A medieval depiction of Bernart de Ventadorn.

Bernart de Ventadorn (1130-1140 – 1190-1200), also known as Bernard de Ventadour, was a prominent troubador of the classical age of troubadour poetry. A troubadour ( IPA:, originally) was a composer and performer of Occitan Lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100&ndash1350 He is remembered for his masterym as well as popularisation, of the trobar leu style and his prolific cansos, which helped define the genre and establish the "classical" form of courtly love poetry, to be imitated and reproduced throughout the remaining century and a half of troubadour activity. The trobar leu, or light style of Poetry, was the most popular style used by the Troubadours Its accessibility gave it a wide audience though modern readers may find The canso or canço is a Song style used by the Troubadours It consists of three parts Courtly love was a Medieval European conception of ennobling love which found its genesis in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine, Provence

According to the troubadour] Uc de Saint Circ, Bernart was possibly the son of a baker at the castle of Ventadour (Ventadorn), in today's Corrèze. Uc de Saint Circ ( San Sir) or Hugues (Hugh de Saint Circq (fl The Château de Ventadour is in the commune of Moustier-Ventadour in the département of Corrèze ( Limousin) Corrèze ( Occitan: Corresa) is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River. Yet another source, a satirical poem written by a younger contemporary, Peire d'Alvernha, indicates that he was the son of either a servant, a soldier, or a baker, and his mother was also either a servant or a baker. Peire d'Alvernhe or d'Alvernha ( Pèire in modern Occitan; b c From evidence given in Bernart's early poem, Lo temps vai e ven e vire, he most likely learned the art of singing and writing from his protector, viscount Eble III of Ventadorn. Eble III of Ventadorn was viscount of Ventadour ( Corrèze, France He composed his first poems to his patron's wife, Marguerite de Turenne.

Forced to leave Ventadour after falling in love with Marguerite, he traveled to Montluçon and Toulouse, and eventually followed Eleanor of Aquitaine to England and the Plantagenet court; evidence for this association and these travels comes mainly from his poems themselves. Montluçon is a commune in central France. It is the largest commune in the department of Allier, although the capital is located in the Toulouse ( pronounced in standard French, and in the local accent ( Occitan: Tolosa, pronounced) is a city in southwest For other Eleanors of England see Eleanor of England (disambiguation Eleanor Duchess of Aquitaine (1122&ndash1 April 1204 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The House of Plantagenet (planˈtadʒɪnɪt also called the House of Anjou, or the First Angevin dynasty, was originally a noble Later Bernart returned to Toulouse, where he was employed by Raimon V, Count of Toulouse; later still he went to Dordogne, where he entered a monastery. Raymond V (1134&ndash1194 was count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194 Dordogne (Dordonha is a department in central France named after the Dordogne River. Most likely he died there.

Bernart is unique among secular composers of the twelfth century in the amount of music which has survived: of his forty-five poems, eighteen have music intact, an unusual circumstance for a troubador composer (music of the trouvères has a higher survival rate, usually attributed to them surviving the Albigensian Crusade, which scattered the troubadours and destroyed many sources). Trouvère ( MWCD: /trü'ver trü'vər/ sometimes spelled trouveur, is the Northern French ( Langue d'oïl) form of the word Troubadour The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209&ndash1229 was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the Cathar His work probably dates between 1147 and 1180. Bernart is often credited with being the most important influence on the development of the trouvère tradition in northern France, since he was well known there, his melodies were widely circulated, and the early composers of trouvère music seem to have imitated him. Bernart's influence also extended to Latin literature. Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the Liturgical language of the medieval In 1215 the Bolognese professor Boncompagno wrote in his Antiqua rhetorica that "How much fame attaches to the name of Bernard de Ventadorn, and how gloriously he made cansos and sweetly invented melodies, the world of Provence very much recognises. Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Boncompagno da Signa (also Boncompagnus or Boncompagni; c 1165/1175 &ndash after 1240 was an Italian scholar grammarian historian and philosopher "^[1]

Bibliography

External links

• Bernart de Ventadorn: Complete Works (in Occitan, with the extant melodies)

Notes