What is a Laude?

Written By Claudio Peri

Jacopone wrote his poetry as laudi (laude singular; laudi plural)– a type of informal (non-liturgical) religious song, very popular in medieval and Renaissance Italy and originally influenced by the music of French troubadours.

Laudi usually had simple, easily understood lyrics in the vernacular (not in Latin). Jacopone elevated the laude to an art form, but even his laudi, for the most part, were intended to be sung.

This form of praise and prayer was probably suggested by St. Francis himself. The way to teach prayers and reflections to the poor illiterate people of his time was to tell the Gospel and the principals of religion in poetry and song, to facilitate memorization. It is highly probable that Jacopone was able, like St. Francis, to write and perform music. The only liturgical poem that Jacopone wrote for the Church is the Stabat Mater, also written in rhyme and music, but in Latin. The Stabat Mater is a liturgical hymn and not a laude.

Claudio Peri

I was born in Todi where I spent the first 20 years of my life and where I hope to spend the last 20 years! As a professor at the University of Milan, I have been involved in the problems of quality, safety and ethics of food production for 40 years. After retirement, I cultivated as a hobby the theme of the quality of extra virgin olive oil, which I consider a miracle of nature and then the theme of spirituality and Jacopone's poetry: this too is a miracle. But the greatest thing, which I owe to God's infinite benevolence, was the love of Teresa and then of our three children and then of our seven grandchildren. As the Cat Stevens song says: “I am old, but I'm happy”!

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Laude LXXXIX. Amor de caritate