de la Halle, Adam 1237

Adam de la Halle (Hale), called A. d'Arras or A. le bossu ("the hunchback"), * Arras c. 1240, † Naples (?) c. 1287 (or only c. 1306), French poet and composer.
After clerical training at the Cistercian abbey of Vaucelles (diocese of Cambrai), membership in the singers' association of his hometown, and university studies in Paris, he was in the service of Robert II of Artois from 1271, with whom he came to Naples to the court of his uncle, Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily. A., probably the most important trouvère, composed chansons, rondeaus, motets, scattered poems, ballads and lyrical-worldly plays. He is significant for the music world for his compositions for three voices (5 motets, 15 rondeaus have been preserved). His song play Le jeu de Robin et de Marion (1283) and his secular play Le jeu de la feuilée are still known today.