 80, f. 1 (will), 307 E 36, f. 292 (codicil), 309 E 399, f. 181v and 309 E 349, f. 854 (matters concerning his succession). P. Merkley has since uncovered series of records in Aix-en-Provence archives which document the prosperous last decade of Gavre's life in that city (Merkley 2017, p. 73-78).
His first mention as a singer of the ducal chapel of Anjou is dated 22.6.1470, when the chapter of the collegiate church of Saint-Sauveur in Aix-en-Provence registered a letter by the king René d'Anjou granting Gavre the chaplaincy founded by Raymundus Valentinus, which had become vacant by the death of its previous holder (ibid., after F-AD 13, G 478 [register of deliberations of the chapter], f. 48, and also 309 E 241, f. 163, and 33 F 2 [Fichier Requin, Aix]). By a notarial act dated 27.3.1475, which designs him as "clericus, cantor, et tenorista cappelle", he appointed procurators to resign a canonicate in the church of Saint-Pierre of Bar-le-Duc in exchange for a chaplaincy of the same church, while he also acted as procurator for his fellow singer of the chapel Gilles de La Preye who was taking possession of another benefice in Bar-le-Duc (ibid., after F-AD 13, 309 E 389 [no folio indicated]). On 3.9.1476, Louis Guiot, another member of René's chapel, was granted the chaplaincy of Bar-le-Duc resigned by Gavre (ibid., after F-AD 13, B 273, f. 88). By another notarial act dated 17.7.1475, which designates him as "magister Matheus de Gavres, cantor et tenorista cappelle," he appointed procurators for exchanging the chapel of Saint Veronica in the cathedral of Angers for two chaplaincies in the diocese of Aix (ibid., after F-AD 13, 309 E 389, f. 70). Other procurations drawn up by Gavre for beneficial matters concern, on 29.2.1476, an exchange of benefices in Saint-Sauveur in Aix and in a church of "Sancti Iacobi de Correraria" [to be identified] in the diocese of Marseille (ibid., after F-AD 13, 309 E 228, f. 55 and 56, and also 309 E 301 [no folio indicated]), and, on 6.7.1478, his resignation of a canonry in the collegiate church of Saint George in the city
of "Vaeno, diocese of Toul" [to be identified], for the sake of permutation with one "Nicholaus Millans" (ibid., after F-AD 13, 307 E 454 [no folio indicated]).
Despite these transactions concerned with ecclesiestical benefices, Gavre never really embraced a clerical career but rather ended up marrying and fathering a daughter, probably in his later years. On 31.8.1475, he acquired from Johannes Albaleti, doctor in utroque jure and provost of the cathedral of Arles, a house very well located in the center city of Aix, joining the church of Saint-Sauveur and the gardens of king René (ibid., after F-AD 13, 309 E 1518, f. 7v, and 309 E 312, f. 397; also recorded in the records of Saint-Sauveur, F-AD 13, 2 G 502, f. 52v and in 309 E 246, f. 598). On 6.5.1478, he bought for 45 florins a vineyard in a place called "Gamant" in the city of Aix, sold to him by "honest woman Aymelina Havresse, citizen and resident of Aix" (ibid., after F-AD 13, 309 E 339, f. 69, ''Emptio vinee pro nobili viro Matheo de Gavres, cive et habitator Aquensis, cantore cappelle domini nostri regis"), very likely a relative of Gavre's fellow singer of the Anjou chapel, Tassin de Havresse, who was himself witness of Gavre's notarial act of procuration for beneficial matters drawn up two months later, on 6.7.1478, quoted above. Finally, on 27.3.1479, he sold property in the nearby village of Pertuis to the king's goldsmith Jachet Scalle  (ibid., after F-AD 13, 309 E 291, f. 368, "Insolutumandatio pro nobili viro Mattheo de Gavres, cantore serenissimi principis et domini nostri domini Renati, Dei grati Jherusalem et Sicilie regis").
On 10.11.1478, Gavre, designated as "chantre et teneur en la chapelle du Roy," received what appears to be the only documented gift from king René, in the form of a right to collect salt from the Berre salt storehouse up to a value of 30 florins (Fiala PCR after F-AD13, B 273, f. 192, full text in appendix below; this entry has been misunderstood by P. Merkley, id., p. 76, who moreover locates it in the register F-AD13, B 274, f. 54, where no mention of Gavre is to be found).

Famillial and social situation according to Gavre's will, 1479 
Gavre drew up his will (references above) on 13.8.1479, which confirms that he was a nobleman from Lille (ibid., "Testamentum nobili Mahueti de Gavres de Lylla les Flandres, diocesis de Tornay, cantoris cappelle domini nostri regis"; at least two other notarial acts quoted above after Merkley, ibid., also designate Gavre as a nobleman). The document mentions his mother, Marie de Gavre, his brother, Roland, both still living in Lille and a deceased daughter, Jeanne. This child was burried in the collegiate church of Saint-Sauveur in Aix. The largest share of Gavre's inheritance is passed on to his wife, a noblewoman named Raynerie de Charaye, and their legitimate daughter, Anne. The executors of the will were the court singer Gilles de La Preye and two members of the Tibaud family, neighbours to the house bought by Gavre in 1475.

-- APPENDIX. Documents --

F-AD13, f. 192 (Fiala PCR)
Mandement adressant a Guillaume de Remerenolle, tresorier de Provence, que par sa quictance et descharge, il laisse tirer a Maheet de Gavres, chantre et teneur en la chappelle du roy, tel nombre et quantité de sel du grenier de Berre que la traicte d’icelui puisse monter a la somme de trente florin monnoie de Provence, laquelle somme ledit seigneur luy a donné pour une foiz. Donné a Tharascon le 10e jour de novembre l’an 1478, l’evesque de Masseille present. J. Le Gay



Fiala David

Informations

  • Rôles

    Member of a church (musician)
    Member of a court chapel (lower ranked officer)
    Member of a court chapel (musician)
    Noble birth
    Tenor

  • Genre

    Male

Événements

(YYYY-MM-DD)

5 en base de données

Origines géographiques

Lille (France)

Musical position

Member of a church (musician)
1460-06-02/1464-06-17
Cambrai (France)


Institution : Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Cambrai, Cambrai (France)

Bibliographie : Planchart PCR

Musical position

Member of a court chapel (musician)
1470/1479
Aix-en-Provence (France)


Mécène : René of Anjou

Institution : Chapelle ducale d'Anjou, Anjou (France)

Bibliographie : Merkley 2017

Benefice

Member of a court chapel (lower ranked officer)
1470/1479
Aix-en-Provence (France)


Mécène : René of Anjou

Institution : Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence, Aix-en-Provence (France)

Marriage

before 1476
Aix-en-Provence (France)


Commentaires : His marriage to Renée de Charaye is only mentionned in his will and cannot be dated. But since the will also mentions two children, apparently both legitimate, one can assume that he got married at the latest three years before the will was drawn up.

Death

1479-08
Aix-en-Provence (France)

Variantes

Gavere ; Mahuet

Personnes associées

Aucune personne associée.

Bibliographie

[Esquieu 1981]

Esquieu, Y., 1981, La musique à la cour provençale du roi René, Provence historique, 126, p. 299‑301.
(300)

[Merkley 2017]

Merkley, P. A., 2017, Music and Patronage in the Court of René d’Anjou: Sacred and Secular Music in the Literary Program and Ceremonial, Tempe, Arizona.
(73-78, 296-97, 300)

[Planchart 2018]

Planchart, A. E., 2018, Guillaume Du Fay: The Life and Works, Cambridge https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/guillaume-du-fay/C1FA92429F59A808EE02AE69BC1D76AE (consulté le 16 mars 2024).

[Planchart PCR]

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

Dépôts d'archives

[F-AD 13]

S. d., Archives départementales des Bouches-du-Rhône, FranceArchives https://francearchives.gouv.fr/fr/service/33456 (consulté le 9 février 2025).

[F-AD 59]

S. d., Archives départementales du Nord, FranceArchives https://francearchives.gouv.fr/fr/service/33921 (consulté le 9 février 2025).

[F-CA]

S. d., Le Labo, Cambrai (olim Médiathèque d’agglomération de Cambrai, Bibliothèque Municipale/ Communale) https://rism.online/institutions/30001436 (consulté le 26 juin 2025).

Contributeurs

David Fiala - Project manager ; Biography author

Alejandro Planchart - Collaborative work


Collecteurs de données

collab_surname Guillaume Avocat

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https://ricercardatalab.cesr.univ-tours.fr/people/1132/

Citation
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Fiala David, Mathieu de Gavre, dans RicercarDataLab [https://ricercardatalab.cesr.univ-tours.fr/people/1132/] (accessed 08 juin 2026).

Dernière modification : 5 juin 2026