Rigaut de Berbezilh (also Berbezill or Barbesiu; ) was 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....

 (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1140–1163) of the petty nobility

Petty nobility

Petty nobility is dated at least back to 13th century and was formed by Nobles/Knights around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable peasants with leader roles in local community that were given tax exemption for taking care of services like for example guard duties of local primitive...

 of Saintonge

Saintonge

Saintonge is a small region on the Atlantic coast of France within the département Charente-Maritime, west and south of Charente in the administrative region of Poitou-Charentes....

. He was a great influence on the Sicilian School

Sicilian School

The Sicilian School was a small community of Sicilian, and to a lesser extent, mainland Italian poets gathered around Frederick II, most of them belonging to his court, the Magna Curia. Headed by Giacomo da Lentini, they produced more than three-hundred poems of courtly love between 1230 and 1266,...

 and is quoted in the 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...

. About fifteen of his poems survive, including one planh

Planh

The planh or plaing is a funeral lament used by the troubadours, modeled on the medieval Latin planctus. It differed from the planctus in that it was intended for a secular audience...

and nine or ten cansos

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...

.

Life

While the dates of his life are disputed, some maintaining a later career (c. 1170–1215), the general consensus is that he was an early troubadour.

Vida

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...

, the reliability of which is highly doubtful, he was a poor knight from the castle of Barbézieux in Cognac

Cognac

Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...

 in the Diocese of Saintes. He was described as capable and handsome, but saup mielhs trobar qu'entendre ni que dire: "he knew better how to compose poetry than to listen to it or recite it." He was reputed by the author of the vida to be timid, especially in the company of noblemen, but to sing "in a charming way" with encouragement.

Also according to his vida, he fell in love with the wife of Jaufre of Tonnay (Gaufridus de Tonai), possibly a daughter of Jaufre Rudel

Jaufré Rudel

Jaufre Rudel was the Prince of Blaye and a troubadour of the early–mid 12th century, who probably died during the Second Crusade, in or after 1147...

. She made "sweet pretenses of love to him ... like a lady who desired that a troubadour invent poems about her." He referred to her as Miellz-de-Domna, a senhal meaning "Best of Ladies", in at least four of his works. Though he sang songs about Miellz-de-Domna for a long time, it was not believed that he had a sexual relationship with her. When she died he went to Spain and, according to two manuscripts of his vida, spent the rest of his life at the court of Diego López Díaz de Haro, a famed patron of troubadours.

History

It is generally accepted that Rigaut was indeed from a family who had been deputies of the lord of the castle of Barbézieux. His family was probably distantly related to that of Jaufre Rudel through the Counts of Angoulême. He himself was probably the younger of two sons, but he married into a Angoumois family of rank. His entire life seems to have been spent in the region just south of Angoulême

Angoulême

-Main sights:In place of its ancient fortifications, Angoulême is encircled by boulevards above the old city walls, known as the Remparts, from which fine views may be obtained in all directions. Within the town the streets are often narrow. Apart from the cathedral and the hôtel de ville, the...

 and a post-1157 document refers to his entering a monastery.

Poetry and melody

As a poet he was influenced by Marcabru

Marcabru

Marcabru is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two vidas attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are evidently built on hints in the poems, not on independent information.According to the brief life in MS...

. One of his works, Atressi com l'orifans, achieved lasting fame and its melody survives in at least three manuscripts, its text in a late thirteenth-century Italian novellino. As his vida states, he sought to be novel through the incorporation of natural images—such as birds, beasts, stars, and the Sun—in his poems and they contain learned references to Ovid

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...

 and the legend of Perceval

Perceval

Perceval may refer to*Spencer Perceval, British prime minister*Percival or Perceval, Arthurian knight...

. His use of simile

Simile

A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like", "as". Even though both similes and metaphors are forms of comparison, similes indirectly compare the two ideas and allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas...

was heavy. Four cansos in total—two bestiary cansos, the Perceval canso, and a traditional canso—survive with melodies.

External links

• His complete works online at Trobar.org