Azalais de Porcairagues (also Azalaïs) or Alasais de Porcaragues was a trobairitz

Trobairitz

The trobairitz were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. The word trobairitz was first used in the 13th-century romance Flamenca. It comes from the Provençal word trobar, the literal meaning of which is "to find", and the...

 (woman troubadour), composing in Occitan in the late 12th century.

The sole source for her life is her 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...

, which tells us that she came from the country round Montpellier; she was educated and a gentlewoman; she loved Gui Guerrejat

Gui Guerrejat

Gui Guerrejat was the fifth son of William VI of Montpellier. When still a boy, in 1146, he inherited the castles of Paulhan and le Pouget from his father....

, the brother of William VII of Montpellier

William VII of Montpellier

William VII of Montpellier was the eldest son of William VI and of his wife Sibylle.Aged around 15, he inherited the lordship of Montpellier from his father in 1146 under the tutelage of his grandmother, Ermessende of Melgueil...

, and made many good songs about him; meaning, probably, that the one poem of hers known to the compiler had been addressed to Gui.

Gui was perhaps born around 1135; he fell ill early in 1178, became a monk, and died later in that year. Nothing is known of the dates of Azalais's birth and death. From her name, and from the statement in the Biographies cited above, it can be concluded that she came from the village of Portiragnes

Portiragnes

Portiragnes is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France....

, just east of Béziers

Béziers

Béziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...

 and about 10 kilometers south of Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

, close to the territories that belonged to Gui and to his brothers. Aimo Sakari argues that she is the mysterious joglar ("jongleur") addressed in several poems by Raimbaut of Orange

Raimbaut of Orange

Raimbaut of Orange , or in Occitan Raimbaut d'Aurenga, was the lord of Orange and Aumelas. His properties included the towns of Frontignan and Mireval. He was the only son of William of Aumelas and of Tiburge, daughter of Raimbaut, count of Orange...

 (a neighbour, and a cousin of Gui Guerrejat).

One poem attributed to Azalais, classically simple and emotional, survives today. As usually printed it has 52 lines, but the text varies considerably between manuscripts, suggesting that it was not written down immediately on its composition. No music is attached to it. The poem alludes to the death in 1173 of Raimbaut of Orange; it was possibly first composed before that date and emended afterwards. The poem's envoi

Envoi

In poetry, an envoi is a short stanza at the end of a poem used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem.-Form:...

 seems to mention Ermengarde of Narbonne

Ermengarde of Narbonne

Ermengarde , was a viscountess of Narbonne from 1134 to 1192...

 (1143–1197), a well known patroness of troubadour poetry.

As observed by Sakari, the third strophe of the poem seems to contribute to a poetical debate begun by Guilhem de Saint-Leidier

Guilhem de Saint-Leidier

Guilhem de Saint-Leidier or Guillem de Saint Deidier was a troubadour of the 12th century, composing in Occitan. He was lord of Saint Didier-en-Velay, was born at some date before 1150, and died between 1195 and 1200...

 as to whether a lady is dishonoured by taking a lover who is richer than herself. Raimbaut of Orange

Raimbaut of Orange

Raimbaut of Orange , or in Occitan Raimbaut d'Aurenga, was the lord of Orange and Aumelas. His properties included the towns of Frontignan and Mireval. He was the only son of William of Aumelas and of Tiburge, daughter of Raimbaut, count of Orange...

 also comments in his poem A mon vers dirai chanso. Soon afterwards there follows a partimen

Jeu parti

Jeu parti [Fr.; Occitan joc partit, “partimen”]. A debate or dialogue in the form of a poem. According to Guilhem Molinier, the author of Las leys d'amors, a 13th-century treatise on how to write poetry in the style of the troubadours, there is a clear difference between a partimen and a tenso: in...

on the topic between Dalfi d'Alvernha and 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 then a tensó

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...

between Guiraut de Bornelh and king Alfonso II of Aragon

Alfonso II of Aragon

Alfonso II or Alfons I ; Huesca, 1-25 March 1157 – 25 April 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1164 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon and the first King of Aragon who was...

.

Excerpt

Ar em al freg temps vengut quel gels el neus e la fainga el aucellet estan mut, c'us de chanter non s'afrainga;

Now we are come to the cold time when the ice and the snow and the mud and the little birds are mute;

Sources and bibliography

• First stanza in Occitan and English.
• Pierre Bec, Chants d'amour des femmes-troubadours: trobairitz et chansons de femme (Paris: Stock, 1995) pp. 65–70: complete poem in Occitan and French.
• Biographies des troubadours ed. J. Boutière, A.-H. Schutz (Paris: Nizet, 1964) pp. 341–2.
• A. Sakari, 'Azalais de Porcairagues, le "Joglar" de Raimbaut d'Orange' in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen vol. 50 (1949) pp. 23–43, 56-87, 174-198.