The feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary was one of the last medieval Marian feasts to be introduced into the Roman Calendar, and is unusual in the wealth of contemporary, and near contemporary, documentation available for study in relation to its introduction.
The offices written by Jan of Jenštejn [1347-1400] and Adam Easton [1330-1397] for the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary have never been the subject of detailed examination or comparison, nor have critical editions of these offices been produced. This thesis addresses both these gaps in scholarship and presents an analysis and comparison of the texts, melodies, and dissemination of the offices. Using contemporary evidence and secondary sources the reasons for the institution of the new feast, the motivations of both Jenštejn and Easton, their compositional styles including choice of texts and melodies, and the introduction process itself are examined within the wider context of contemporary Marian devotion and fourteenthcentury textual and musical composition.
Chapter One provides a contextual background to the celebration of the Visitation, from its inclusion in the Gospel of Luke and apocryphal sources to contemporary sermons, showing the importance of the Visitation in the West long before the new feast’s introduction. Chapter Two examines the lives of Jan of Jenštejn and Adam Easton focussing particularly on their motivations for composing for the feast of the Visitation. Contemporary accounts including Jenštejn’s Vita, letters written by Jenštejn to the pope, and reports by Nicholas of Rakovník are used within Chapter Three to detail the introduction process of the feast, from Jenštejn’s initial conception of the feast as an intercession for the healing of the Schism, to the papal decision to promulgate Easton’s Accedunt laudes virginis as the official office. The authorship of the two offices is discussed in Chapters Six and Seven, confirming the ascriptions to Easton and Jenštejn. The co-authorship of Jenštejn’s office, Exurgens autem Maria, is raised, with Jenštejn’s assistant at the Papal Curia, Nicholas of Rakovník, proposed as the most likely contributor, and a possible division of authorship suggested.
Detailed information on the sources used within the thesis is provided in Chapter Four, and the editorial principles used for the edition are given in Chapter Five. The textual and musical editions are placed at the close of the thesis. Analysis of Jenštejn’s office, Exurgens autem Maria, in Chapter Six demonstrates that the texts were composed to foreground the biblical authority of the new feast, focussing particularly on Mary’s role as Mediatrix for humanity. Jenštejn’s melodies adhere to contemporary composition norms, particularly through the use of pre-existing melodies for hymns and responsory verses and the use of standard melodic phrases. Easton’s office, Accedunt laudes virginis, is analysed in Chapter Seven, with particular regard to his modification of the melodies of Julian of Speyer’s office for St Francis of Assisi, leading to the suggestion that Easton’s office should be classified as a ‘modified contrafact’. Examination of the text reveals that his office was written to demonstrate the importance and relevance of the Visitation within contemporary lives.
The dissemination of both offices and later modifications are examined in their respective chapters which demonstrates that although Easton’s office was officially promulgated, Jenštejn’s continued to be in active use across Europe until at least the mid-sixteenth century. The Conclusion presents a final comparison between Jenštejn’s and Easton’s offices and suggests avenues for further research that have been revealed by this thesis.