Cuvelier is an obscure figure of the fourteenth century who flourished between 1372 and 1387. Although he was possibly from Tournai, nothing is known before and after these dates. The evidence shows, however, that in his life, he became a highly refined cosmopolitan man who was successful as a poet, composer, and statesman. The date of the first record of Cuvelier, 1372, has him as a diseur to the French king. Later on, he became the faiseur of Charles V. In 1387, Cuvelier completed a book on the life of the opportunistic conqueror Bertrand du Guesclin and that is the last that is heard of him. His surviving musical works are found in a manuscript called the Chantilly codex and are composed in the elaborate, elitist style known as the ars subtilior. The contents connect him with the eccentric and legendary Gaston III or Gaston Febus. Cuvelier's ballade Se Galaas, for which he probably penned the text, is in honor of Febus and contains a colorful battle cry used by Febus' forces: "Febus Avant!" (Forward Febus!).