Thibaut of Navarre (1201-1253) - Chanson Pieuse "Dou tres douz non"
(Six-Hole Pipe and Jaw's Harp)
Theobald I (French: Thibaud or Thibault, Spanish: Teobaldo) (May 30, 1201 – July 8, 1253), called the Troubadour, the Chansonnier, and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234.
Born in Troyes, he was the son of Theobald III of Champagne and Blanca of Navarre, the youngest daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre. His father died before he was born, and Blanca (Blanche in French) ruled the county as regent until Theobald turned twenty-one in 1222. He was a notable trouvère, and many of his songs have survived, including some with music.
The first half of Theobald's life was plagued by a number of difficulties. His uncle, Count Henry II, had left behind a great deal of debt, which was far from paid off when Theobald's father died. Further, Theobald's right to the succession was challenged by Henry's daughter Philippa and her husband, Erard I of Brienne, Count of Ramerupt and one of the more powerful nobles of Champagne.
The conflict with Erard and Philippa broke into open warfare in 1215, and was not resolved until after Theobald came of age in 1222. At that time he bought out their rights for a substantial monetary payment. Some years later, in 1234, he had to spend still more to buy off Philippa's elder sister Alice, Queen of Cyprus. The settlement of 1222 did not end Theobald's problems, for in the following years he antagonized Louis VIII.
At the death of Louis VIII, Theobald's political situation was difficult: he had abandoned the king in his campaigns, there were rumors that he had poisoned him, and he was barred from the coronation of Louis IX. At the beginning of the regency of Blanche of Castile, he abandoned a conspiracy against the French king, which also included Hugues de Lusignan and Pierre Mauclerc, and cemented a strong relation with the regent. Many have hinted at a possible love for Blanche, and he wrote a poetical homage to her. He became so influential at court, that other barons resented him and started a rebellion in 1229.
The first chronicler to report the rumors about a love affair between Theobald and Queen Blanche was Roger of Wendover. Wendover claims that Theobald, "tormented by passion" for the queen, tried to poison King Louis VIII at the siege of Avignon. Matthew Paris adds a story that the French nobles goaded the young King Louis IX to challenge Theobald to a duel to avenge his father's death, but that Blanche put a stop to the duel.
In the following years, however, he antagonized the young king of France Louis IX, which lead to an invasion of Champagne by a group of French barons. They were driven off at the cost of further expense and hardship in Champagne. Thus in order to settle with Alice, Theobald had to sell his overlordship over the counties of Blois, Sancerre, and Chateaudun to the king.
Theobald experienced a reversal of his fortunes in 1234, when he succeeded his uncle Sancho VII of Navarre as King of Navarre. While Sancho's will named James I of Aragon as his heir, the Navarrese ignored this and elected Theobald, son of Sancho's sister. Theobald was in Pamplona at the time of Sancho's death and he immediately affirmed the fueros of the realm. This greatly increased his resources (not to mention his prestige), and the remaining years of his rule were far more peaceful and prosperous.
As king, Theobald sealed pacts with the Crown of Castile and that of Aragon, and the Kingdom of England. He entrusted most of the government to nobles of Champagne and divided Navarre into four new districts based on fiscal functions and maintenance of public order. He began the codificaton of the law in the Cartulario Magno and wrote down the Navarrese traditions known as the Fuero General.
In order to gain the support of Castile, he married his daughter Blanca to the infante Alfonso, later Alfonso X. By the marriage pact, Ferdinand III of León offered the lands of Guipúzcoa as long as Theobald lived, but not those of Álava to which the Navarrese monarchs had long laid claim. But with Guipúzcoa he would have attained direct access to the Cantabrian Sea. This alliance was never effected, however, as it would have meant the incorporation of Navarre as a feudum of Castile. The next year, Theobald engaged his daughter to John I, Duke of Brittany, the son of his close crusading ally Peter of Dreux.
It was in 1238 that Theobald directed a crusading host to the Holy Land. Militarily, his crusade was not glorious. He spent much time dallying at pleasant Acre (where he wrote a poem to his wife) before moving on Ascalon, where he began the construction of a castle. He fought two minor battles, one was a slight victory. The second battle, near Gaza was a decisive defeat.
He negotiated with the Ayyubids of Damascus and Egypt and finalised a treaty with the former against the latter whereby the Kingdom of Jerusalem regained Jerusalem itself, plus Bethlehem, Nazareth, and most of the region of Galilee with many Templar castles, like Belfort. Some contemporary sources even imply that the whole of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean was put back in crusader hands. It is debatable how much of the ultimate success of the crusade (the most successful since the First in territorial terms) was attributable to Theobald's intentions and how much was just fortuitous. He returned from Palestine late in 1240, before Richard of Cornwall arrived, because he did not wish to be present during any more debating over the leadership and direction of the enterprise.
Theobald passed most of the remainder of his reign travelling back and forth between Navarre and Champagne. He was at odds with the bishop of Pamplona, Pedro Jiménez de Gazólaz, who held a provincial synod in 1250 to excommunicate him. He refused to respond to papal tribunals, but Pope Innocent IV conceded him the privilege of kings: nobody could excommunicate him save the Holy See.
Theobald married three times. He married Gertrude of Dagsburg in 1220, and divorced her two years later when he came of age. Later, in 1222, he married Agnes of Beaujeu. After she died in 1231, he married Margaret of Bourbon (1232).
Theobald died at Pamplona, on a return from one of his many visits to Champagne. He was buried in the Cathedral of Pamplona. He was succeeded first by his elder son Theobald II and then by his younger son Henry I, both children of his third marriage.
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[Six-Hole Fife]
Pipe describes a number of musical instruments, historically referring to perforated wind instruments. The word is an onomotopoeia, and comes from the tone which can resemble that of a bird chirping.
[Moroccan Six-Hole Fipple Flute]Fipple flutes are found in many cultures around the world. Often with six holes, the shepherd's pipe is a common pastoral image. Shepherds often piped both to soothe the sheep and to amuse themselves. Modern manufactured six-hole folk pipes are referred to as pennywhistle or tin whistle.
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The Jew's harp, jaw harp, mouth harp, or marranzano is thought to be one of the oldest musical instruments in the world; a musician apparently playing it can be seen in a Chinese drawing from the 3rd century BC. I
t is also sometimes called a Jew's trump or juice harp, among other names, and has no particular connection with Judaism.
As with the parallel example "jew's ear" for the jelly fungus Auricularia auricula-judae, the name's semitic reference is controversial and is avoided by many speakers, giving rise to various alternative terms. Another name used to identify the instrument, especially in scholarly literature, is the older English trump, while guimbarde, derived from the French word for the instrument, also features in unabridged dictionaries and recent revival efforts.
The instrument is a lamellophone, which is in the category of plucked idiophones: it consists of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. On the other hand, the jew's harp belongs to the aerophones, together with the wind instruments and the instruments of the accordion type: In this class of instruments the sound is generated by a vibrating air column (flutes etc.) or by a stream of air stimulated to sound by a reed (harmonica, accordion, jew's harp). The tongue/reed is placed in the performer's mouth and plucked with the finger to produce a note. The frame is held against the performer's teeth or lips, using the jaw (thus "jaw harp") and mouth as a resonator, greatly increasing the volume of the instrument. The note thus produced is constant in pitch, though by changing the shape of his or her mouth and the amount of air contained in it the performer can cause different overtones to sound and thus create melodies.
The instrument is known in many different cultures by many different names. Since trances are facilitated by droning sounds, the Jew's harp has been associated with magic and has been a common instrument in shamanic rituals.
There are many theories for the origin of the name Jew's harp, one being that it may derive from its popularity amongst Eurasian steppe-peoples like the Khazars, perhaps being introduced to Europe from that direction. Another explanation proposed is that it is a corruption of "jaw harp", while a less likely explanation espoused by some is that its name comes from "juice harp" from the amount of saliva produced when played by amateurs. Both of these explanations lack historical backing, as both the "jaw" and the "juice" variants appeared only in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It has also been suggested that the name derives from the French "Jeu-trompe" meaning "toy-trumpet."
Another origin theory stems from the fact that the instrument, which resembles the form of older handheld harps, has but one moving 'string' to be plucked; compared to the many strings in a typical harp, the owner of this instrument could be considered 'cheap' (derogatively associated with Jewry--a characteristic of European antisemitism prevalent since the inception of the Common Era).
The Oxford English Dictionary calls theories that the name is a corruption of "jaws" or "jeu" "baseless and inept" and goes on to say, "More or less satisfactory reasons may be conjectured: e.g. that the instrument was actually made, sold, or sent to England by Jews, or supposed to be so; or that it was attributed to them, as a good commercial name, suggesting the trumps and harps mentioned in the Bible."
Many names of the instrument, in English or other languages, refer to other musical instruments, cordophones, membranophones, or aerophones largely included.
The Jew's harp is an integral element in the music of Tuva. Known as the khomuz, the instrument is used to play the same overtone melodies used in the khoomei, sygyt, and kargyraa styles of overtone singing. The instrument is also a traditional part of Alpine musical styles, from Hungary to France. The earliest trouve in Europe is a bronze-harp dating 5th to 7th century.
Around 1765, Beethoven's teacher Johann Georg Albrechtsberger composed at least seven concertos for Jew's harp, mandora, and strings (three survive in a library in Budapest). They are pleasant, well written works in the galant style, interpreting melodies of contemporary Austrian folk songs.
In South Indian Classical Music, the instrument is often used for percussion accompaniment. Satyajit Ray has used a taniyaavartanam that uses this and other percussion instruments in his movie Gopi Gayen Bhaga Bayen.
In Disney's White Fang, a character plays it while the enemy sets fire to his cabin.
Snoopy plays one in the animated films A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Come Home, and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!). Some Jew's harps are still packaged and marketed as "Snoopy's harp."
It can also be heard as a prominent instrument in the theme song written by Ennio Morricone from the movie For a Few Dollars More, starring Clint Eastwood.
The Jew's harp makes a brief appearance in James Horner's score for the 1991 film The Rocketeer when the Rocketeer flies at low altitude through a cornfield to the bemusement of a number of country bumpkins (including Tiny Ron, in a brief cameo).
Names of specific Jew's harps around the world
Afghanistan - chang
Argentina - torompe
Austra - maultrommel
Bosnia - drombulja
Brazil - berimboca, harpa de boca, berimbau de boca
Bulgaria - drumboy (дръмбой or драмбой)
Canada - jew's harp
Québec - bombarde or trompe or guimbarde or ruine-babines
Chile - trompe
China - kǒu xián (口弦, lit. "mouth string")
Croatia - drombulja
Kajkavian - brunda (lit. "the grumbling one")
Czech Republic - brumle
Denmark - jødeharpe (lit. "Jew harp")
Esperanto - buŝharpo (lit. mouth harp)
Estonia - parmupill (lit. "horse-fly instrument")
Finland - munniharppu
France - guimbarde
Corsica - riberbula
Germany - Maultrommel (lit. "mouth drum")
Hawaii - ʻukeke
Hungary - doromb
Iceland - gyðingaharpa (kjálkaharpa)
India
Andhra Pradesh - morsing
Assam - gogona
Karnataka - morsing
Kerala - mukhar-shanq (lit. "mouth conch")
Rajasthan - morchang
Tamil Nadu - mugar-sing
Indonesia
Balinese - genggong
Butonese - ore-ore mbondu or ore Ngkale
Kailinese - yori
Munanese - karinta
Toraja - karombi
Iran - zanboorak (زنبورك)
Ireland - trumpa; tromb (Gaelic)
Israel - nevel pe (נבל פה, lit. "mouth harp")
Italy - scacciapensieri ("thought dispeller")
Sardinia - trunfa or trumba
Sicily - marranzanu
Japan - koukin (口琴, lit. "mouth harp")
Kazakhstan - shang-kobuz
Kyrgyzstan - temir-komuz (lit. "iron komuz"), ooz-komuz (lit. "mouth komuz")
Laos
Hmong - rab ncas (also in Vietnam, Thailand, and China)
Latvia - vargāns
Lithuania - dambrelis
Mongolia - khel khuur (хэл хуур, lit. "tongue fiddle").
Nepal - Murchunga
Netherlands - mondharp (lit. "mouth harp")
Norway - munnharpe
Philippines
Maguindanao - kubing
Maranao - kobing
Palawan - aroding
Tagbanua - aru-ding
Tingguian - kolibau
Yakan - kulaing
Poland - drumla
Portugal - berimbau
Romania - drâmbă
Russia - vargan (варган)
Bashkiria - kubyz (кубыз)
Tuva - khomus, homus, komus, xomus (хомус)
Yakutia (Republic of Sakha) - khomus (хомус)
Slovakia - drumbľa
Serbia - drombulje (дромбуље)
Slovenia - dromlja
South Africa
Afrikaans - trompie
Spain - guimbarda or birimbao or arpa de boca
Asturias - trompa
Euskal Herria (Basque country) - musugitarra (lit. "kiss guitar")
Sweden - mungiga
Switzerland
Swiss German - muul trummle
Taiwan
Amis - datok or tivtiv
Atayal - lubu
Bunun - honghong
Thailand - jong nong (term used in central Thailand); or huen (term used in northeast Thailand)
Turkmenistan - gopuz (гопуз or гапыз)
United Kingdom
Scotland - tromb (Gaelic)
Wales - sturmant
Ukraine - drymba (дримба)
Uzbekistan - chankovuz or Chang-kobuz
Vietnam - đàn môi
[8210 Thomas of Celano / 8201 Thibaut Jaws Harp / 8200 Java]
