CHARTAINE, Marcella La

Marcella La Chartaine, recorded in the original medieval sources as Marcel la Chartaine, was a female professional minstrel active in Paris in the early fourteenth century. She was one of eight women among the 37 signatories of the statutes establishing the Parisian guild of minstrels (ménestrels et ménestrelles, jongleurs et jongleresses) on 14 September 1321.

Almost nothing else is known about her life or repertoire, and no individual compositions can securely be attributed to her. Her documented membership nevertheless provides important evidence for women’s professional participation in medieval secular music.