Salut d'amor
Encyclopedia
A salut d'amor or (e)pistola (epistle) was an Occitan lyric poem of the troubadour
s, written as a letter from one lover to another in the tradition of courtly love
. Some songs preserved in the Italian quattrocento
and cinquecento
chansonnier
s are labelled in the rubric
s as saluts (or some equivalent), but the salut is not treated as a genre
by medieval Occitan grammarians. The trouvère
s copied the Occitan song style into Old French
as the salut d'amour. There are a total of nineteen surviving Occitan saluts and twelve French ones, with a Catalan
examples (of the salutació amorosa) also.
The poetic form probably derives from the classical Latin
love letter and through a blending of the ars dictaminis
and the early Occitan canso
. Occitan scholar Pierre Bec
argued that the salut was tripartite, possessing an introduction, body, and conclusion. Christiane Leube believes that the Latin five-part division of salutatio, captatio benevolentiae, narratio, petitio, and conclusio formed the basis for the salut, but that the salutatio and captatio blended into one segment and all but the conclusio being less rigidly delineated. Dietmar Rieger regards the salut less as a letter than as a variant of the canso intended not to be sung in performance but to be read. The Occitan saluts do not have stanza
s or refrain
s, but several French ones do (salut à refrains). Structurally they are usually octosyllabic rhyming couplets, but a few are hexasyllabic and Raimon de Miraval
wrote a heterometric salut. They often end with a one-word verse, unrhymed with anything previous, that gives the addressee: Domna or Dompna.
The first salut d'amor was probably Domna, cel qe'us es bos amics, written by Raimbaut d'Aurenga and he served as a model for many later troubadours. Arnaut de Mareuil
wrote five saluts, the most of any individual, and Don Alfred Monson has crowned him the maître incontesté du salut ("the uncontested master of the salut"). They served as a model for Amanieu de Sescars
, who wrote two precisely datable saluts in 1278 and 1291. Falquet de Romans
wrote a salut d'amor (epistola in the rubric) of 254 lines. The only female author of a salut was Azalais d'Altier
. Her 101 verses of rhyming couplet
s were designed to reconcile two lovers and were addressed to a woman, possibly Clara d'Anduza
. In French the only named author of a salut with refrains is Philippe de Rémi.
Destret d'emors mi clam a vos is a 708-line long anonymous Catalan salut.
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....
s, written as a letter from one lover to another in the tradition of courtly love
Courtly love
Courtly love was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife....
. Some songs preserved in the Italian quattrocento
Quattrocento
The cultural and artistic events of 15th century Italy are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento...
and cinquecento
Cinquecento
Cinquecento is a term used to describe the Italian Renaissance of the 16th century, including the current styles of art, music, literature, and architecture.-Art:...
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 are labelled in 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...
s as saluts (or some equivalent), but the salut is not treated as a genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
by medieval Occitan grammarians. The trouvère
Trouvère
Trouvère , sometimes spelled trouveur , is the Northern French form of the word trobador . It refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France...
s copied the Occitan song style into 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...
as the salut d'amour. There are a total of nineteen surviving Occitan saluts and twelve French ones, with 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...
examples (of the salutació amorosa) also.
The poetic form probably derives from the classical Latin
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
love letter and through a blending of the ars dictaminis
Ars dictaminis
The ars dictaminis was the medieval description of the art of prose composition, and more specifically of the writing of letters . It is closely linked to the ars dictandi, covering the composition of documents other than letters. The standing assumption was that these writings would be composed in...
and the early Occitan 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...
. Occitan scholar Pierre Bec
Pierre Bec
Pierre Bec , is an Occitan poet and linguist. Born in Paris, 1921, he spent his childhood in Comminges, where he learnt Occitan. He was deported to Germany between 1943 and 1945. After returning, he studied in Paris, where he graduated in 1959...
argued that the salut was tripartite, possessing an introduction, body, and conclusion. Christiane Leube believes that the Latin five-part division of salutatio, captatio benevolentiae, narratio, petitio, and conclusio formed the basis for the salut, but that the salutatio and captatio blended into one segment and all but the conclusio being less rigidly delineated. Dietmar Rieger regards the salut less as a letter than as a variant of the canso intended not to be sung in performance but to be read. The Occitan saluts do not have stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
s or refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
s, but several French ones do (salut à refrains). Structurally they are usually octosyllabic rhyming couplets, but a few are hexasyllabic and Raimon de Miraval
Raimon de Miraval
Raimon de Miraval was a troubadour and, according to his vida, "a poor knight from Carcassonne who owned less than a quarter of the castle of Miraval." Favoured by Raymond VI of Toulouse, he was also later associated with Peter II of Aragon and Alfonso VIII of Castile...
wrote a heterometric salut. They often end with a one-word verse, unrhymed with anything previous, that gives the addressee: Domna or Dompna.
The first salut d'amor was probably Domna, cel qe'us es bos amics, written by Raimbaut d'Aurenga and he served as a model for many later troubadours. Arnaut de Mareuil
Arnaut de Mareuil
Arnaut de Mareuil was a troubadour, composing lyric poetry in the Occitan language. Twenty-five, perhaps twenty-nine, of his songs, all cansos, survive, six with music....
wrote five saluts, the most of any individual, and Don Alfred Monson has crowned him the maître incontesté du salut ("the uncontested master of the salut"). They served as a model for Amanieu de Sescars
Amanieu de Sescars
Amanieu de Sescars or Amanieu des Escàs was a Catalan, possibly Gascon, troubadour of the late 13th century. Famous for his love songs in his own day, his contemporaries gave him the nickname dieu d'amor...
, who wrote two precisely datable saluts in 1278 and 1291. Falquet de Romans
Falquet de Romans
Falquet de Romans was the most famous troubadour attached to the court of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, where he garnered a high reputation despite the fact that his career began as a jongleur...
wrote a salut d'amor (epistola in the rubric) of 254 lines. The only female author of a salut was Azalais d'Altier
Azalais d'Altier
Azalais or Azalaïs d'Altier was an early-13th-century trobairitz. She was from Altier in the Gévaudan. She has sometimes been confused with Almucs de Castelnau....
. Her 101 verses of rhyming 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 were designed to reconcile two lovers and were addressed to a woman, possibly Clara d'Anduza
Clara d'Anduza
Clara d'Anduza was a trobairitz from the first third of the 13th century, probably born to the ruling family of Anduze. Her only surviving work is a canso beginning En greu esmay et en greu pessamen. She was mentioned in a long razo to a canso of Uc de Saint Circ and was probably the addressee of a...
. In French the only named author of a salut with refrains is Philippe de Rémi.
Destret d'emors mi clam a vos is a 708-line long anonymous Catalan salut.
External links
- Folio 8r from the Cançoner GilCançoner GilThe Cançoner Gil is an Occitan chansonnier produced in Catalonia in the middle of the 14th century. In the systematic nomenclature of Occitanists, it is typically named MS Sg, but as Z in the reassignment of letter names by François Zufferey. It is numbered MS 146 in the Biblioteca de Catalunya in...
, showing Cerverí de Girona'sCerverí de GironaCerverí de Girona was a Catalan troubadour born Guillem de Cervera in Girona. He was the most prolific troubadour, leaving behind some 114 lyric poems among other works, including an ensenhamen of proverbs for his son, totaling about 130. He was a court poet to James the Conqueror and Peter the...
Apres lo vers comença del comte la lissos, a pistola according to the rubric