Peire de Maensac was an Auvergnat knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

 and troubadour

Troubadour

A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....

. He was from Maensac (either Mauzat or Mainsat

Mainsat

Mainsat is a commune in the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.-Geography:An area of farming and forestry, lakes and streams, comprising the village and several hamlets situated some northeast of Aubusson, at the junction of the D4, D19 and the D38...

) in the lands of Dalfi d'Alvernha. He came from the petty nobility

Petty nobility

Petty nobility is dated at least back to 13th century and was formed by Nobles/Knights around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable peasants with leader roles in local community that were given tax exemption for taking care of services like for example guard duties of local primitive...

. His brother Austor or Austors was also a troubadour, but none of his works survives. According to Peire's vida

Vida (Occitan literary form)

Vida is the usual term for a brief prose biography, written in Old Occitan, of a troubadour or trobairitz.The word vida means "life" in Occitan languages. In the chansonniers, the manuscript collections of medieval troubadour poetry, the works of a particular author are often accompanied by a...

the brothers agreed that one of them would "have the castle" (i.e. inherit) and the other would be the "inventor" (i.e. troubadour). Peire became the troubadour.

He wrote poems dedicated to the (unnamed) wife of Bernart de Tierci. According to his vida he sang so much to her that she eventually allowed herself to be "abducted" by him. He fled with her to the castle of Dalf d'Alvernha, but her husband waged a "great war" to bring her back. Dalfi reputedly defended the castle so well that Bernart was unable to ever reclaim her.

Peire was called a "pleasant companion" by his biographer. He wrote mostly cansos

Canso (song)

The canso is a song style used by the troubadours. It consists of three parts. The first stanza is the exordium, where the composer explains his purpose. The main body of the song occurs in the following stanzas, and usually draw out a variety of relationships with the exordium. The canso can end...

of courtly love

Courtly love

Courtly love was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife....

 with "pleasing melodies", but also coblas de solatz. The meaning of this last phrase is not certain. It could mean "good entertaining couplet

Couplet

A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...

s" (bon couplets divertissants) according to Boutière-Schutz, the first of the vida's editors, but it could also mean simply tenso

Tenso

A tenso is a style of Occitan song favoured by the troubadours. It takes the form of a debate in which each voice defends a position on a topic relating to love or ethics. Closely related genres include the partimen and the cobla exchange...

s, as preferred by Egan, the vida's first English editor.

Sources