Berengiers de palazol si fo de cataloigna, del comtat de rossillon, paubres cavallier fo. . . "Berenguier de Palazol was from Catalonia, from the county of Roussillon, a poor knight he was. . ."
Only some sketchy details of Berenguier's life can be gleaned from surviving records. According to his vida he was a poor knight, but well-trained and skilled in arms.[4] Other evidence suggests that his family was well-off.[2] He appears in five documents of Roussillon between 1196 and 1209, all under the Latin name Berengarius de Palatiolo (or Palaciolo).[2] The earliest dates of his career are determined by the fact that he was a vassal of Gausfred III of Roussillon, who died in 1164 and receives mention in several of Berenguier's works.[2] It is quite possible that Berenguier was one of the earliest troubadours, and the poems that mention Jaufres (Gausfred) may date as early as 1150.[5] Berenguier does not seem to have had much contact with his fellow troubadours.[6] He may have met Pons d'Ortaffa late in life, and the latter may address him in one of his songs as Senher En Berenguier.
All of Berenguier's surviving works deal with the theme of courtly love.[2] One of his cansos was a model for a sirventes by his contemporary Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, who may have set it to the same tune, Berenguier's most "florid".[2] The chief object of the love of his songs is Ermessen d'Avinyo, wife of Arnaut d'Avinyo.[7] According to Berenguier's vida, Arnaut was a son of Maria de Peiralada, but this is probably a confusion with Maria domina de Petralata, the mother of Soremonda, the lover of Guillem de Cabestany.[4]
Berenguier's works cannot be chronologically ordered with any confidence, but they have been ordered in a scheme which seeks to present some "logical" development of a theme. The theme which runs through these works cannot be connected to events in Berenguier's life, nor can it be shown that the lady (dompna) of every song is the same person.[8] Nonetheless, the developing of the theme corresponds to stages in the life of a lover.[8]
Aital dona cum ieu sai
In this work Berenguier praises the perfection of his lady. She is proud and has many suitors. She does, however, lend him ear.
Dona, si totz temps vivia
Berenguier pledges to seek no other lover, even though his lady seems out of reach.
Dona, la genser qu'om veya
Berenguier resolves to be patient.
Aissi quon hom que senhor ochaizona
Berenguier is at the lady's mercy, yet she is not faithful to him as he is to her.
S'eu anc per fola entendensa
Berenguier wishes his lady would spare him this torment.
S'ieu sabi' aver guiardo
Berenguier has failed, but he expresses hope that this song may yet get her attention.
Tant m'abelis joys et amors e chans
Finally Berenguier is rewarded for his persistence by his lady's attention. In her absence she gives him strength and in the cold warmth; she encourages his singing.
Mais ai de talan que no suelh
Berenguier is joyful. He only wishes he could see his lady every moment.
Bona dona, cuy ricx pretz fai valer
The lady withdraws from Berenguier. He should leave her, but he could not endure it, nor find any woman better.
De la gensor qu'om vey', al mieu semblan
The dilemma: remain faithful or leave.
Totz temoros e doptans
Berenguier blames himself for his loss, yet renews his pledge to his lady.
Ab la fresca clardat
Summertime incites this song and Berenguier determines to seek his lady's favour again.
Notes
↑ His first name can also be spelled Berenguer, Berenger, or Berengar.
↑ Paillol, today in the arrondissement of Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales, is the French name for the CatalanPalol. In Occitan it was spelled Parason, Palou, Palasol, Parasol, Pararol(s), Palaiol, Palaol, or Palazol(s). It is located just west of Elne, the ancient capital of Roussillon. Riquer, 300–301.
Aubrey, Elizabeth. The Music of the Troubadours. Indiana University Press, 1996. ISBN0-253-21389-4.
Costa, Ricardo da; Gaby, André; Hartmann, Ernesto; Ribeiro, Antonio Celso; Silva, Matheus Corassa da. "Um tributo à arte de ouvir. O amor cortês nas cançons de Berenguer de Palou (c. 1160-1209)". eHumanista/IVITRA 15 (2019), p. 396-455. ISSN1540-5877.
Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. The Vidas of the Troubadours. New York: Garland, 1984. ISBN0-8240-9437-9.
Newcombe, Terence. "The Troubadour Berenger de Palazol: A Critical Edition of His Poems." Nottingham Mediaeval Studies, 15 (1971), pp.54–96.
Riquer, Martín de. Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word troubadour is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz.
Berengar is a masculine name derived from Germanic roots meaning "bear" and "spear". The name appears frequently among certain noble families during the Middle Ages, especially the Unruochings and those related. Bérenger is the French form, while Berengario is the Italian form, Berenguer is the Catalan form, and Berenguier or Berengier is the Occitan form. The Latin form is Berengarius and the female equivalent is Berengaria. Other forms of the name include Berenger, Bérenger, Bérangier, or Beringer.
Na Castelloza was a noblewoman and trobairitz from Auvergne.
Pons de Capduelh was a troubadour from the Auvergne, probably from Chapteuil. His songs were known for their great gaiety. He was a popular poet and 27 of his songs are preserved, some in as many as 15 manuscripts. Four of his cansos survive with musical notation.
Jordan Bonel, sometimes also de Confolens, was a troubadour from western Aquitaine about whom very little is definitively known except that he was associated with the court of Alfonso II of Aragon. His vida states that he was from Saintonge and he appears to have been contemporary with Bertran de Born. His surviving corpus probably consists of three cansos, wherein only one is attributed to him, though its melody survives:
The (Lo) Monge de Montaudon, born Pèire de Vic, was a nobleman, monk, and troubadour from the Auvergne, born at the castle of Vic-sur-Cère near Aurillac, where he became a Benedictine monk around 1180. According to his vida, he composed "couplets while he was in the monastery and sirventes on subjects that were popular in the region."
Uc de Saint Circ or Hugues (Hugh) de Saint Circq was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of several vidas and razos of other troubadours, though only one of Bernart de Ventadorn exists under his name. Forty-four of his songs, including fifteen cansos and only three canso melodies, have survived, along with a didactic manual entitled Ensenhamen d'onor. According to William E. Burgwinkle, as "poet, biographer, literary historian, and mythographer, Uc must be accorded his rightful place as the 'inventor' (trobador) of 'troubadour poetry' and the idealogical trappings with which it came to be associated."
Bonifaci, Bonifatz, or Bonifacio Calvo was a Genoese troubadour of the late thirteenth century. The only biographical account of his life is found in the vida of Bertolome Zorzi. He is, however, the most notable Genoese troubadour after Lanfranc Cigala. In total, nineteen of his poems and two descorts have survived.
Gui d'Ussel, d'Ussèl, or d'Uisel was a troubadour from the Limousin. Twenty of his poems survive: eight cansos, two pastorelas, two coblas, and eight tensos, several with his relatives and including a partimen with Maria de Ventadorn. Four of his cansos melodies remain.
Peire de Valeira, Valeria, or Valera was a Gascon troubadour. Since troubadour poetry probably originated in northwest Aquitaine and first spread—within a generation—south into Gascony, Peire was one of the earliest troubadours. Only two of his poems survive, one canso and one cobla.
Giraut or Guiraut de Calanso or Calanson was a Gascon troubadour in the Occitan language. Of his lyric works that remain five are cansos, two descorts, a congé, a planh, and a vers. He also wrote a mock ensenhamen entitled Fadet juglar.
Peire Raimon de Tolosa was a troubadour from the merchant class of Toulouse. He is variously referred to as lo Viellz and lo Gros, though these are thought by some to refer to two different persons. On the other hand, lo Viellz could refer to his being of an early generation of troubadours. Eighteen of Peire Ramon's poems survive, one canso with a melody.
Elias Cairel was a troubadour of international fame. Born in Sarlat in the Périgord, he first travelled with the Fourth Crusade and settled down in the Kingdom of Thessalonica at the court of Boniface of Montferrat (1204–1208/10) before moving back to western Europe, where he sojourned at the court of Alfonso IX of León (1210–11) and in Lombardy (1219–1222/24). He wrote fourteen surviving lyrics: ten cansos, one tenso, one descort, one sirventes, and one Crusade song. He was partial to refrain rhyming and coblas capfinidas.
Pons d'Ortaffa/Ortafas or Ponç d'Ortafà was a Catalan nobleman and troubadour. He was the feudal lord of Ortafà, between Perpignan and Elne, in Roussillon. Only two pieces of his lyric poetry survive, both cansos on courtly love, one with a surviving melody.
Guilhem Peire Cazals de Caortz or Guilhem Peire de Cazals was a troubadour of the first half of the thirteenth century. He was born or lived in Cahors, Quercy, from which his name "de Caortz". Eleven of his works, including one tenso, survive.
Uc de la Bacalaria was a Limousin troubadour from La Bachellerie near Uzerche, the home town of Gaucelm Faidit. According to his vida, he was a jongleur who travelled infrequently and was hardly known. He composed cansos, tensos, one alba, and one descort. Six songs are surviving: one canso, one alba, and four tensos. According to the vida, he was courtly, capable, and learned.
Pistoleta was a Provençal troubadour. His name means "little letter (epistle)" in Occitan. He left behind eleven songs, comprising nine cansos and two tensos. Some of his pieces are assigned to an otherwise unknown Jordan de Born in the table of contents of chansonnier C, a fourteenth-century Occitan manuscript.
Guilhem Ademar was a troubadour from the Gévaudan in France. He travelled between the courts of Albi, Toulouse, Narbonne, and Spain. He achieved fame enough during his life to be satirised by the nobleman and monk, Monge de Montaudon. Guilhem entered holy orders towards the end of his life. Sixteen poems—fourteen cansos, a sirventes, and a partimen with Eble d'Ussel—form his surviving corpus. His cansos are his most famous pieces. Usually humorous, several mock the poetry of Ademar's more illustrious contemporary Arnaut Daniel. One canso survives with a tune.
Guilhem de Montanhagol was a Provençal troubadour, most likely active in Toulouse, but known in the courts of Provence, Toulouse, Castile, and Aragon. Guilhem left behind seven cansos and six sirventes. He also left behind one tenso with Sordello and his total surviving output comes to fourteen pieces.
Palou is a Catalan surname. Notable people with the surname include:
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