Bertran de Gourdon or Bertram de Gordon (fl.

Floruit

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

 1209–1231) was the lord

Lord

Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...

 of Gourdon

Gourdon, Lot

Gourdon is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.The small town, Gourdon, close to Rocamadour, is situated in the south west region of France. Gourdon has a rich prehistoric past, and a high concentration of prehistoric sites...

, a 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....

.

Initially a partisan of Raymond VI of Toulouse

Raymond VI of Toulouse

Raymond VI was count of Toulouse and marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.-Early life:...

 in the war between the Albigensian Crusade

Albigensian Crusade

The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...

 and the baronage of Languedoc

Languedoc

Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...

, Bertran switched sides and did homage for his lands to Philip II of France

Philip II of France

Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...

 in December 1211. He alludes to this action in a cobla

Cobla (Occitan literary term)

A cobla is a stanza in Occitan lyric poetry, the art form of the troubadours. Though not usually standalone work in itself, in many instances a cobla or two is all that survives of what was once a complete poem. Each cobla of a song was usually played to the same melody, but a few songs were...

of 1212, a response to the criticism of a certain Mahieu or Matheus (not Mathieu de Caerci) for "selling out" to the French. Bertran surrendered promptly to the Crusaders under Simon de Montfort

Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester

Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester , also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade...

 in May 1218 and did homage to Simon for his lands.

Bertran wrote a comic 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...

, that is poetical debate, with Peire Raimon de Tolosa

Peire Raimon de Tolosa

Peire Raimon de Tolosa or Toloza 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...

, now known by the incipit

Incipit

Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...

 Totz tos afars es nienz. It was dated to before 1211 by Joseph Anglade on the basis that Bertran was probably not at odds with his fellow southern barons yet if he was, as Anglade, suspects, playing host and patron to Peire Raimon, who had just recently left the court of Toulouse, the chief enemy of the French crown.

Sources

• Anglade, Joseph (1920). Poésies du troubadour Peire Raimon de Toulouse: Texte et traduction.
• Jeanroy, Alfred
  Alfred Jeanroy
  Alfred Jeanroy was a French linguist.Jeanroy was born at Mangiennes, Meuse, Lorraine. He was a leading scholar studying troubadour poetry, publishing over 600 works. He established an influential view of the second generation of troubadours divided into two camps: “idealists” and “realists”...
  
  (1934). La poésie lyrique des troubadours. Toulouse: Privat.