Guiraut de Calanso
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"Guiraut de Calanso was a jongleur from Gascony. . ."
Giraut or Guiraut de Calanso or Calanson (fl. 1202–1212)[1] was a Gascon troubadour in the Occitan language. Of his lyric works that remain five are cansos, two descorts, a , a planh, and a vers (generic poem). He also wrote a mock ensenhamen (didactic poem) entitled Fadet juglar.
Guiraut's hometown cannot be located. It may be a in Gascony or one of two locales named Chalançon, one in Ardèche and one in Drôme.[2] According to his vida he was originally a jongleur well-versed in letters.[2] His vida indicates that he composed "skillful songs desplazens and descortz." The meaning of desplazens is under dispute: it could refer to a type of verse expressing displeasure or be an adjective ("displeasing in tone") modifying "songs" (cansos).[2] The author of the vida notes that these works were of the type d'aquella saison, "of that time", and were disliked in Provence, where he was disrespected among courtly society.[2] This may point to a Gascon literary tradition (or fad, as the case may be) distinct to that region and unpopular outside it. A clue to this tradition may be found in the vida of Peire de Valeira, who also wrote songs "of that time" which were "of little value".[3]
Guiraut was an often present at the courts of Castile, León, and Aragon.[1] His sole planh (lament) was written on the death of Ferdinand, the heir-apparent of Alfonso VIII of Castile, who died of illness during a campaign against the Moors. Guiraut describes him thus:
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Of the rest of Guiraut's corpus at least two works are conscious imitations. His lone vers is in imitation of Arnaut Daniel.[1] Fadet juglar mockingly attacks a jongleur's ignorance in imitation of a similar work by Guiraut de Cabreira.[1][5] Much later, in 1280, Guiraut Riquier, for a competition, wrote a commentary on a work of Guiraut de Calanso's for Henry II of Rodez.[6] None of Guiraut de Calanso's music, if he wrote any, has survived.
Notes[]
Sources[]
- Aubrey, Elizabeth "References to Music in Old Occitan Literature." Acta Musicologica, 61:2 (May–Aug., 1989), pp. 110–149.
- Chaytor, H. J. The Troubadours. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1912.
- Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. The Vidas of the Troubadours. New York: Garland, 1984. ISBN 0-8240-9437-9.
- Gaunt, Simon, and Kay, Sarah (edd.) The Troubadours: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-521-57473-0.
- Harvey, Ruth. "Courtly culture in medieval Occitania" (pp. 8–27). The Troubadours: An Introduction. Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay, edd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-521-57473-0.
- Wilson, Elizabeth R. "Old Provençal "vidas" as Literary Commentary." Romance Philology, 33:4 (1980:May), pp. 510–518.
External links[]
- Guiraut de Calanso: Complete Works. at Trobar.org
- Gascons
- 13th-century French troubadours