Pere de Queralt
Encyclopedia
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
nobleman, diplomat, and poet; "una destacada figura del seu temps" (a distinguished figure of his age). He was the nephew of Guerau de Queralt, husband of Clemença de Perellós, and lord of Santa Coloma. He is not to be confused with the knight Pere de Queralt of the thirteenth century, who reportedly fought a lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
and won: an act commemorated in a carved vault
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
keystone
Keystone (architecture)
A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
in the church of Santa Maria de Bell-lloc in Santa Coloma.
In 1389 Pere was one of the barons that revolted against John I
John I of Aragon
John I , called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance , but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of...
at Calasanç after having signed the sentence against Carroça de Vilaragut. Pere joined the rebels in order to advance his stepmother and sister-in-law, Lionor de Perellós, who was subsequently raised to Carroça's former position.
In 1392 Pere participated in an expedition to 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,...
. In 1397, after becoming a councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
and chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
of the king, he went on a diplomatic mission 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...
to participate in negotiations to resolve the Western Schism
Western Schism
The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...
. There he probably first encountered Italian literature. In July that same year the king received a petition for aid from some Christian captives held at Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
. When Pere returned to Valencia from Rome in January 1398 he was immediately sent, with one galley, to Tunis to negotiate their freedom. This he successfully did by promising to restore some sacred Muslim objects taken during the sack of Torreblanco. In 1398 he actively supported the Crusade waged by Martin of Aragon against the Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
in Africa. In April 1399 and then in 1402–3 he was again ambassador to Tunis. This last embassy resulted in a peace treaty
Peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
, but the rescue of only a select few captives. Pere died in 1408.
Pere left behind a sizable collection of books, which were catalogued by his widow. The record indicates that Pere owned several Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
books: a Lancelot, a Roman de la Rose
Roman de la Rose
The Roman de la rose, , is a medieval French poem styled as an allegorical dream vision. It is a notable instance of courtly literature. The work's stated purpose is to both entertain and to teach others about the Art of Love. At various times in the poem, the "Rose" of the title is seen as the...
, 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, a Tristan
Prose Tristan
The Prose Tristan is an adaptation of the Tristan and Iseult story into a long prose romance, and the first to tie the subject entirely into the arc of the Arthurian legend...
, and a Remey d'amor, probably a translation of Ovid's
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
Remedia amoris
Remedia Amoris
Remedia Amoris is a 814 line poem in Latin by the Roman poet Ovid.In this poem, Ovid offers advices and strategies to avoid being hurt by love feelings, or to fall out of love, with a stoic overtone...
. As a poet himself, Pere was also interested in works of grammar and language. His library included the Razos de trobar of Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun
Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun
Raimon Vidal de Bezaudu was a Catalan troubadour from Besalù. He is famous for authoring the first poetical tract in a Romance language , the Razós de trobar...
and the Libre de concordances (or Diccionari de rims) of Jaume March II
Jaume March II
Jaume March was a Catalan language poet.Brother of Pere March and uncle of Arnau March and the renowned Ausiàs March, Jaume's family had been lawyers and officers of the court of the kingdom of Aragon. Born in Valencia he was seemingly the eldest son, and inherited the family's possessions around...
.
Pere as poet has left us only one piece, Sens pus tardar me ve de vos partir (or Ses pus tardar me ve de vós partir). The language of the poem is unique, consisting of a 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...
base which has accrued a patina of Occitanisms. The poem is a harsh and violent maldit-comiat
Maldit-comiat
A maldit was a genre of Catalan and Occitan literature practised by the later troubadours. It was a song complaining about a lady's behaviour and character. A related genre, the comiat , was a song renouncing a lover...
, in which Pere accuses his lady of having three lovers in a single day. When Pere takes leave of his lady, he does so with a metaphor of the rabasta. He will not sing for his lady any more "cançó, dansa
Dansa
A dansa was an Occitan form of lyric poetry developed in the late thirteenth century among the troubadours. It is related to the English term "dance" and was often accompanied by dancing. A closely related form, the balada or balaresc, had a more complex structure, and is related to the ballade...
ni lai
Lai
A lai is a lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.Lais were mainly composed in France and Germany, during the 13th and 14th centuries. A Provençal term for a similar kind of poem is descort.The English term lay is a...
", since she has turned such things into a rabasta, the part of saddle that wraps around a horse's posterior between its tail and its buttocks. The reference suggests that Pere composed songs previously, and in the French tradition, though none survive. Sens pus tardar me ve de vos partir is written in an Italian style (though not an Italian tone). Pere seems to have been inspired by the sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
Benedetto sia'l giorno e'l mese e l'anno by Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
. Pere is one of the first Italianate writers of Catalonia, yet his style cannot be called Petrarchan
Petrarchan
The Petrarchan sonnet is a verse form that typically refers to a concept of unattainable love. It was first developed by the Italian humanist and writer, Francesco Petrarca. Conventionally Petrarchan sonnets depict the addressed lady in hyperbolic terms and present her as a model of perfection and...
because of its brazen tone; rather it is a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Petrarch.
External links
- Sens pus tardar me ve de vos partir, edited by Martín de Riquer, "Miscelánea de poesía medieval catalana", BRABLB, 26 (1954–56), pp. 151–185, at p. 157.