Ponç de la Guàrdia
Encyclopedia
Ponç de la Guàrdia was a Catalan knight
of the family of Saguàrdia, lords of the castle
of Ripoll
. He was not a professional jongleur, but a troubadour
who wrote songs for amusement which were much celebrated, so we are told, by Occitan women.
Ponç participated in the Siege of Conca (1177) on the side of Alfonso II of Aragon
and a little later in the campaign to bring Raymond V of Toulouse
to heel.
He wrote four amorous compositions which form a small cycle dedicated to an anonymous lady called "On-tot-mi-platz". It has been suggested by one editor of his works, that nine of his songs form a cycle with the plot of a roman d'amour, but the ordering of these cycles is not the same in the different manuscripts, one of which considers them anonymous. Ponç is one of the few troubadours suspected of anthologising his own works. Though his work is all in Occitan, some Catalan
words make appearances.
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....
of the family of Saguàrdia, lords of the castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
of Ripoll
Ripoll
Ripoll is the capital of the comarca of Ripollès, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on confluence of the Ter River and its tributary Freser, next to the Pyrenees near the French border...
. He was not a professional jongleur, but a 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....
who wrote songs for amusement which were much celebrated, so we are told, by Occitan women.
Ponç participated in the Siege of Conca (1177) on the side of 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...
and a little later in the campaign to bring Raymond V of Toulouse
Raymond V of Toulouse
Raymond V was count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194.He was the son of Alphonse-Jordan. When Alphonse died in the Holy Land in 1148, the county of Toulouse passed to his son Raymond, at the time 14 years old....
to heel.
He wrote four amorous compositions which form a small cycle dedicated to an anonymous lady called "On-tot-mi-platz". It has been suggested by one editor of his works, that nine of his songs form a cycle with the plot of a roman d'amour, but the ordering of these cycles is not the same in the different manuscripts, one of which considers them anonymous. Ponç is one of the few troubadours suspected of anthologising his own works. Though his work is all in Occitan, some 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...
words make appearances.
Sources
- Bossy, Michel-André. "Cyclical Composition in Guiraut Riquier's Book of Poems." SpeculumSpeculum (journal)Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies is a quarterly academic journal published by the Medieval Academy of America. It was established in 1926. The journal's primary focus is on the time period from 500-1500 in Western Europe, but also on related subjects such as Byzantine, Hebrew, Arabic, and...
, Vol. 66, No. 2. (Apr., 1991), pp 277–293.