Erart Jehan, *ca. 1205, †1258 or 1259, a Northern French trouvère. He likely came from a bourgeois family living in Arras. Twenty-five songs (including chansons d’amour and pastourelles) have survived in manuscripts under the name Erart. All these works appear in numerous versions along with melodies, which attests to their great popularity. The dedications they contain point to the poet’s connections with the wealthy urban patriciate of Arras. The text of the Complainte, written upon the death of Gherart Aniel, a wealthy burgher of Arras and Erart’s patron, is set to an older melody already used by other poets, such as Conon de Béthune. It has not been proven whether Erart belonged to the Puy d’Arras.
Literature: A. Guesnon Nouvelles recherches biographiques sur les trouvères artésiens, in: Le Moyen Age, 1902; P. Aubry, A. Jeanroy Le Chansonnier de l’Arsenal, Paryż 1909; J. Beck La musique des troubadours, Paris 1910; F. Gennrich Trouvèrelieder und Motettenrepertoire, “Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft” IX, 1926/27; Th. Gérold La musique au Moyen Age, Paris 1932; H. Petersen Dyggve Onomastique des trouvères, «Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae» B-XXX, Helsinki 1934; Th. Gérold Histoire de la musique des origines á la fin du XIVe siècle, Paris 1936; G. Muraille Le duc Henri III de Brabant et le trouvère Jehan Erart, «Les lettres romanes» XII, 1958.
