Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Encyclopedia
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...
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....
and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courts until 1203, when he joined the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
.
As his name suggests, Raimbaut came from Vacqueyras
Vacqueyras
Vacqueyras is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-See also:* Dentelles de Montmirail*Communes of the Vaucluse department*Vacqueyras AOC*Raimbaut de Vaqueiras-References:*...
near Orange, France. He spent most of his career as court poet and close friend of Boniface I of Montferrat. He served with him in action against the communes of Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
and Alessandria
Alessandria
-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
. Raimbaut claimed he earned 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....
hood through protecting Boniface with his shield in battle at Messina, when they took part in Emperor Henry VI
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
's invasion of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. He was present at the siege and capture of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1204, and then accompanied Boniface to Thessalonica. His writings, particularly the so-called Epic Letter, form an important commentary on the politics of the Latin Empire
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
in its earliest years, after which they suddenly cease: it is generally presumed that Raimbaut died on 4 September 1207, together with Boniface, in an ambush by the Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
.
The only critical edition of Raimbaut attributes 33 extant songs to him; only eight of the associate melodies have survived. He used a wide range of styles, including a descort
Descort
The descort is a subgenre of Occitan lyric poetry used by the troubadours. It is a song heavily discordant in verse form and/or feeling and often used to express disagreement. It was invented by Garin d'Apchier when he wrote Quan foill'e flors reverdezis...
in five languages, 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...
s, 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 and alba
Alba (poetry)
The alba is a subgenre of Occitan lyric poetry. It describes the longing of lovers who, having passed a night together, must separate for fear of being discovered by their respective spouses....
s; he, with Perdigon
Perdigon
Perdigon or Perdigo was a troubadour from Lespéron in the Gabales, diocese of Gévaudan, modern Lozère. Fourteen of his works survive, including three cansos with melodies...
and Ademar de Peiteus, invented the torneyamen
Torneyamen
A torneyamen or certamen was a lyric genre of the troubadours of the thirteenth century. Closely related to the tenso, a debate between two poets, and the partimen, a question posed by one poet and another's response, the torneyamen took place between several poets, originally usually three...
(or at least left us its earliest example). One of his songs, Kalenda Maia, is referred to as an estampida and is considered one of the best troubadour melodies. However according to the razó
Razo
Raso is an islet of 8 square kilometers in the Barlavento archipelago of Cape Verde. Raso is flanked by the smaller Branco islet on the west and by São Nicolau island on its eastern side. Raso is uninhabited and is now the only home of the Raso Lark. The Brown Booby and Red-billed Tropicbird visit...
he borrowed the tune from two musicians. This would explain why the song is called an estampida when it is theoretically a purely instrumental piece.
Raimbaut is equally known to have written a multilingual poem called Eras quan vey verdeyar where he used several different languages as French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Galician-Portuguese
Galician-Portuguese
Galician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was first spoken in the area bounded in the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Douro River in the south but it was later extended south...
and he used Gascon
Gascon language
Gascon is usually considered as a dialect of Occitan, even though some specialists regularly consider it a separate language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and Béarn in southwestern France and in the Aran Valley of Spain...
as a different language from his own "Provençal".
Vaqueiras in fiction
In 1922, Vaqueiras was the subject of a verse drama by Nino Berrini, Rambaldo di Vaqueiras: I Monferrato. Strongly derivative of Edmond RostandEdmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
's Cyrano de Bergerac and La Princesse Lointaine, it presents a highly romantic, fictionalised image of the poet, in love with his patron's daughter Beatrice. At the end, he returns, mortally wounded, from Thessalonica, to die in her arms.