Planh

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A genre of the troubadours, the planh or plaing (Old Occitan [ˈplaɲ]; "lament") is a funeral lament for "a great personage, a protector, a friend or relative, or a lady."[1] Its main elements are expression of grief, praise of the deceased (eulogy) and prayer for his or her soul.[1][2] It is descended from the medieval Latin planctus.[3]

The planh is similar to the sirventes in that both were typically contrafacta. They made use of existing melodies, often imitating the original song even down to the rhymes. The most famous planh of all, however, Gaucelm Faidit's lament on the death of King Richard the Lionheart in 1199, was set to original music.[4]

Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker identifies three types of planh: "the moralizing planh", in which the expression of grief is a point of departure for social criticism; "the true lament", in which personal grief is central; and "the courtly planh", in which the impact of the death on the court is emphasised.[1] Alfred Jeanroy considered that the common denunciation of the evils of the present age was a feature that distinguished the planh from the planctus.[5] In the conventions of the genre, the subject's death is announced by the simple words es mortz ("is dead"). By the 13th century, the placement of these words within the poem was fixed: it occurred in the seventh or eighth line of the first stanza.[1] It is perhaps an indication of the sincerity of their grief that the troubadours rarely praised the successors of their patrons in the planh.[3]

There are forty-four surviving planhz.[1] The earliest planh is that by Cercamon on the death of Duke William X of Aquitaine in 1137. The latest is an anonymous lament on the death of King Robert of Naples in 1343. The planh was regarded by contemporaries as a distinct genre and is mentioned in the (1290s) and the Leys d'amors (1341).[3]

Chronological table of planhz[]

The following table lists 42 planhz.

  great person or patron
  other troubadour
  lady
  friend

Composer Incipit (i.e. title) Date Mourned
Cercamon Lo plaing comens iradamen 1137 William X of Aquitaine
Giraut de Borneil S'anc jorn aqui joi e solaz 1173 Raimbaut d'Aurenga
Guillem de Berguedà Cousiros chan e planh e plor 1180
Bertran de Born ? Si tuit li dol el plor el marrimen 1183 Henry the Young King
Bertran de Born Mon chan fenisc el dol et ab maltraire 1183 Henry the Young King
Folquet de Marselha Si com cel qu'es tan greujat 1192 Barral I dels Baus
Gaucelm Faidit Fortz causa es que tot lo major dan 1199 Richard the Lion-Hearted
Giraut de Borneil Planh e sospir e plor e chan 1199 Aimar V of Limoges
Pons de Capduelh De totz caitius sui eu aicel que plus ???? Azalais, wife of
Guillem Augier Novella Cascus plor e planh son damnatge 1209 Raymond Roger Trencavel
Lanfranc Cigala Eu non chan ges pes talan de chantar 1210s Berlenda
Giraut de Calanso Bels senher Deus, quo pot esser sofritz 1211 Ferdinand, infante of Castile
Gavaudan Crezens fis verais et entiers 1212 his anonymous lady
Aimeric de Peguilhan Ja no cugei quem pogues oblidar 1212 Azzo VI of Este and
Aimeric de Peguilhan S'eu chantei alegres ni jauzens 1212 Azzo VI of Este and Boniface of Verona
Daude de Pradas Be deu esser solatz marritz 1220–30 Uc Brunet
Aimeric de Peguilhan Ara par be que Valors se desfai 1220
Aimeric de Peguilhan De tot en tot es ar de mi partitz ???? bona comtessa Biatritz
Sordel Planher vol En Blacatz en aquest leugier so 1237 Blacatz
Bertran d'Alamanon Mout m'es greu d'En Sordel quar l'es faillitz sos sens 1237 Blacatz
Peire Bremon Ricas Novas Pus partit an lo cor En Sordel e'n Bertrans 1237 Blacatz
Aimeric de Belenoi Ailas, per que viu lonjamen ni dura 1242 Nuño Sánchez
Aimeric de Peguilhan ? Ab marrimen angoissos et ab plor 1245 Raymond Berengar IV of Provence
Rigaut de Berbezilh attr. En chantan (ieu) plaing e sospir 1245 Raymond Berengar IV of Provence
Bonifaci Calvo S'ieu ai perdut, no s'en podon jauzir 1250–65 his anonymous lady
Bertran Carbonel S'ieu anc nulh tems chantei alegramen 1252–65 P. G. (prob. Peire Guilhem de Tolosa)
Pons Santolh Marritz com hom malsabens ab frachura 1260 Guilhem de Montanhagol
Raimon Gaucelm Cascus planh lo sieu damnatge 1262 Guiraut d'Alanhan, burgess of Béziers
Anonymous Totas honors e tug fag benestan 1266 Manfred of Sicily
Bertolome Zorzi Sil mons fondes a meravilha gran 1268 Conradin and Frederick I of Baden
Paulet de Marselha Razos no nes que hom deja cantar 1268
Anonymous En chantan m'aven a retraire 1269
Guilhem d'Autpol ? Fortz tristors es e salvatj'a retraire 1270 Louis IX of France
Guiraut Riquier Ples de tristor, marritz e doloiros 1270 Amalric IV of Narbonne
Joan Esteve Aissi quol malanans 1270 Amalric IV of Narbonne
Mahieu de Quercy Tan sui marritz que nom puesc alegrar 1276 James the Conqueror
Cerverí de Girona Si per tristor per dol ni per cossire 1276 James the Conqueror
Cerverí de Girona Joys ni solatz, pascors, abrils ni mais 1276
Joan Esteve Planhen ploran ab desplazer 1289
Ab grans dolors et ab grans merrimens ???? Daude de Bossaguas
Raimon de Cornet Aras quan vey de bos homes fraytura 1324
Anonymous Glorios Dieus, don totz bens ha creysensa 1343 Robert the Peace-Maker

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker, "Topoi", in F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, eds., A Handbook of the Troubadours (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), pp. 421–440.
  2. ^ Patricia Harris Stäblein, "New Views on an Old Problem: The Dynamics of Death in the Planh", Romance Philology 35, 1 (1981): 223–234.
  3. ^ a b c William D. Paden, "Planh/Complainte", in W. W. Kibler and G. A. Zinn, eds., Medieval France: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland, 1995), pp. 1400–1401.
  4. ^ John Stevens, "Planctus", Grove Music Online (2001). Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  5. ^ Stephen Manning, "Chaucer's Good Fair White: Woman and Symbol", Comparative Literature 10, 2 (1958): 97–105.

Further reading[]

  • Jeanroy, Alfred. La poésie lyrique des troubadours. Toulouse: Privat, 1934.
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