Jesus, son of God the father, most even-handed of judges,
O son of a virgin and mother, purest of virgins,
you the judge of every just claim and the sun of justice;
I make my petition on account of the power of savagery and evil.
I do not offer gifts to the judge with secular sword,
otherwise when I do not please
he will smite me with condemnation
even though I do and may have done no evil.
Conversely, if I give gifts to the special judge
I shall thus have greater power to achieve what I desire,
so that the worldly wealth that I lack here may not
oppress me with an immortal punishment as long as I shall live.
Rather I hope to depart free from this dead life.
Joiner of the of knowledge of good and evil, give me what I thirst,
and spare the innocent one in the final judgement,
now cleanse the criminal from sin.

This poem contains two possible allusions to the celebrated Roman de Fauvel. The line ‘Presidentes cum thronis’ is the first line of a Fauvel motet text on a similar theme, and the use of torquere in the line immediately above may well be a latinization of the favourite Fauvel verb torchier, ‘to wipe’, an Old French form which is ultimately derived from Latin torquere.

The poem is corrupt in places and cannot be translated in full. After a prayer to ‘Jesus, radiance of truth, brilliance of eternal light’, the speaker makes his petition to God that someone is claiming power ‘and, a judge of the world, seeks to dissolve the sentence of sinners entirely. Alas! since the government of villains flourishes I look to you where the hope of the just … Who is able anywhere even barely to guard against this evil with gifts? O Jesus, examiner of the heart, give me what I thirst for, since you are the giver of just peace in your judgement. Now cleanse the criminal from sin.’

English: Christopher Page © 1999