Gavaudan
Encyclopedia
Gavaudan was a troubadour
and hired soldier (soudadier) at the courts of both Raymond V
and Raymond VI of Toulouse
and later on in Castile
. He was from Gévaudan
, as his name (probably a nickname) implies. He wrote moralising lyrics, either religious or political, and ten of his works survive, including five sirventes
, two pastorela
s, one canso
, one planh
for an anonymous domna (lady), and one Crusade song
. He is sometime clumped in a primitive Marcabru
nian "school" of poetry alongside Bernart Marti
, Bernart de Venzac
, and Peire d'Alvernhe
. He developed a hermetic
style, combining elements of the trobar ric
and trobar clus
.
.
Gavaudan perceived himself as an innovator, as his poem Ieu no sui pars als autres trobadors ("I am not like other troubadours") indicates. That poem is the "manifesto
" of his poetry and in it he declares that his work is only meant to be clear als bos entendedors: "to good listeners (i.e. those who understand well)".
in Spain. It was definitely written after the fall of Jerusalem
to Saladin
in 1187, since it refers to that event. If it was written in 1195, it was probably before the Battle of Alarcos
on 19 July, where Alfonso VIII of Castile
was defeated by the Almohad
sultan of Morocco, Abu Jusuf. Gavaudan mentions Alfonso VIII in another song, Lo vers dech far en tal rima.
The later date (1210–12) places the songs on the eve of the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
(16 July 1212). Considering that Abdullah Muhammad al-Nasir, Abu Jusuf's successor in Morocco, had crossed into Andalusia
on 16 March 1211, it is probable that the song was written between that date and the battle. Support for the later date comes from an allusion in the poem to the taunts of the reys de Marroc, which probably refers to al-Nasir's boast that he would march all the way to Rome
and cleanse Saint Peter's Basilica with Mohammed's sword. Gavaudan probably felt personally threatened by this, since the march to Rome would undoubtedly pass through Occitania
, thus the Moors of his poem say Franc, faiz nos loc; / nostr'es Proensa e Tolzas, / entro al Puey totz los mejas: "Frank
, make us room; / ours are Provence
and Toulouse
, / as far as Le Puy
the whole country in between."
Evidence that the Crusade song can be placed after Alarcos is the sentiment expressed in lines 51–4 that the Spanish states between Occitania and the Moors have been defeated and the men north of the Pyrenees
must therefore take the Reconquista into their hands. Gavaudan mentions Alamans, Frances, Cambrezis, / Engles, Bretos et Angevis, / Biarns, Gascos ab nos mesclatz / el.s Provensals . . . ("Germans
, Frenchmen, men of Cambrai
/ Englishmen, Bretons and Angevins
, / Béarnais, Gascons with us mixed / the Provençal
s . . ."). This last reference also places Gavaudan in a Provençal contingent already with Alfonso in Spain; his sirventes was written to the audience back home, in hopes that they would come join the effort against the Moors. A date of January 1212 has been postulated in order to give Gavaudan enough time for his poem to have its effect. Some scholars (Saverio Guida, for instance) have defended a dating of 1196–1197. The tornada of the poem contains Gavaudan's prediction for the outcome of the engagement:
being waged against him. Three references situate it in time (c. 1213) and place (Toulouse
). One reference is to the count as ducx, coms, marques ("duke, count, margrave"), a triple title which referred to the fact that the counts of Toulouse were also Dukes of Narbonne
and Margraves of Provence. A second reference is to a "foolish white people", almost certainly the White Brotherhood
, a militia established in Toulouse by Folquet de Marselha
, erstwhile troubadour and then bishop, in 1211 to quell heresy. The third reference is to he "from whom part of his legitimate overlordship is withdrawn", probably an allusion to Simon de Montfort the Elder, who in January 1213 had been reprimanded by Pope Innocent III
for seizing the County of Comminges and Viscounty of Béarn "under the cloark of religion".
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....
and hired soldier (soudadier) at the courts of both Raymond V
Raymond V of Toulouse
Raymond V was count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194.He was the son of Alphonse-Jordan. When Alphonse died in the Holy Land in 1148, the county of Toulouse passed to his son Raymond, at the time 14 years old....
and 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:...
and later on in Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
. He was from Gévaudan
Gévaudan
Gévaudan is a historical area of France, nowadays situated in Lozère département. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe subordinate to the Arverni.- History :...
, as his name (probably a nickname) implies. He wrote moralising lyrics, either religious or political, and ten of his works survive, including five 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...
, two pastorela
Pastorela
The pastorela was an Occitan lyric genre used by the troubadours. It gave rise to the Old French pastourelle. The central topic was always meeting of a knight with a shepherdess, which may lead to any of a number of possible conclusions. They are usually humorous pieces...
s, one canso
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...
, one planh
Planh
The planh or plaing is a funeral lament used by the troubadours, modeled on the medieval Latin planctus. It differed from the planctus in that it was intended for a secular audience...
for an anonymous domna (lady), and one Crusade song
Crusade song
A Crusade song is any vernacular lyric poem about the Crusades. Crusade songs were popular in the High Middle Ages: 106 survive in Occitan, forty in Old French, thirty in Middle High German, two in Italian, and one in Old Castilian. The study of the Crusade song, which may be considered a genre of...
. He is sometime clumped in a primitive Marcabru
Marcabru
Marcabru is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two vidas attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are evidently built on hints in the poems, not on independent information.According to the brief life in MS...
nian "school" of poetry alongside Bernart Marti
Bernart Marti
Bernart Marti was a troubadour, composing poems and satires in Occitan, in the mid twelfth century. Nine or ten of his poems survive; they show that he was influenced by his contemporaries Marcabru and knew Peire d'Alvernha, whom, in one poem, he accused of abandoning holy orders...
, Bernart de Venzac
Bernart de Venzac
Bernart de Venzac was an obscure troubadour from Venzac near Rodez in the Rouergue. He wrote in the Marcabrunian style, leaving behind five moralising pieces and one religious alba...
, and Peire d'Alvernhe
Peire d'Alvernhe
Peire d'Alvernhe or d'Alvernha was an Auvergnat troubadour with twenty-one or twenty-four surviving works. He composed in an "esoteric" and "formally complex" style known as the trobar clus...
. He developed a hermetic
Hermetics
Hermetics is the deliberate use of exceedingly obscure, convoluted, or esoteric literary or graphical symbolism and imagery....
style, combining elements of the trobar ric
Trobar ric
The trobar ric , or rich form of poetry, was a trobadour style.It was distinguished by its verbal gymnastics; its best exponent was Arnaut Daniel. Despite the fact that it outlasted trobar clus it always played a secondary role to trobar leu....
and trobar clus
Trobar clus
Trobar clus , or closed form, was a complex and obscure style of poetry used by troubadours for their more discerning audiences, and it was only truly appreciated by an elite few. It was developed extensively by Marcabru, but by 1200 its inaccessibility led to its disappearance...
.
Pastorelas
Gavaudan composed two pastorelas customarily dated to around 1200: Desamparatz, ses companho and L'autre dia, per un mati. They are one of the earliest and best examples of a subgenre of pastorela that, picking up on the themes of the earliest pastorelas, in which quaint shepherdesses were easily seduced by noble men, and those of Marcabru and his school, wherein the witty shepherdesses rebuff the oafish knights, intermingled the two earlier themes into one, in which the shepherdess and the knight fall in love. In Gavaudan, the knight and the shepherdess turn to each other in retreat from the dreariness of their normal lives and their love is true, but not courtly loveCourtly 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....
.
Gavaudan perceived himself as an innovator, as his poem Ieu no sui pars als autres trobadors ("I am not like other troubadours") indicates. That poem is the "manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
" of his poetry and in it he declares that his work is only meant to be clear als bos entendedors: "to good listeners (i.e. those who understand well)".
Crusade song
Gavaudan's Crusade song, Senhor, per nostres peccatz, has been variously dated to either 1195 or 1210–12. The nature of the song is an "invocation to the whole of Christendom" to take up the ReconquistaReconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
in Spain. It was definitely written after the fall of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
On July 4, 1187 the Kingdom's army was defeated at the Battle of Hattin by Saladin and only Balian of Ibelin commanding a small number of soldiers remained in Jerusalem. The Siege of Jerusalem lasted from September 20 to October 2, 1187. On October 2, 1187 Balian of Ibelin surrendered Jerusalem to...
to Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
in 1187, since it refers to that event. If it was written in 1195, it was probably before the Battle of Alarcos
Battle of Alarcos
Battle of Alarcos , was a battle between the Almohads led by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur and King Alfonso VIII of Castile. It resulted in the defeat of the Castilian forces and their subsequent retreat to Toledo whereas the Almohads conquered back Trujillo, Montánchez and Talavera.-Background:In...
on 19 July, where Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII , called the Noble or el de las Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate...
was defeated by the Almohad
Almohad
The Almohad Dynasty , was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his...
sultan of Morocco, Abu Jusuf. Gavaudan mentions Alfonso VIII in another song, Lo vers dech far en tal rima.
The later date (1210–12) places the songs on the eve of the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Arab history as the Battle of Al-Uqab , took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain...
(16 July 1212). Considering that Abdullah Muhammad al-Nasir, Abu Jusuf's successor in Morocco, had crossed into Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
on 16 March 1211, it is probable that the song was written between that date and the battle. Support for the later date comes from an allusion in the poem to the taunts of the reys de Marroc, which probably refers to al-Nasir's boast that he would march all the way to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and cleanse Saint Peter's Basilica with Mohammed's sword. Gavaudan probably felt personally threatened by this, since the march to Rome would undoubtedly pass through Occitania
Occitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
, thus the Moors of his poem say Franc, faiz nos loc; / nostr'es Proensa e Tolzas, / entro al Puey totz los mejas: "Frank
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, make us room; / ours are Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
and Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, / as far as Le Puy
Le Puy
Le Puy is the name, or part of the name, of several communes in France:* Le Puy, Doubs, in the département of Doubs* Le Puy, Gironde, in the département of Gironde* Le Puy-en-Velay, in the département of Haute-Loire...
the whole country in between."
Evidence that the Crusade song can be placed after Alarcos is the sentiment expressed in lines 51–4 that the Spanish states between Occitania and the Moors have been defeated and the men north of the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
must therefore take the Reconquista into their hands. Gavaudan mentions Alamans, Frances, Cambrezis, / Engles, Bretos et Angevis, / Biarns, Gascos ab nos mesclatz / el.s Provensals . . . ("Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, Frenchmen, men of Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
/ Englishmen, Bretons and Angevins
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
, / Béarnais, Gascons with us mixed / the Provençal
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
s . . ."). This last reference also places Gavaudan in a Provençal contingent already with Alfonso in Spain; his sirventes was written to the audience back home, in hopes that they would come join the effort against the Moors. A date of January 1212 has been postulated in order to give Gavaudan enough time for his poem to have its effect. Some scholars (Saverio Guida, for instance) have defended a dating of 1196–1197. The tornada of the poem contains Gavaudan's prediction for the outcome of the engagement:
|
|
Albigensian Crusade
Only one of Gavaudan's songs besides Senhor, per nostres peccatz can be dated with any confidence: A la plus longa nuech de l'an. In this song Gavaudan verbally defends the count of Toulouse, then Raymond VI, from the Albigensian CrusadeAlbigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...
being waged against him. Three references situate it in time (c. 1213) and place (Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
). One reference is to the count as ducx, coms, marques ("duke, count, margrave"), a triple title which referred to the fact that the counts of Toulouse were also Dukes of Narbonne
Duke of Narbonne
The title Duke of Narbonne was a title employed at various times by the overlords of Narbonne, while the direct power in the city was held by the viscounts...
and Margraves of Provence. A second reference is to a "foolish white people", almost certainly the White Brotherhood
White Brotherhood
The White Brotherhood was an urban society of Toulouse established in 1211 during the episcopate of Folquet de Marselha, so-called from its members' habit of wearing white crosses on their chests. The society, called a "pious institution" by William of Puylaurens, was militant towards usurers and...
, a militia established in Toulouse by Folquet de Marselha
Folquet de Marselha
Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse came from a Genoese merchant family who lived in Marseille...
, erstwhile troubadour and then bishop, in 1211 to quell heresy. The third reference is to he "from whom part of his legitimate overlordship is withdrawn", probably an allusion to Simon de Montfort the Elder, who in January 1213 had been reprimanded by Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
for seizing the County of Comminges and Viscounty of Béarn "under the cloark of religion".
Works
- A la pus longa nuech de l'an
- Crezens, fis, verays et entiers
- Dezamparatz, ses companho
- Ieu no suy pars als autres trobadors
- L'autre dia, per un mati
- Lo mes e·l temps e l'an deparc
- Lo vers dech far en tal rima
- Patz passien ven del Senhor
- Senhors, per los nostres peccatz
- Un vers vuelh far, chantador