Bertran de Born (1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the twelfth century. Baron is a specific Title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin (liber Limousin ( Occitan: Lemosin) is a former Province of France around the city of Limoges in central France. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan A troubadour ( IPA:, originally) was a composer and performer of Occitan Lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100&ndash1350
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Life and Works
Bertran de Born was the eldest son of Bertran de Born, lord of Autafort (French: Hautefort), and his wife Ermengardis. Hautefort is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France. He had two younger brothers, Constantine and Itier. His father died in 1178, and Bertran succeeded him as lord of Autafort. By this time, he was already married to his first wife, Raimonda, and had two sons.
Autafort lies at the border between the Limousin and Périgord. Limousin ( Occitan: Lemosin) is a former Province of France around the city of Limoges in central France. The Périgord ( ( Occitan: Peiregòrd / Perigòrd) is a former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne As a result, Bertran became involved in the conflicts of the sons of Henry II Plantagenet. He was also fighting for control of Autafort.
According to the feudal custom of his region, he was not the only lord of Autafort, but held it jointly with his brothers. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Other cases of co-seigneuries were known among the troubadours, the most famous being that of the "four troubadours of Ussel", three brothers and a cousin, and that of Raimon de Miraval and his brothers. Ussel is a commune of the Corrèze department in central France. Raimon de Miraval(h (c 1135/1160 &ndash c 1220 was a Troubadour (fl A typical strategy employed by the major territorial principalities (such as the duchy of Aquitaine or the county of Toulouse) to decrease the influence of the local lords of the manor was to encourage feudal conflicts within their families. Aquitaine (Aquitània Akitania archaic Guyenne / Guienne (Occitan Guiana) is one of the 26 Regions of France, in the south-western part of Toulouse ( pronounced in standard French, and in the local accent ( Occitan: Tolosa, pronounced) is a city in southwest Bertran's struggle, especially with his brother Constantine, is at the heart of his poetry, which is dominated by political topics.
His first datable work is a sirventes (political or satirical song) of 1181, but it is clear from this he already had a reputation as a poet. The sirventes or serventes ( Mistralian norm sirventès) is a Genre of Occitan Lyric poetry used by In 1182, he was present at his overlord Henry II of England's court at Argentan. Argentan is a commune, and the capital of two cantons and of an arrondissement of the Orne department in northwestern France That same year, he had joined in Henry the Young King's revolt against his younger brother, Richard, Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine. Henry the Young King ( 28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the second of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine Richard I (8 September 1157 &ndash 6 April 1199 was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Aquitaine (Aquitània Akitania archaic Guyenne / Guienne (Occitan Guiana) is one of the 26 Regions of France, in the south-western part of He wrote songs encouraging Aimar V of Limoges and others to rebel, and took the oath against Richard at Limoges. Aimar V Boso (c 1135 in Limoges &ndash c 1199 was the Viscount of Limoges, a petty nobleman in the Loire valley in the Duchy of Aquitaine Limoges ( Lemòtges / Limòtges in the Limousin dialect of Occitan language) is a city and commune in France, the préfecture His brother Constantine took the opposing side, and Bertran drove him out of the castle in July.
Henry the Young King, whom Bertran had praised and criticised in his poems, died in 1183; he wrote a planh (lament), in his memory, Mon chan fenisc ab dol et ab maltraire. The planh or plaing is a funeral lament used by the Troubadours modeled on the medieval Latin Planctus. (Another planh for Henry, Si tuit li dol e. l plor e. l marrimen, formerly attributed to Bertran, is now thought to be the work of Rigaut de Berbezill). Rigaut (also Richart or Richartz) de Berbezilh (also Berbezill or Barbesiu; Rigaud de Barbezieux Rigaudus de Berbezillo was a In his punitive campaign against the rebels, Richard, aided by Alfonso II of Aragon, besieged Autafort and gave it to Constantine de Born. Alfonso II (Aragon or Alfons I (Provence and Barcelona ( Huesca, 1157 &ndash Perpignan, 1196 called the Chaste or the Troubadour Henry II, however, returned it to the poet, and Constantine seems to have become a mercenary. A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by
Bertran was reconciled with Richard, whom he supported in turn against Philip II of France. Philip II Augustus (Philippe Auguste ( 21 August[[ 165]] &ndash 14 July 1223) was the King of France from 1180 until his death At various times, he sought to exploit the dissensions among the Angevins in order to keep his independence. Angevin (ˈændʒəvɪn ( French, from Old French, from Medieval Latin Andegavinus from Andegavia Anjou, France) is the name applied He gave them senhals (nicknames): Henry the Young King was Mariniers (Sailor), Geoffrey of Brittany was Rassa, and Richard, Oc-e-Non (Yes-and-No). Geoffrey II Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond ( 23 September 1158 – 19 August 1186) was Duke of Brittany between 1181 and 1186 He commemorated Geoffrey's death in the planh, A totz dic que ja mais non voil. He had contact with a number of other troubadours and also with the Northern French trouvère, Conon de Béthune, whom he addressed as Mon Ysombart. Trouvère ( MWCD: /trü'ver trü'vər/ sometimes spelled trouveur, is the Northern French ( Langue d'oïl) form of the word Troubadour Conon de Béthune (c 1150 in the former Artois region today Pas-de-Calais - December 17, 1219 or 1220 in or near Constantinople
Although he composed a few cansos (love songs), Bertran de Born was predominantly a master of the sirventes. Be. m platz lo gais temps de pascor, which revels in warfare, was translated by Ezra Pound:
| “ | . Ezra Weston Loomis Pound ( Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States October 30 1885 – Venice, Italy November 1 1972 was an American Expatriate . . We shall see battle axes and swords, a-battering colored haumes and a-hacking through shields at entering melee; and many vassals smiting together, whence there run free the horses of the dead and wrecked. And when each man of prowess shall be come into the fray he thinks no more of (merely) breaking heads and arms, for a dead man is worth more than one taken alive.
I tell you that I find no such savor in eating butter and sleeping, as when I hear cried "On them!" and from both sides hear horses neighing through their head-guards, and hear shouted "To aid! To aid!" and see the dead with lance truncheons, the pennants still on them, piercing their sides. Barons! put in pawn castles, and towns, and cities before anyone makes war on us. Papiol, be glad to go speedily to "Yea and Nay", and tell him there's too much peace about. [1] |
” |
When Richard (by then King) and Philip delayed setting out on the Third Crusade, he chided them in songs praising the heroic defence of Tyre by Conrad of Montferrat (Folheta, vos mi prejatz que eu chan and Ara sai eu de pretz quals l'a plus gran). The Third Crusade (1189&ndash1192 also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin Tyre ( Arabic صور Ṣūr, Phoenician Phoenician wawsvg|12px|ו]] Ṣur, Hebrew Conrad of Montferrat, or Conrad I of Jerusalem ( Piedmontese: Conrà ëd Monfrà; Italian Corrado del Monferrato; mid-1140s &ndash When Richard was released from captivity after being suspected of Conrad's murder, Bertran welcomed his return with Ar ven la coindeta sazos. Ironically, one of Bertran's sources of income was from the market of Châlus-Cabrol, where Richard was fatally wounded in 1199. Châlus (Chasluç is a small town and commune in the Haute-Vienne département of France, in the Limousin
Widowed for the second time c. 1196, Bertran became a monk and entered the Cistercian abbey of Dalon, to which he had made numerous grants over the years. An abbey (from Latin abbatia derived from Syriac abba "father" is a Christian Monastery or The Dalon is a stream in the Limousin ( Corrèze department and the Aquitaine ( Dordogne department regions of France. His last datable song was written in 1198. He ceases to appear in charters after 1202, and was certainly dead by 1215, when there is a record of a payment for a candle for his tomb.
His œuvre consists of about forty-seven works, thirty-six unanimously attributed to him in the manuscripts, and eleven uncertain attributions. Several melodies survive, and some of his songs have been recorded by Sequentia, Gérard Zuchetto and his Troubadours Art Ensemble, and the Martin Best Mediæval Consort. This article is about Latin poems and songs For the Early music group see Sequentia (music group.
Family
Bertran de Born married twice. By his first wife, Raimonda, he had two sons (both knighted in 1192) and a daughter:
- Bertran, also a troubadour, still living in 1223. Bertran de Born (c 1179&ndash1233 called lo Filhs ("the Son" was a Limousin Knight and Troubadour.
- Itier, who died in 1237.
- Aimelina, who married Seguin de Lastours.
By his second wife, Philippa, he had two more sons:
- Constantine, who became a monk at Dalon with his father.
- Bertran the Younger, who was still living in 1252.
Later Literary Image
According to his later vida (a romanticised short biography attached to his songs), Henry II believed Bertran had fomented the rebellion of his son Henry the Young King. Henry the Young King ( 28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the second of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine As a result, Dante Alighieri portrayed him in the Inferno as a sower of schism, punished in the eighth circle of Hell (Canto XXVIII), carrying his severed head like a lantern. The Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy A cephalophore (from the Greek for "head-carrier" is a Saint who is generally depicted carrying his head in his hands in art this was usually meant to Gustave Doré depicts this in his illustrations to the Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy
Dante's depiction influenced Bertran's image in various later literary works. In her epic poem Cœur de Lion (1822), Eleanor Anne Porden depicted him fomenting discord in the Third Crusade, and becoming a hermit in the East out of remorse over his involvement in Richard's imprisonment. Eleanor Anne Porden ( 14 July[[ 795]]- 22 February[[ 825]] was a British Romantic poet and the first wife of the explorer John Franklin He also figures as a minor character in Maurice Hewlett's novel The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay (1900), depicted unflatteringly. Maurice Henry Hewlett (1861-1923 was an English historical novelist poet and essayist He is described as "a man of hot blood, fumes and rages", with "a grudging spirit". One character dismisses him thus: "Great poet he was, great thief, and a silly fool. "
His memory was better served by Ezra Pound, who translated some of his songs and also based several original poems around him and his works, notably Na Audiart (1908), Sestina: Altaforte (1909), and Near Perigord (1915). Ezra Weston Loomis Pound ( Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States October 30 1885 – Venice, Italy November 1 1972 was an American Expatriate There are also allusions to him in some of the Cantos. Via the influence of Pound's Na Audiart, he is also mentioned in Sorley MacLean's poem, A' Bhuaile Ghreine (The Sunny Fold). Sorley MacLean ( Somhairle MacGill-Eain, sometimes "MacGilleathain" in earlier publications ( 26 October, 1911 - 24 November,
Notes
- ^ In Robert Kehew (ed. ) The Lark in the Morning, pp. 144-45
Works
- Gérard Gouiran (ed. and trans. ), L’Amour et la Guerre: L’Oeuvre de Bertran de Born, 2 vols. (Aix en Provence & Marseille, 1985)
- William D. Padden, jr. , Tilde Sankovitch & Patricia H. Stäblein (ed. and transl. ), The Poems of the Troubadour Bertran de Born (Berkeley, Los Angeles & London, 1986)
- Complete works (external link)
- Works, translated by James H. Donalson (external link)
References
- Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Inferno, trans. Allen Mandelbaum, (Bantam Classics 1982) ISBN 0-553-21339-3
- Maurice Hewlett, The Life & Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay (London, 1900) (external link to Project Gutenberg text)
- Robert Kehew (ed. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works ) Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours; translated by Ezra Pound, W D Snodgrass & Robert Kehew (Chicago, 2005) ISBN 0-226-42933-4
- Ezra Pound, Poems & Translations (New York, 2003)
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External links
- English translation of Bertran de Born's Bel m'es quan vei- translated by Jon Corelis
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