Puy d'Arras

The Puy d'Arras, called in its own day the Puy Notre-Dame, was a medieval poetical society formed in Arras for holding contests between trouvères and pour maintenir amour et joie (for maintaining love and joy, i.e. the courtly love lyric).

The Puy is less well-documented than the contemporary Confrérie des jongleurs et bourgeois d'Arras, and the two are sometimes conflated.

It was the creation of the urban patriciate, the wealthy and noble, plus some others, possibly those excluded from the Confrérie, who determined to maintain the courtly tradition.

The poets Andrieu Contredit d'Arras and Jean de Renti (criticisingly) make mention of it and its contests.

It has been suggested that the chansonnier known as trouvère manuscript R was compiled from oral performance at the Puy d'Arras.