Vida (Occitan literary form)
Encyclopedia
Vida (ˈbiðɔ, ˈbiðə or ˈviða) 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 chansonnier
s, the manuscript collections of medieval troubadour poetry, the works of a particular author are often accompanied by a short prose biography. It is sometimes a matter of controversy to what extent these are based on independent sources; there is no doubt that certain assertions are deduced from literal readings of details in the poems. Most of the vidas were composed in Italy, many by Uc de Saint Circ
.
Additionally, some individual poems are accompanied by razo
s, explanations of the circumstances in which the poem was composed.
There is a complete collection of English translations available as part of the Garland Library of Medieval Literature, Series B, translated by Margarita Egan.
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....
or trobairitz
Trobairitz
The trobairitz were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. The word trobairitz was first used in the 13th-century romance Flamenca. It comes from the Provençal word trobar, the literal meaning of which is "to find", and the...
.
The word vida means "life" in Occitan languages
Occitano-Romance languages
The Occitano-Romance branch of Romance languages encompasses the dialects pertaining to the Occitan and the Catalan languages situated in France , Spain , Andorra, Monaco, parts of Italy , and historically in the County of Tripoli and the...
. In the 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, the manuscript collections of medieval troubadour poetry, the works of a particular author are often accompanied by a short prose biography. It is sometimes a matter of controversy to what extent these are based on independent sources; there is no doubt that certain assertions are deduced from literal readings of details in the poems. Most of the vidas were composed in Italy, many by 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...
.
Additionally, some individual poems are accompanied by razo
Razo
Raso is an islet of 8 square kilometers in the Barlavento archipelago of Cape Verde. Raso is flanked by the smaller Branco islet on the west and by São Nicolau island on its eastern side. Raso is uninhabited and is now the only home of the Raso Lark. The Brown Booby and Red-billed Tropicbird visit...
s, explanations of the circumstances in which the poem was composed.
Sources
There is a complete collection of vidas, with French translation and commentary, by Boutière and Schutz.- Biographies des troubadours, edd. and trans. J. Boutière and A.-H. Schutz. Paris: Nizet, 1964.
There is a complete collection of English translations available as part of the Garland Library of Medieval Literature, Series B, translated by Margarita Egan.
- The Vidas of the Troubadours, ed. and trans. Margarita Egan. New York: Garland, 1984. ISBN 0 8240 9437 9.