Isolde's Illustrations

The Jehans (Jehan the Elder and Jehan the Younger)

Historical figures and Inspo:

Guillaume de Machaut

Guillaume de Machaut is considered one of the leading composers of the Ars Nova movement. I accidentally stumbled upon his works when checking out an early modern music channel. Back then, there weren't really rigid rules on how music should've been written, so that period was full of experimentation and crazy sounding stuff (I lowkey think it sounds like modern jazz on steroids). The work he is most known for is the Messe de Notre Dame, but there are other more whimsical works like Ma fin est mon commencement. He likely never had a formal music education, just a lot of talent and hard work.

The more I looked into Machaut's work... he just seemed like such a relatable and whimsy guy! And I really like his mindset too, which really spoke to me when I was going through a bad period with my own art. I can't remember the original quote, but I recall he said something along the lines of making art from a place of joy and gratitude.

All of Machaut's known works are contained in a book he lovingly oversaw the making of himself (and continued to hold popularity in the centuries after his death). There's a lot of self-inserts (although he puts very undesirable character traits on them, the illuminations of the manuscript are supposed to reflect the most handsome and pretty boy alive which gets me every time), and he even made his own OC waifu... and held song competitions about her with his colleagues. In fact, the work which is supposed to show his full maturity as an artist is just... chatlogs between his self-insert and his OC waifu. It's as 18+ as it gets by the standards of the time. My guy was having so much damn fun LMAO 

Machaut worked as a secretary, notary, and almoner at the court of Jean of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia and father of Charles IV, also known as Jean the Blind because of bilateral vision loss in his late 40s due to inflammation (likely unknown causes. He fought hard to get his vision back, because blindness was seen as severe weakness). He was also the canon of Rheims, and was likely educated at the (in modern terms) affiliated university. To give a better comparison, Machaut’s day job was kind of like the modern civil/government service (I’m sure they had very shit beaureacracy as well), and usually to enter these types of positions you either had a helping hand (be noble +/- nepotism, for there were apparently dynastic families of non-noble secretaries in the French Hôtels) or in Machaut’s case, be educated and have a referral from the local bishopric via entering ecclesiastical life. Machaut was most likely an acolyte, having not taken holy orders, essentially allowing him to access both secular and spiritual worlds. Acolytes were not permitted to marry and have children, hence the speculation that Machaut’s family likely wasn’t that well off (although recent scholarship suggests that his family was at least land-owning and somewhat known in his local region), and that he was probably one of the younger siblings who were left without land or significant inheritance, neccessitating him to make a living in another way. Being halfway into the ecclesiastical life would have given him a career trajectory with a comfortable retirement if his boss liked his services enough by the way of granting prebends (essentially food and board provided by the Catholic Church in cathedrals). Whether he had children or not… is another story (there exists the really far-fetched theory that Eustache Deschamps was Machaut’s illegitimate son (I take this from the preface in a book of Deschamps’ English-translated poems)). 

So Machaut essentially had a day job and was moonlighting as a poet-composer, kind of like us having 9-5s and drawing/writing on the side, except he was also damn good at what he created. Eventually, some scholars think he was able to live comfortably from his fame as a composer, but others think he was attached to court life until his early 50s-60s and only retired to his prebend at Rheims then. But it is certain that he was very prized by and very close to the Luxembourg family, as he was consistently employed by the children of Jean the Blind (Charles IV and especially his daughter Bonne/Jutta) after his death, and (I think it was? I’ll have to recheck) Charles IV granted a large house to him within the vicinity of Rheims which was large enough to hold Charles’ entire entourage when he dropped by for a visit. Charles and Bonne were known for their love of the arts, so it isn’t that far fetched to think that Machaut also had a part in tutoring them.

Jean was likely 4 years older than Machaut (I'd like to think they're very similar in age anyways). Machaut got promoted quite quickly in his retinue and recieved various high-ranking prebends for his social status. Machaut also accompanied the King on many of his travels, some of which Machaut recalls in his extant works. One of the largest works in Machaut's book is called the The Judgement of the King of Bohemia. It's supposed to be half-flattery, half-propaganda, half-moralising tales for Jean's court. He actively exaggerates Jean's deeds so to paint a very idealised portrait of the King, even during times when the guy was actively committing war crimes (there are other more relatively unbiased sources which say that the King became an unstable tyrant towards the end of his life). But here's where it gets interesting: Machaut had the time to compile and edit the book during his later years of life, years after he was no longer employed by the Luxembourg family, and had the freedom to choose what to publish, what to leave out, and the order in which he wanted his works to be presented. He just kept everything in!! which lowkey drives me insane. How down bad are you for your boss.... there must've been something going on between them. 

Add on the fact that poets were highly prized by rulers during that time, and were seen as prized advisors and vital personnel to healthy functioning court culture... How precious was Machaut to Jean? I wonder... 🤤 

b. Jean de Machaut

Guillaume had a brother Jean, of which he had a very close relationship with. It’s assumed that Jean was the younger brother because he entered a career in public service a couple years later than Guillaume, almost following the same trajectory as the latter, giving way to speculation that Guillaume was the one who introduced him to the job. When Guillaume retired to his canonry at Rheims, Jean was very impatient to join him at the same cathedral, putting in multiple applications with his new boss to get a similar retirement position. Some scholars say that Guillaume was beginning to show signs of illness and that Jean was impatient to be reunited with his brother and to take care of him, despite having still having a great career at court. (You could say that Guillaume maybe alerted him about his condition? But I think Jean just knew deep down). Not much else is known about Jean apart from his death, which was a couple of years before Guillaume’s. The brothers are buried together, but the exact gravesite is unknown. The only hints that their final resting place was at Rheims is due to a now destroyed epitaph asking for supplications for Mass to be sung in their name in perpetuity. The fact that the physical epitaph and supplication was likely not cheap indicates that the brothers were well beloved by their ecclesiastical community and likely had many wealthy benefactors up until their death.

Actual OC lore:

a. Jehan the Elder (JE) and Jehan the Younger (JY)

JE and JY are identical twins! You can use their facial moles and hairstyle to tell them apart. JE has a mole near the upper corner of his left lip and the ends of his hair curls inward and very much respects the direction its combed in. Meanwhile, JY has a mole near the right lower lid and his hair is a bit unruly. The ends of his hair curl (generally) outward.

As to why they share the same name, JE nearly died at birth, so the younger twin was also named Jehan. JE has relatively bad lungs and is asthmatic. JY is generally healthy.

Personality wise, JE tends to see the good in people, is more idealistic and easygoing, and a bit of a social butterfly. During his university days, he had thoughts of becoming a trouvère but realised he couldn’t sing for long periods of time due to his bad health. So he continued working hard at his day job and continuing to create during his spare time.  

JY tends to be more reserved and cautious. Has an RBF, and can seem strict and serious! Deep down, in some ways even more emotional that his brother, but doesn’t show it easily. He’s definitely a worrier, and cares deeply about those close to him. Tone deaf, and as he’s the more practical one he used to be skeptical about his brother’s creations, but over time comes to understand and appreciate his brother’s worldview.

In the “canon” timeline, JE and JY work for the same Lord (yet unnamed), whom their father worked for. Both of them were essentially grandfathered into the job (I based this on the fact that there were non-noble secretarial dynasties in various noble courts of France). JE is a notary and a secretary while JY is an almoner and occassionally helps the treasurer with his work. Due to the Hundred Years War… finances don’t look too promising in this court, let’s just leave it at that. JE falls in love with Fébus (his intro below), while JY has certain feelings for Isoré, the new Dominican friar and confessor at the court.  

In the “alternate” timeline, JE and JY are separated early on in their careers and they work for different bosses since their first recruitment. JE still works for Fébus’ father, but JY works for the Viscount of Dreux. The Viscount has an only daughter named Isabelle, who is betrothed to Frederick, the Margrave of Meissen. Isabelle is the sole inheritor of the Viscount’s properties. The Viscount dies suddenly, so Isabelle is hastily married to Frederick for her own safety and protection. JY is the person responsible for accompanying Isabelle on her journey. Unfortunately, the Viscount’s court is dismantled by a power-hungry cousin during Isabelle’s travels and thus JY has to stay with her at Frederick’s court. Due to the plague, Frederick has also been recently orphaned, and his men are decimated too. His uncle Wilhelm of Thuringia is currently regent of the area. Now it’s up to JY and Wilhelm to get things up and running while trying to get Isabelle’s rightful dowry back! Although, Wilhelm might have his own plans as Frederick grows up… 

b. Count Fébus (I’ve yet to come up with a full name for him)

Fébus is the second son of JE & JY’s boss (in the canon timeline). He was never meant to be the heir, but certain circumstances made him be able to inherit his father’s fiefdoms… whether JE had a part in that plot, we will never know. Most of my stories concerning JE and Fébus is during his rise to power.

Fébus met JE during one of his late night study sessions, and kept on visiting him afterwards. That’s how they became friends and eventually lovers.