Berenguier de Palazol, Palol, or Palou (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1160–1209) was a Catalan

Catalan people

The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...

 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....

 from Paillol in the County of Roussillon

County of Roussillon

The County of Roussillon was one of the Catalan counties in the Marca Hispanica during the Middle Ages. The rulers of the county were the Counts of Roussillon, whose interests lay both north and south of the Pyrenees.-Visigothic county:...

. Of his total output twelve 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...

survive, and a relatively high proportion—eight—with melodies.

Only some sketchy details of Berenguier's life can be gleaned from surviving records. According to his 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...

he was a poor 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....

, but well-trained and skilled in arms. Other evidence suggests that his family was well-off. He appears in five documents of Roussillon between 1196 and 1209, all under the Latin name Berengarius de Palatiolo (or Palaciolo). The earliest dates of his career are determined by the fact that he was a vassal of Gausfred III of Roussillon

Gausfred III of Roussillon

Gausfred III was the count of Roussillon from 1113 until his death. He was the son and successor of Girard I, who was assassinated prematurely, leaving Gausfred a child. Arnold Gausfred, the young count's uncle, acted as regent until 1121....

, who died in 1164 and receives mention in several of Berenguier's works. 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. Berenguier does not seem to have had much contact with his fellow troubadours. He may have met Pons d'Ortaffa

Pons d'Ortaffa

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...

 late in life, and the latter may address him in one his songs as Senher En Berenguier.

All of Berenguier's surviving works deal with the theme 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....

. One of his cansos was a model for a sirventes

Sirventes

The sirventes or serventes is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry used by the troubadours. In early Catalan it became a sirventesch and was imported into that language in the fourteenth century, where it developed into a unique didactic/moralistic type...

by his contemporary Raimbaut de Vaqueiras

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras was a Provençal troubadour and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courts until 1203, when he joined the Fourth Crusade....

, who may have set it to the same tune, Berenguier's most "florid". The chief object of the love of his songs is Ermessen d'Avinyo, wife of Arnaut d'Avinyo. 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

Guillem de Cabestany

Guillem de Cabestany was a Catalan troubadour from Cabestany in the County of Roussillon. His name in Occitan is Guilhem de Cabestaing, Cabestang, Cabestan, or Cabestanh; in modern Occitan it is spelled Guilhèm....

.

Berenguier's well-preserved music is generally syllabic

Syllabic verse

Syllabic verse is a poetic form having a fixed number of syllables per line regardless of the number of stresses that are present. It is common in languages that are syllable-timed, such as Japanese or modern French or Finnish — as opposed to stress-timed languages such as English, in which...

 with a few melisma

Melisma

Melisma, in music, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.-History:Music of ancient cultures used...

tic phrase endings; conservative, generally staying within an octave

Octave

In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

; and motivically structured

Motif (music)

In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....

, having something in common with that of Bernart de Ventadorn

Bernart de Ventadorn

Bernart de Ventadorn , also known as Bernard de Ventadour or Bernat del Ventadorn, was a prominent troubador of the classical age of troubadour poetry. Now thought of as "the Master Singer" he developed the cançons into a more formalized style which allowed for sudden turns...

.

Works

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. Nonetheless, the developing of the theme corresponds to stages in the life of a lover.

• 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 meiu 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.

Sources