Bertolome Zorzi
Encyclopedia
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
nobleman, merchant, 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....
. Like all Lombard
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
troubadours, he composed in the Occitan language. Eighteen of his works survive.
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...
, while travelling with a large band of merchants to Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
, they were captured by the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
, which was then at war with that of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, and taken prisoners to Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. There Zorzi composed many songs from prison
Prison literature
Prison literature is a literary genre characterized by literature that is written while the author is confined in a location against his will, such as a prison, jail or house arrest...
and even collaborated on some 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 with Bonifaci Calvo
Bonifaci Calvo
Bonifaci, Bonifatz, or Bonifacio Calvo was a Genoese troubadour of the late thirteenth century. The only biographical account of his life is found in the vida of Bertolome Zorzi. He is, however, the most notable Genoese troubadour after Lanfranc Cigala...
, a native Genoese troubadour. In response to 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...
in which Bonifaci blamed the Genoese for allowing the Venetians to gain the upper hand and insult them, Zorzi composed the sirventes Molt me sui fort d'un chant merveillatz ("I was very much surprised by a song") justifying Venice. The response convinced Bonifaci and the two became friends.
Upon the release of the prisoners when Venice and Genoa came to terms of peace (about seven years later), Bertolome returned to Venice and was rewarded by the Doge
Doge of Venice
The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...
with the castellanies
Castellany
A castellany was a district administered by a castellan.Castellanies appeared during the Middle Ages and in most current states are now replaced by a more modern type of country subdivision....
of Coron
Koroni
Koroni or Coroni is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit. Known as Corone by the Venetians and Ottomans, the town of Koroni Koroni or Coroni is a...
and Modon
Methoni, Messenia
Methoni is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit. Its name may be derived from Mothona, a mythical rock. It is located 11 km south of Pylos and...
in southwestern Morea
Morea
The Morea was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It also referred to a Byzantine province in the region, known as the Despotate of Morea.-Origins of the name:...
. According to his vida, there he fell in love with a beautiful local noblewoman and spent the rest of his life.
Perceval
Perceval may refer to*Spencer Perceval, British prime minister*Percival or Perceval, Arthurian knight...
of Arthurian legend confessing to his uncle. Zorzi also has been cited as one of several troubadours who protested Alfonso X's
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...
refusal to rescue his brother the infante Henry
Infante Enrique of Castile
Henry of Castile , called El Senador , was a Castilian infante, the younger son of Ferdinand III, King of Castile, by his first wife, Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen....
from an Italian prison. In Mout fai sobrieira foli, each stanza of Zorzi's ends with a corresponding quotation from Peire Vidal's
Peire Vidal
Peire Vidal was a troubadour. According to his biography, he was born in Toulouse, the son of a furrier, and the greatest of singers....
Quant hom es en autrui poder, whom he is defending from those who label him a "fool". An example of Zorzi's poetry is below:
- Qu'eu ai viscut ses merce,
- Enics, plens d'erranza,
- Ergolhos, de mala fe,
- Ab desmesuranza,
- Falsa contra maint lejal,
And an example of his metaphor:
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