Serenades Through History

I ask you, what can be more romantic than a serenade beneath your window? Even Romeo knew that, when courting Juliet. Do fraternities still serenade freshman girls below their dorm windows? I hope so, because scenes like that are the moments that make memories.


During the 13th century, singers and performers played an active role in politics, writing poems of praise to a leader, or creating satirical plays about local politicians. Not to be outdone, there were also women composers of courtly love songs. The women were known as troubaritz, and they wrote songs and sometimes performed them in court or at secular public gatherings.

In my October release, The Tapestry Shop, the main character, Adam, is a trouvere, a poet/musician in northern France, similar to the troubadours of southern France. His songs draw the attention of a magistrate, which leads to a trail of difficulties. Later, when Adam meets Catherine in a tapestry shop, there is an instant attraction, but he later learns that she will join the crusades, a mission he does not support.

Do any of you have a memory of being sung to? If so, I’d love to hear about it, so leave a comment. Who knows? You may find yourself in one of my books, wearing a low-necked crimson gown trimmed with seed pearls, being entertained by a troubadour.

Snippets from early reviews for The Tapestry Shop:

from Renaissance Magazine:  “The Tapestry Shop” brilliantly illuminates the nuances of daily medieval life … is highly recommended and will convince the reader to set out on a quest in search of additional historical fiction novels by Joyce Elson Moore.

from Romance Reviews Today:  …meticulously researched … Beautifully written, this is an excellent novel for the fan of historical fiction.

Adam de la Halle, the musician on whose life The Tapestry Shop was based, was born in Arras, a city in north-eastern France. Arras flourished during the thirteenth century, and was especially known for its tapestries and banking system. Besides Adam, the town was the birthplace of another musician, Jehan Bodel, and of Robespierre, one of the best-known figures from the French Revolution. During World War I, the town was heavily bombed, but most of the city was reconstructed, only to be bombed again in WWII. The town square, however, survived. Surrounded by 17th century buildings, it is the perfect place to have a steaming cappuccino on a cool morning in April, one of the best times of the year to be in northern France. Besides the lovely weather, the tulips are in bloom, and the tourist crowds are not there yet. If you go, be sure to walk through the underground tunnels that lie beneath the city. During WWI, British soldiers defended Arras, holed up in the tunnels, of which the Germans were unaware. During WWII, French Resistance fighters were executed at the Citadel. Not far from Arras is Vimy Ridge, where craters from bombs can still be seen, along with the memorial to Canadians who lost their lives there.

The Tapestry Shop, my 2010 release from Five Star, is based on the life of Adam de la Halle, a thirteenth century musician. Adam is best known for his secular plays, especially his Jeu de Robin et Marion, which figures heavily in my historical novel.
In most pastourelles, the knight is the narrator, wielding his aristocratic power over a lower-class shepherdess. After propositioning her, he may carry her away by force. In Adam’s pastourelle, the shepherdess (Marion) takes a more active part in the play, rebuffing the advances of a persistent knight and declaring her love for Robin.
For further reading on the medieval pastourelle and its construction, see Geri L. Smith’s The Medieval French Pastourelle Tradition: Poetic Motivations and Generic Transformations.