Gui de Cavalhon
Encyclopedia
Gui de Cavalhon, Cavaillo, or Gavaillo (fl.
1200–1229) was a Provençal
nobleman: a diplomat, warrior, and man of letters. He was probably also the Guionet who composed tenso
s and partimen
s with Cadenet
, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
, Mainart Ros, Pomairol, and a certain Guillem.
in the Valclusa
, though there is no evidence of him residing there. He is first encountered at the court of Alfonso II of Provence in 1200–07. In 1204 he was present at the marriage of Alfonso's elder brother, Peter II of Aragon
, and Maria of Montpellier
. Beginning in 1209 he was in the service of Raymond VI of Toulouse
fighting the Albigensian Crusade
. In 1215 he accompanied Raymond to the Fourth Lateran Council. In 1216–17 he was fighting in Provence, where he was a counsellor of Raymond Berengar IV. In 1220 he was besieged in Castelnoudari (Castel-Nou) by Amaury de Montfort
. He later entered the Templar Order
and became a counsellor of Raymond VII
. For Raymond he led an embassy to Pope Honorius III
and in 1225 he was rewarded with the title of viscount
of Cavaillon. Gui was last mentioned in 1229.
in the Occitan language, leaving behind five or six lyric poems (or fragments), including a sirventes
and several tensos. His fame as a troubadour was enough that a vida
of his life, long by the genre's standards, survives. He is described in glowing terms as generous, courtly, charming, loved of the ladies and the people, a capable knight and warrior. Besides his surviving work, his biographer records his composition of coblas
(couplet
s) about love and "conversation" (de solatz, perhaps signifying humour or pleasure).
s without end"). The last part of this line is probably an obscene joke, alleging, with or without basis, that Gui's sister had a sexual relationship with Alfonso.
In 1215, on their way to IV Lateran, Gui and his Raymond VI composed a short partimen about the invasion of Raymond's land and the possible recovery of lost ground. In 1220 while besieged in Castelnouardi he addressed a poem to Bertran Folcon d'Avignon
which survives in its entirety appended to his vida. Gui also creatively composed a "tenso" with his own mantle.
Gui vies for the identity of the "Esperdut" (a senhal or nom de plume) who composed three poems: a canso
, a partimen with Pons de Monlaur
, and a sirventes. Gui has also peen posited as the co-author of a tenso with Garsenda of Forcalquier
, the wife of Alfonso II. His vida repeats the rumour (probably unfounded) that he was the countess' lover. In her tenso, after she declares her love for him, Gui responds courteously but carefully:
and Vienne. The sirventes was probably written between Summer 1216 and Guilhem's death, in an Avignon
ese prison, in June 1218.
, has been generally accepted. It found support among T. B. Eméric-David, Paul Meyer, Ludwig Selbach, Stanislaw Stronski, C. Fabre, Adolf Kolsen, Carl Appel, D. J. Jones, Martín de Riquer, Dietmar Rieger, Andrea Brusoni, and P. T. Ricketts. The identification has rested on the attribution in three chansonnier
s, called D, I, and K. The rubric
in these works gives the author as Ricautz de Tarascon e.n Guis de Cavaillon: "Ricau de Tarascon and Lord Gui de Cavalhon". In all other cases where there is an onomastic difference between a tenso and the ascription of the chansonnier, the latter is known to be correct (or to have good reason for the attribution). Further, in manuscript C, where the attribution is simply Tenso d'en Cabrit e d'eu Ricau, it immediately precedes a selection of Gui's pieces that, in the same way, are assigned to Guionet and Esperdut, other nicknames Gui used.
Only Martín Aurell has strongly objected to the identification. He argues that Cabrit must have been a member of the urban noblesse of Arles
and owner of a small parcel of land near Tarascon
, documented in a notarial act of August 1203 at the house of Bertran Porcelet and probably dead by 1225. A Guillelmus Aldebertus Cabritus (Guillem Aldebert Cabrit) was a consul
of Arles in 1197 and man known only as Cabritus was a consul in 1209. Guillem Aldebert Cabrit also witnessed the testament of Rostanh Porcelet in 1186 and an 1198 donation to the Knights Templar
in Arles by the Porcelet family. That these figures named Cabritus all acted in the same geographical theatre (Arles) and in connexion with the family (Porcelet) over a period of thirty years suggests that it was a single individual of some prominence at Arles. That this figure held land at Tarascon strongly suggests that he may have been Ricau's interlocutor.
. He is mentioned among the bravest and most loyal of the Count of Toulouse' followers. The author of the second part of the Canso puts an eloquent speech in Gui's mouth, in which he praises the Paratge (nobility) and denounces lo coms de Monfort que destrui los baros e la gleiza de Roma ("the count of Montfort
who destroyed the barons and the Church of Rome
"). The speech was delivered upon the return of Raymonds VI and VII to Toulouse
on 12 September 1217. It was desigend as an instructive word of wisdom from the aged Gui to the young Raymond VII.
Gui's largest influence on other poets, however, was his cultivation of alexandrines, popular already in chansons de geste, such as Gui de Nanteuil. Subsequent authors in Occitan and Catalan
called this type of poetry la tonada de Gui, el so de Gui Nantull (Ramon Muntaner
), the son d'En Gui (Peire Bremon Ricas Novas
), or the son de meser Gui (Uc de Saint Circ
). It has been suggested that these references (or at least some of them) may refer not, as traditionally believed, to Gui de Nanteuil (Muntaner's usage being the obvious exception), but to Gui de Cavalhon.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
1200–1229) was a 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...
nobleman: a diplomat, warrior, and man of letters. He was probably also the Guionet who composed 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 partimen
Partimen
The partimen is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry composed between two troubadours, a subgenre of the tenso or cobla exchange in which one poet presents a dilemma in the form of a question and the two debate the answer, each taking up a different side. It was especially popular in poetic contests....
s with Cadenet
Cadenet (troubadour)
Cadenet was a Provençal troubadour who lived and wrote at the court of Raymond VI of Toulouse and eventually made a reputation in Spain. Of his twenty-five surviving songs, twenty-one are cansos, with one alba, one partimen, one pastorela, and one religious piece represented...
, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras was a Provençal troubadour and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courts until 1203, when he joined the Fourth Crusade....
, Mainart Ros, Pomairol, and a certain Guillem.
Knight and nobleman
Gui was born at CavaillonCavaillon
Cavaillon is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-Geography:The Calavon, a tributary of the Durance locally called Coulon, flows westward through the middle of the commune....
in the Valclusa
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
, though there is no evidence of him residing there. He is first encountered at the court of Alfonso II of Provence in 1200–07. In 1204 he was present at the marriage of Alfonso's elder brother, Peter II of Aragon
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.He was the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile...
, and Maria of Montpellier
Marie of Montpellier
Marie of Montpellier , was by birth heiress and later Sovereign Lady of Montpellier and by her three marriages Viscountess of Marseille, Countess of Comminges and Queen of Aragon....
. Beginning in 1209 he was in the service 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:...
fighting 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...
. In 1215 he accompanied Raymond to the Fourth Lateran Council. In 1216–17 he was fighting in Provence, where he was a counsellor of Raymond Berengar IV. In 1220 he was besieged in Castelnoudari (Castel-Nou) by Amaury de Montfort
Amaury de Montfort
Amaury VI de Montfort was the son of the elder Simon de Montfort and Alice of Montmorency, and the brother of the younger Simon de Montfort.He participated in the Albigensian Crusade under his father's command...
. He later entered the Templar Order
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
and became a counsellor of Raymond VII
Raymond VII of Toulouse
Raymond VII of Saint-Gilles was Count of Toulouse, Duke of Narbonne and Marquis of Provence from 1222 until his death. He was the son of Raymond VI of Toulouse and Joan of England...
. For Raymond he led an embassy to Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...
and in 1225 he was rewarded with the title of viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
of Cavaillon. Gui was last mentioned in 1229.
Literature
Gui's career would have been little out of the ordinary for a 13th-century nobleman if not for his literary pursuits, for he was an accomplished troubadourTroubadour
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....
in the Occitan language, leaving behind five or six lyric poems (or fragments), including 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...
and several tensos. His fame as a troubadour was enough that a 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...
of his life, long by the genre's standards, survives. He is described in glowing terms as generous, courtly, charming, loved of the ladies and the people, a capable knight and warrior. Besides his surviving work, his biographer records his composition of coblas
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...
(couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
s) about love and "conversation" (de solatz, perhaps signifying humour or pleasure).
Tensos
His earliest tenso was with an otherwise unknown "Falco", which can be dated to 1200–07 on the basis of a charge of Falco's that Gui lived off the gifts of his patron, Count Alfonso: Senh'En Guy, del comte, / don enquer vos sove, / N'Anfos vostre senhor, / don ac man palafre / ses fre vostra seror ("Lord Sir Guy, you receive gifts from the count, Sir Alfonso your lord, your sister gifts of palfreyPalfrey
A palfrey is a type of horse highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It is not a breed.The word "palfrey" is cognate with the German word for horse , "Pferd". Both descend from Latin "paraveredus", meaning a post horse or courier horse...
s without end"). The last part of this line is probably an obscene joke, alleging, with or without basis, that Gui's sister had a sexual relationship with Alfonso.
In 1215, on their way to IV Lateran, Gui and his Raymond VI composed a short partimen about the invasion of Raymond's land and the possible recovery of lost ground. In 1220 while besieged in Castelnouardi he addressed a poem to Bertran Folcon d'Avignon
Bertran Folcon d'Avignon
Bertran Folcon d'Avignon or Bertran Folco d'Avinhon was a Provençal nobleman and troubadour from Avignon. He was a faithful partisan of Raymond VI and Raymond VII of Toulouse in Provence, and participated in the wars against the Albigensian Crusade. He was inside the city during the siege of...
which survives in its entirety appended to his vida. Gui also creatively composed a "tenso" with his own mantle.
Gui vies for the identity of the "Esperdut" (a senhal or nom de plume) who composed three poems: a 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...
, a partimen with Pons de Monlaur
Pons de Monlaur
Pons de Monlaur or Montlaur was a Provençal baron and troubadour of the early thirteenth century. He was the lord of Montlaux and married Guida, sister of Hugh IV of Rodez, in 1235. Hugh was a patron of troubadours and Pons had a connexion through his wife also to Sordello, who addressed her in...
, and a sirventes. Gui has also peen posited as the co-author of a tenso with Garsenda of Forcalquier
Garsenda of Forcalquier
Garsenda or Garsende de Sabran was the Countess of Provence as the wife of Alfonso II from 1193 and the Countess of Forcalquier in her own right from 1209. She brought Forcalquier to the House of Barcelona and united it to Provence...
, the wife of Alfonso II. His vida repeats the rumour (probably unfounded) that he was the countess' lover. In her tenso, after she declares her love for him, Gui responds courteously but carefully:
|
|
Sirventes
Gui's lone surviving sirventes was written against Guilhem dels Baus, who, in 1215, had been confirmed by Frederick II in the titles King of ArlesKing of Burgundy
The following is a list of the Kings of the two Kingdoms of Burgundy, and a number of related political entities devolving from Carolingian machinations over family relations.- Kings of the Burgundians :...
and Vienne. The sirventes was probably written between Summer 1216 and Guilhem's death, in an Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
ese prison, in June 1218.
"Cabrit"
Since the early 19th century, the identity of Gui with the "Cabrit" of the poem Cabrit, al meu vejaire, written with Ricau de TarasconRicau de Tarascon
Ricau, Ricautz, or Ricavi de Tarascon was a Provençal knight and troubadour from Tarascon. His vida portrays him as a good "servant" of ladies. He wrote both sirventes and cansos, but only two songs survive: one canso and one tenso, "Cabrit, al mieu vejaire", probably with Gui de Cavalhon.-External...
, has been generally accepted. It found support among T. B. Eméric-David, Paul Meyer, Ludwig Selbach, Stanislaw Stronski, C. Fabre, Adolf Kolsen, Carl Appel, D. J. Jones, Martín de Riquer, Dietmar Rieger, Andrea Brusoni, and P. T. Ricketts. The identification has rested on the attribution in three chansonnier
Chansonnier
A chansonnier is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally "song-books," although some manuscripts are so called even though they preserve the text but not the music A chansonnier is a manuscript or...
s, called D, I, and K. The rubric
Rubric
A rubric is a word or section of text which is traditionally written or printed in red ink to highlight it. The word derives from the , meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier...
in these works gives the author as Ricautz de Tarascon e.n Guis de Cavaillon: "Ricau de Tarascon and Lord Gui de Cavalhon". In all other cases where there is an onomastic difference between a tenso and the ascription of the chansonnier, the latter is known to be correct (or to have good reason for the attribution). Further, in manuscript C, where the attribution is simply Tenso d'en Cabrit e d'eu Ricau, it immediately precedes a selection of Gui's pieces that, in the same way, are assigned to Guionet and Esperdut, other nicknames Gui used.
Only Martín Aurell has strongly objected to the identification. He argues that Cabrit must have been a member of the urban noblesse of Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
and owner of a small parcel of land near Tarascon
Tarascon
Tarascon , sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Geography:...
, documented in a notarial act of August 1203 at the house of Bertran Porcelet and probably dead by 1225. A Guillelmus Aldebertus Cabritus (Guillem Aldebert Cabrit) was a consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
of Arles in 1197 and man known only as Cabritus was a consul in 1209. Guillem Aldebert Cabrit also witnessed the testament of Rostanh Porcelet in 1186 and an 1198 donation to the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
in Arles by the Porcelet family. That these figures named Cabritus all acted in the same geographical theatre (Arles) and in connexion with the family (Porcelet) over a period of thirty years suggests that it was a single individual of some prominence at Arles. That this figure held land at Tarascon strongly suggests that he may have been Ricau's interlocutor.
Legacy and influence
Gui is a major figure in the Canso de la crosadaChanson de la Croisade Albigeoise
The Song of the Albigensian Crusade is an Old Occitan epic poem narrating events of the Albigensian Crusade from March 1208 to June 1219. Modelled on the Old French chanson de geste, it was composed in two distinct parts: William of Tudela wrote the first towards 1213, and an anonymous continuator...
. He is mentioned among the bravest and most loyal of the Count of Toulouse' followers. The author of the second part of the Canso puts an eloquent speech in Gui's mouth, in which he praises the Paratge (nobility) and denounces lo coms de Monfort que destrui los baros e la gleiza de Roma ("the count of 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...
who destroyed the barons and the Church of Rome
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
"). The speech was delivered upon the return of Raymonds VI and VII to 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...
on 12 September 1217. It was desigend as an instructive word of wisdom from the aged Gui to the young Raymond VII.
Gui's largest influence on other poets, however, was his cultivation of alexandrines, popular already in chansons de geste, such as Gui de Nanteuil. Subsequent authors in Occitan and Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
called this type of poetry la tonada de Gui, el so de Gui Nantull (Ramon Muntaner
Ramon Muntaner
Ramon Muntaner was a Catalan soldier and writer who wrote the Crònica, a chronicle of his life, including his adventures as a commander in the Catalan Company...
), the son d'En Gui (Peire Bremon Ricas Novas
Peire Bremon Ricas Novas
Peire Bremon Ricas Novas was a Provençal troubadour who left behind twenty works: thirteen cansos, six sirventes, and one tenso. His treatment of courtly love was somewhat original....
), or the son de meser Gui (Uc de Saint Circ
Uc de Saint Circ
Uc de Saint Circ or Hugues de Saint Circq was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of several vidas and razos of other troubadours, though only one of Bernart de Ventadorn exists under his name...
). It has been suggested that these references (or at least some of them) may refer not, as traditionally believed, to Gui de Nanteuil (Muntaner's usage being the obvious exception), but to Gui de Cavalhon.