A l'Homme Arme - Framed picture - 11x14

"L'homme arme" is a French secular song from the time of the Renaissance. Set in Dorian mode, it was the most popular tune used for musical settings of the Ordinary of the Mass.

The origins of the popularity of the song and the importance of the armed man are the subject of various theories. Some have suggested that the 'armed man' represents St Michael the Archangel.

Others have suggested it merely represents the name of a popular tavern (Maison L'Homme Arme) near Du Fay's rooms in Cambrai.

It may also represent the arming for a new crusade against the Turks. There is ample evidence to indicate that it held special significance for the Order of the Golden Fleece. It is useful to note that the first appearance of the song was exactly contemporaneous with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks (1453), an event which had a huge psychological effect in Europe; composers such as Guillaume Du Fay composed laments for the occasion. Yet another possibility is that all three theories are true, given the feeling of urgency, pervasive in central and northern Europe at the time, in organizing a military opposition to the recently victorious Ottomans.