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The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

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528 Reviews
the rest of France, Italy, and even Britain, so he is able to provide us with a
continuousnarrativewhichrepresentscomparativehistoryat itsbest.
What emerges from his analysisof Montpellier'ssocial and politicalstructureand
its relationshipto royal power is both new and revealing.Firstof all, Rogoziniskifinds
that within the town the levying of royal taxes let loose a struggle between two
factions- one representingthe old consular governinggroup and the other a new
group of familieswho sought broad popular support and called themselvespopulares.
In practice,however, Rogozinski shows that the leaders of the "popular" partyand
the leaders of the older consular group were not separated by any social or economic
gulf. Both were rich and respected,and neitherreallyrepresenteda true proletarian
element. They were factions,not Marxist parties,much more like those which Syme
has shown were active in the last years of the Roman Republic. What the popular
partywanted was fewertaxes and a fairersystemof assessment- not revolutionary
social change.
Secondly, Rogoziiiski reveals that royal officialsneither sought nor desired real
controlof Montpellierand its institutions.What theysought and gained was a system
of social peace and some revenues, but not domination. And they reallywere more
interested in mediating in this social struggle than using it, as is often stated, to
achieve centralizedcontrol.
Thirdly,Rogoziiiskiexplains whythisis so. The long habit of arbitratingdisputes,
which goes back into the tenth century,meant that legally speaking there was a
traditionof compromiseratherthan victoryin legal quarrels. And the overwhelming
percentage of royal officialswere drawn from local notables, not distant northern
French elements, and so had no real interestin effectiveroyal control of the town
and the region. Finally,the Roman law that gradually came to infiltratethe legal
systemof the region actually hindered royal governmentalinterferencein disputes
ratherthan the other way round as is oftenassumed.
In short,peaceful accommodation of local intereststo the royal governmentand a
similarmutingof antagonismsbetween factionsin the town were what emerged out
of these crises over taxation.And this patternon the whole was to continue as slowly
but surely the society of the Midi developed as part of the Old Regime of early
modern France.

ARCHIBALD R. LEWIS
Universityof Massachusetts,Amherst

STANLEY SADIE, ed., 7The

New GroveDictionary
ofMusic and Musicians.20 vols. London:
Macmillan, 1980. $1,900.
The New GroveDictionary ofMusic and Musiciansis a splendid achievementwhich does
admirablejustice to the music of the Middle Ages, sacred and secular, monophonic
and polyphonic. General editor Stanley Sadie, his advisors, and editorial staffhave
compiled an exemplary reference tool incorporatingthe effortsof an international
roster of distinguished scholars. Its two-column format is easy to read, and long
articles have been divided by heading and subheading, thus facilitatingimmediate
orientation to their contents. Illustrations,facsimiles,and generous numbers of
musical examples complete the substance of what is expected in a musical ency-
clopedia of thisscope.

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 Reviews 529
Although identifiedas the continuationof a dictionarybegun by Sir George Grove
in 1879, The New Grovebears virtuallyno resemblance to previous editions,nor does
it reprintmore than a few articlesfromthe last (fifth)edition. Rapid progressin the
study of medieval music over the past three decades would have made earlier
summaries of knowledge in this field obsolete anyway.The New Groveappears at a
fortunatetime when it is possible to make statementsabout present findingsand
futuredirectionswitha maximumlikelihoodof consensus.
Grove'sonly rival among modern reference works is Die Musik in Geschichte und
Gegenwart (MGG), edited by FriedrichBlume; it appeared in fourteenquarto volumes
plus two supplementaryvolumes between 1949 and 1979. MGG stressedlong, com-
prehensive articles rather than the short to moderate length preferredby The New
Grovewhich,though it surpasses MGG in many respects,does not entirelysupersede
it. A number of the Grove essays complement the magisterialarticles on medieval
chant by Bruno Stablein that made MGG so valuable to medievalists.In the volume
which closed the main alphabetical series in 1969 Blume remarked ratherdrylythat
"etwas muss auch unseren Enkeln und Nachtahren zu tun ubrigbleiben." In the
domain of medieval liturgicalchant, secular music, and polyphony much indeed
remained undone. The New Grove is an impressive testimonialto the progress of
knowledge about medieval music and its performingtraditions.The presentationof
research about music from so distant a time involves special problems which Grove
itselfdiscusses in the article "Editing." With the exception of a few articlesheavy in
technical content ("Mode," "Notation," "Proportions") material in The New Groveis
accessible to the nonspecialist. Occasionally, as in "Troubadours, trouv'eres,"the
author (Theodore Karp) seems to anticipate that the prospectivereader may not be
familiarwiththe theoreticalbackgroundof the subject.
It may seem rash indeed for a reviewerto attemptan evaluation of such a massive
range of knowledge.' Still,I believe thatall medieval scholarswould be well served by
an introductionto the contents of The New Grove. Since there are no indices to
individualvolumes,thereis no way to determinethe extentof medieval coverage at a
glance. Furthermore,problems with cross-referencesconceal the excellent scope of
that coverage. Two foraysthrough the more than seventeen thousand pages of the
dictionaryuncovered more than seven hundred articlesor portionsof articleswhich
concern music in the Middle Ages. This number does not include briefdefinitionsor
separate cross-references.
One of Grove'smore ambitious attemptsis the compilation of exhaustive bibliog-
raphies of published research on the historyof music to 1600. Major portions of
these bibliographies follow the articles on principal European countries: England,
France, Germany and Austria, Italy, Low Countries, and Spain and Portugal. An
indispensable supplement to these is Norman Smith's impressive bibliographyof
western polyphonyto the end of the fifteenthcentury(13:808-19). Even the sea-
soned scholar will probably finda few items which have escaped his notice either in
these compilations or in the daunting twelve-page bibliographyappended to the
article on plainchant. All of the longer bibliographies are analyzed by topic with

68 (1982). Morethana dozen

1 A reviewof theentireworkappearedinTheMusicalQuarterly
expertreviewers butthethoroughness
participated, of thecommentariesvariedwidely.Lance
Brunner'sassessmentof the medievalarticles,whichappeared afterthe presentreviewhad
beensubstantially is unusually
completed, informative.

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530 Reviews
publications listed in order of appearance; most seem to be complete through the
mid-1970s.
The "Plainchant" article (14:800-832), the work of John Emerson with an intro-
ductorysectionby Kenneth Levy, fullymatches the comprehensivenessof its bibliog-
raphy. It embraces repertory,transmissionand style,early history,later medieval
chant, and special monastic traditions.Had the treatmentended at this point, we
would have been gratefulindeed, but Emerson continues with a brilliantsurveyof
chant in northern and eastern Europe and Latin America and of the nineteenth-
centuryreformmovements,concluding with a few parting shots at current Roman
Catholic musical novelties.The distinguishedcomplement to this article,"Christian
Church, Music of the Early" (4:363-71) by Christian Hannick, threads its way
through a number of complex and controversialtopics in the sacred music of late
antiquitywithoutattemptinga full-scalesynthesis,manifestlyimpossible in the con-
text. Hannick's frequent patristiccitations are unfortunatelynot accompanied by
referencesto guide the less experienced reader to reliable editions.
Other articleswhich aim at a comprehensiveoverviewof broad topics are "Mass"
(Steiner/Pfaff/Crocker/McManus), "Sources," manuscript, 1-8 (eight authors, 78
pages with brief description of manuscript contents), "Psalm" (Werner/Connolly),
"Mode" (Powers), "Notation" 3.1-3 (Hiley/Bent), "Neumatic Notation" (Corbin/
Velimirovic),"Old Roman and Gregorian Chant" (Hucke), "ByzantineRite, Music of
The" (Levy), and "Medieval Drama" (Stevens). Although they treat more restricted
topics, "Trope" (Steiner) and "Sequence" (Crocker) deserve to be mentioned here,
because theycover genres upon which European musical creativitywas focused for
many generations. They should be read in conjunction with "Prosa," "Prosula,"
"Versus," "Alleluia," "Jubilus,""Responsory,"and the articlesabout the various Mass
chants which received musico-textualadditions. The inconsistenciesamong the views
expressed in this group of articlesare slightand not troublesome; for example, the
author who continued the historyof the sequence into its polyphonicmanifestations
seems not have read (or agreed with) Crocker's suggestions that "sequentia" is a
preferable term for "textlesssequences" and that the famous Rex caeli found in the
Musica Enchiriadisis not a sequence but a versus. One also wonders whetherthe two
articles"Veni Creator Spiritus"and "Veni Sancte Spiritus"were ever read in conjunc-
tion witheach other.
The eminent Michel Huglo has contributeda first-ratesurveyof medieval chant
books ("Tonary," "Antiphoner," "Gradual," "Processional," "Breviary," "Missal"),
liturgical genres ("Epistle," "Gospel," "Farse," "Litany," "Exultet," "Antiphon,"
"Communion" - the latter with Helmut Hucke), and monastic topics ("St. Denis,"
"St. Emmeran," "Odo"). His articleon "Gallican Rite, Music of The" (7:113-25) is an
expanded version of the essay published in the firstvolume of the Geschichte der
katholischenKirchenmusik, edited by Karl Gustav Fellerer (Kassel, 1972). It now in-
cludes a reconstructionof the Gallican hymnal and a list of Gallican preceswith
manuscript sources. The other western rites are also represented. "Ambrosian
[Milanese] Rite" by Giacomo Baroffiostrikesan unusual balance: its eleven columns
are taken up by four columns of bibliographyand another four columns of musical
examples. As invaluable as these are, a discussion of the historyand structureof the
rite and more than mere obiter dicta about musical style would have been even
more helpful. A translationof Baroffio'scontributionto Fellerer's Geschichte could
have provided the starting point. The remaining Italian rites ("Benevento,"
"Ravenna," "Aquileia") receive appropriate treatment,and Don Randel offers an
excellent summary of all relevant aspects of "Mozarabic Rite, Music of The." Old

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 Reviews 531
Roman chant is not neglected: most of the articleson Proper chants of the Mass and
Officeconsider thisrepertoire.
Over the past two decades the understandingand interpretationof the polyphonic
music of the Middle Ages have made notable strides,due directlyto scholars who
have contributedto The New Grove.FritzReckow's stunningcommand of the theory
and terminologyof early polyphony gives his portion of the "Organum" article a
special authority,though his interpretationof "Copula" is not shared by other Grove
contributors(cf. "Magnus liber" and "RhythmicModes"). In a forthcomingarticlein
The Musical Quarterly JeremyYudkin will argue that medieval theoristsconsistently
interpretedcopula as a compositionaltechnique which implied regular phrase struc-
ture and melodic sequence over a sustained tenor, thus opposing Reckow's concept
that the termembraced all manner of irregularrhythmicprocedures. The latterhalf
of the articleon organum was supplied by Rudolph Flotzinger,who elsewhere traces
the historyand unique development of descant as a special categoryof polyphony
(5:487-92). Complementing both of these is the fine pair of articles by Ian Bent,
"Leonin" and "Perotin,"which go beyond the virtuallynonexistentbiographicaldata
on these central figuresof Notre-Dame polyphony to comment on the repertoire
traditionallyassociated with them and on its development and transmission.By far
the major contributorto the subject of medieval polyphony in The New Grove is
Ernest Sanders, who tacklesa wide varietyof topics withbrilliantsuccess. Even when
treatinghighlytechnical material,he writesclearly and energetically.His lengthiest
essays, "Motet, Medieval" and "Discant, English," display the same fine qualities as
the shorter ones: "Fauvel," "Hocket," "Sumer is icumen in," "Cantilena," and
"WorcesterPolyphony."
On the basis of its full titleone would expect Groveto dedicate ample space to-the
men and women who created and performedthe music discussed withinits pages. It
does so even for the Middle Ages when personal achievementwas so oftencloaked in
the mist of anonymity.In this respect The New Grove represents immeasurable
progress over the original Grove,which automaticallyexcluded all composers active
before 1450! The New Grove casts its biographical nets widely indeed: composers,
performers,theorists,philosophers, poets, rulers, and patrons who exercised an
influence on the art of music either in their own time or subsequently receive
individual entries. Not unexpectedly, the troubadours and trouveres account for
many of the medieval biographies. Each entryincorporatesa list of works classified
according to degree of authenticity.Only a few of these poet-composersare cited in
the main "Troubadours, trouveres"article,however. The role of secular song in the
Middle Ages is completed by "Minnesang" (Kippenberg), "Meistergesang"(H. Brun-
ner), "Minstrel" (L. Gushee), and "Goliards" (Anderson). Were Anderson's "Early
Latin Secular Song" filedunder L instead of E, or simplyincorporatedinto his article
on the Goliards, more readers would be likelyto come across its useful summaryof
the field.
Of some recipientsof biographical entries in The New Groveit mightbe said that
"they'd none of 'em be missed," but the editor has wisely refrained from making
odious distinctionsof thissort.Some composers mentionedare knownon the basis of
a single work: Alamani, Alanus, Charite, Chierisy,Jehan Lebeuf d'Abbeville en
Pontieu. Surely one of the most obscure is Richard Blich (Blythe), who flourished
around 1358. No identifiablecompositionssurvive,but he is mentionedin the textof
a motetas one whose works"please both the pious and the kingly"(2:791). Theorists,
both western and Arab, whether original thinkersor compilers, are also well rep-
resented: Jehan des Murs, Johannes Scotus Erigena, Hermannus Contractus (all by

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532 Reviews
L. Gushee), Jacques of Liege, Jerome of Moravia (Hammond), Franco of Cologne
(Hughes), Johannes de Garlandia (Baltzer), Johannes de Grocheo (Anderson).
Naturallytheirtreatisesand influencedominate the coverage. "AnonymousTheoret-
ical Writings"contains brief commentaries,coordinated with the comparable article
in MGG.
Byzantine chant receives in The New Grovea treatmentmore ambitious than that
attemptedin any previous music referencework. Most of the articleson this arcane
subject are commendable in their clarityof presentationand selection of detail. In
"Byzantine Rite, Music of The" Kenneth Levy surveysthe importantliturgicalbooks
and the musical and poetic formsfound in them. There are specificarticleson these
forms ("Troparion," "Kontakion," "Kan6n"), the liturgical books ("Sticherarion,"
"Heirmologion," "Akolouthiai" - the latter omittingthe most common use of the
term: order of service), and the office of "Hesperinos," but not Orthros, which
receivesonly briefmention.More cross-referencesfromthe major article,"Byzantine
Rite," to subsidiary entries would have been desirable. The other eastern rites
("Armenian Rite," "Coptic Rite," "Ethiopian Rite," "Syrian Church Music") are dis-
cussed by expertsin these specialized areas.
Incidental allusions to the music of the Byzantine rite in articles about western
For instance,the pervasivenessof litaniesin the worshipof
chant are less satisfactory.
the eastern churches would not be suspected fromthe article"Litany,"which failsto
distinguishamong the various typesof Greek litanies: the Synapte ("In peace let us
pray - Again and again"), Ektene ("Have mercyon us, 0 God - Let us complete")
or Aitesis ("That this whole day"). The same article seems to imply that the Roman
orationessolemnes(not a litany,anyway)are found in the east. These orationesdo not
have the characteristiccongregationalresponse - "kyrieeleison" or similar- and
they are proper to Rome. (Richard Crocker's interpretationin another context
[10:332] of kyrieas an invocation and eleisonas the congregationalreplystrikesme as
ratheridiosyncratic.)
A well-rounded picture of medieval notation emerges from the articles"Neumat-
ic Notations" (European, by Solange Corbin; Byzantine and Slavonic, by Milos
Velimirovic)and "Notation" 3.1 (westernplainchant,by David Hiley). The formeris
analytical,the latterhistoricalin approach. Hiley recapitulatesvarious theoriesabout
the originof neumes, but he misappliesa passage fromAmalarius of Metz to support
a theory of chironomic origin. Amalarius derived a mysticalsignificancefrom the
responsoryverse "Misit Dominus manum suam et tetigitos meum" (Jeremiah 1.9).
He asked the cantor: "Why do you sing a neuma [melodic flourish]in this verse?"
"Because," he replied,"the sending forthof the hand and the touchingof the mouth
ought to be perceptible to the intellect."There is no reference here to the kind of
hand motions associated with chironomy. This topic receives its own treatment
(4:194-96), filledwithbreezygeneralizationsabout a presumed westerntradition,but
neglectinga fu1lexamination of Byzantine treatisesand literaryevidence. It is not
even clear that the author understands the contentsof the article by Michel Huglo
cited in her bibliography."Ekphonetic Notation" is treated separately by Gudrun
Engberg (6:99-103), and the historyof westernnotationis carried into the polyphonic
period by David Hiley and MargaretBent ("Notation" 3.2-3; 13:354-73).
Reconcilingdifferencesof opinion among scholars of diverse temperamentsmust
have been one of the unsung tasks of the editors. Stanley Sadie gives an amusing
example of singularobstinacyin his general introductionto TheNew Grove.The area
editorsprobablycaught many inconsistenciesbefore publication,but a fewmattersof
factwhich should have been clarifiedslipped throughtheir nets. Huglo and Gushee

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 Reviews 533
take great pains to establish the authorship of medieval theoreticaltreatises("Odo,"
"Guy de Cherlieu," "Aurelian," "Berno," etc.). Aurelian is happily ensconced at
Re6me (not Reome); all the Odos, Guys, and Guidos have been scrupulouslydistin-
guished fromeach other. Despite this effort,Odo (which one?) is stillcredited with
authorshipof a treatisedescended fromthe anonymousDialogus de musicain "Musica
ficta"(12:803). The treatiseDe variapsalmorum atquecantuummodulatione is taken away
fromBerno of Reichenau by Gushee, followingHans Oesch, but restored to him in
"Education in Music" (6:5) where its contentsand purpose are misunderstood.The
same article supports Hermannus Contractus's claim to Salve regina and Alma re-
demptorzs mater,a claim denied to him in his biographicalentry(8:509). A curious lapse
has Ordo Romanus 19 attributedto one Johannes Archicantor,while a reference
directsthe reader to a discussion by Michel Huglo which demolishes the attribution
(see "Plainchant," 14:8 11). Flexa seems to have been a small but bothersomeword. It
is correctlydefined in "Plainchant"2.3.2, but faresless well earlier in the same article
(1.5) and in the article"Inflection"(9:225). "Psalm" 2 (15:324) definesit properlyas a
slightinflectionin the firsthalfof a psalm verse.
In selecting topics for articles and brief definitionsthe editors have anticipated
most reasonable demands. They have not been so generous in supplying cross-
references within the main text of these articles, however. In my opinion this
shortcomingpresents a serious obstacle to maximum utilizationof the dictionary,
even if the careful reader constantlyexercises his ingenuity.For example, Richard
Crocker devotes two-thirdsof a column to an analysisof "Gloria A" (7:450), referring
to transcriptionsby Ronnau and Evans, yet one would never suspect thata complete
transcriptionof thispiece withthe tropesSacerdosDei and Laus tua Deus is included in
the article "Trope" (19:178-79). The concepts refined by Crocker in his "Jubilus"
article (9:744) would be interestingto the reader of'his "Sequence" article,but there
is no referenceto it in the latter.The complex rhythmicproblems reviewed byJanet
Knapp in "Conductus" would have been illuminated had the responsible editor re-
ferredthe reader to six rhythmicinterpretationsof the conductus Hac in annijanua
in David Hiley's portionof the articleon notation(13:360). Huglo's reconstructionof
the Gallican hymnal (7:121-22) goes unnoticed in the article "Hymn," as do the
individual articles on liturgical books in the fine survey "Liturgy and Liturgical
Books." In reading "Offertory"it would have been helpfulto know thatthe presence
of verses in these chants is a feature of the manuscriptdescriptionsin "Sources" 3.
One would not know from"Theory, Theorists" that any of the lattersave Johannes
Afflighemensishad a separate entry. "Graduale" (1) should certainlyrefer to "Re-
sponsory,"and "Kyrie" is surely relevant to "Litany." Likewise, "Bernard of Clair-
vaux" should lead the reader to "Guy d'Eu," whose writingswere influentialin the
reformof Cistercianchant.
Absence of cross-referencesis particularlydisturbingin those brief- and there-
fore implicitlyauthoritative- definitionswhich are confusing or erroneous. The
nonspecialistis offeredno suggestionswhich mightlead to clarificationor correction.
The article "Cantor" lacks proper coverage of the generic meaning of the term and
its potent significancein medieval muisictheory (lightlyskimmed in "Aesthetics,"
1:123); nor was the cantor the "principal" of the Roman schola cantorum,whose
administrativestructureis correctlyreported in "Plainchant" (14:81 1). "Cantor" itself
does not suggest consultingany other article.The author of "Tonus peregrinus,"by
misconstruingthe meaning of "novissimus"(last in a series), arrivesat the conclusion
thatthispsalm tone was the last historicallyto develop.
Contributorsto The New Grovehave taken care to cite opinions which differfrom

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534 Reviews
their own. This practice shows itself in its most helpful form in "Troubadours,
trouveres,"as John Stevens and Theodore Karp summarizetheoriesof poetic origins
and rhythmicinterpretation.The controversyabout the relationshipbetweenthe Old
Roman and Gregorian chant traditions receives an evenhanded treatment from
Helmut Hucke (7:693-97). He passes on the theoryof Ewald Jammersthat Byzan-
tine ison singing,supposedly introduced at Rome in the late seventh century,exer-
cised a decisive influenceon the chant eventuallyknown as Gregorian,yetin another
article ("Greece" 2; 7:672) DimitriConomos can find no evidence of the practicein
Byzantinesources before the fourteenthcentury.Emerson reviewssome of the same
theories ("Plainchant," 14:801), though I thinkhe slightsthe contentionthat Grego-
rian chant could be the special chant of the papal schola.Speculation about the origin
and disseminationof liturgicalchant occasions the one really incoherent statement
about medieval music in The New Grove:"When the city[Cologne] became Christian
Old Roman chant was introduced and, as elsewhere in the Germanic territories,it
resembled German Gregorianchant" ("Cologne," 4:565).
Controversyamong Grovecontributorsreaches a high-watermark in referencesto
antiphonal singingand its introductionto the west. The traditionalview,which sees
in St. Ambrose its initialpropagator,is supported by "ChristianChurch, Music of the
Early" (4:367), "Italy" 1, "Antiphon," and "Augustine," the last supposing that Au-
gustine passed on "the Milanese antiphonal manner" to his diocese of Hippo in
North Africa.OnlyJames McKinnon ("Ambrose," 1: 113) reflectsthe doubts raised by
Helmut Leeb (Die Psalmodiebei Ambrosius[Vienna, 1967]), based on an exhaustive
analysis of Ambrose's writings.The origins of antiphonal singing,or the singingof
antiphons, have never been satisfactorilyexplained. Eric Werner ("JewishMusic,"
9:624) regards all Christianpsalmody as a development of Jewishmethods of chant-
ing the psalms. Hannick (4:367) and Connolly ("Antiphonal Psalmody," 1:481) deny
this,at least forantiphonal singing.Huglo ("Antiphon," 1:471) distinguishesbetween
the piece (antiphon) and the manner of performance,while McKinnon ("Performing
Practice,"14:37 1) stressesthe delicacyrequired of any definitivestatementsabout the
topic.
Latin textsare usually translated,and sometimesthe original is given as well. The
translationsare accurate ("Mode," 12:380-81, is an exception caused by a poor text
in the edition used), though occasionally clumsy ("Responsory," 15:760). Texts of
musical examples are not translated.The names of Greek chants are transliterated
with reasonable accuracy with lengthening,but not accent, indicated. A different
system,followingmodern Greek pronunciation,is employed for the bibliography.A
sortie into Greek charactersin the second part of the article"Alleluia" (1:275) turns
out none too happily. Its author,ChristianThodberg, cannot have seen the proofsof
the musical examples.
As the foregoingobservationshave attempted to show, the range of information
on the music of late antiquityand the Middle Ages in TheNew Groveis impressive:no
reasonable expectation will be disappointed. In addition, many fascinating"extras"
embellishGrove'salready generous allotmentof space to the period: the series on the
religious orders by Mary Berry ("Benedictine Monks" by McKinnon), "Acoustics" 1
(medieval churches), "Mount Athos," "Song" 1, "Cursus," "Lectionary," and the
articles on musical instruments.Dance research has not found the Middle Ages as
fertileas the Renaissance, but Ingrid Brainard presents an excellent clarificationof
patristicand medieval terminologyas well as descriptionsof the popular dances. Her
bibliographyof manuscriptand printedchoreographies and secondaryliteraturewill

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 Reviews 535
prove to be especially valuable ("Dance" 3.1). The same may be said for David
Fallows's list of all extant lais with music. In "Lai" he offers a quick overview of
relevantdances, each of which receives most thorough treatmentin separate articles
by Hendrik van der Werf.
One of the particularstrengthsand pleasures of The New Groveproves to be the
opportunityit affords to savor the individual styles of the contributingauthors.
Without intending to slight any of them, I would honor with special distinction
Richard Crocker, Lawrence Gushee, Michel Huglo, Ernest Sanders, and Ruth
Steiner. The criticismsin the preceding paragraphs do not diminishmy admiration
for a monumentaltask well done. Medievalistsnow have an enormous repositoryof
reliable informationat hand about the music of the Middle Ages. Anyone with an
interestin music will be constantlydivertedby the wealth of detail in The New Grove.
Reviewing even a portion of it has been an instructive,stimulating,and pleasant
experience.

JOSEPH DYER
Universityof Massachusetts,Boston

NIGEL SAUL, Knightsand Esquires:The Gloucestershire Gentryin theFourteenth

Century.
(Oxford Historical Monographs.) Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford
UniversityPress, 1981. Pp. xiii,316; 6 tables,5 genealogies. $44.
THE PAST decade or so has seen the appearance of several monographs produced by
the controversyover "the rise of the gentry"that deal withthe historyof the English
gentrywithin the confines of individual counties. Dr. Saul's book is the firstto
attempta similar treatmentfor part of the late Middle Ages. As he readily admits,
the historianof such a topic in the postmedievalperiod is in a much more favorable
position. Estate accounts, let alone a series of them, rarelyexist for gentryfamilies
before the close of the Middle Ages; nor except in the case of Pastons, the Stonors,
and the Plumptonsis there a body of correspondence or other personal papers. Saul
avowedlyattemptsto compensate for the deficienciesin his evidence by bringinginto
his argumentsconclusions developed by other historiansfor other areas or for the
countryas a whole. But it must be said at the outset that this approach is bound to
counteract the advantages of study withinthe boundaries of a single shire; and it
implies assumptions about the typicalityof Gloucestershirefor which there is no
warrant.Especially in view of his need to rely on material from elsewhere,it is odd
thatSaul does not explain his choices of Gloucestershireor of the fourteenthcentury.
The latteris a period that may make sense in politicalterms,but there are obvious
and powerfulargumentsagainstits use in social or economic history.
To be fair,this is a pioneering effort;and Saul's successors in similar endeavors
will benefitfrom his errors as well as his achievements. And there are, it must be
emphasized, much useful informationand some original interpretationsin his study.
It begins withan introductionthat deals withproblemsof social status,then moves in
turn to the roles of militaryservice, of retaining, and of officeholding.A fifth
chapter discusses lawlessness and the sixth the economy of the gentryestates. One
featureof the studyas a whole (and of the chapterson militaryservice,retaining,and
economic developments in particular) that will interest specialists is the use Saul

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