Raimon Vidal de Bezaudu(n) (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

: ''Ramon Vidal de Besalú'') (flourished early 13th century) was a

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...

from Besalù. He is notable for authoring the first tract in a

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...

(

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

) on the subject of grammar and poetry, the ''Razós de trobar'' (c. 1210),The similar ''Donatz proensals'' of

Uc Faidit Uc de Saint Circ (San Sir) or Hugues (Hugh) de Saint Circq (floruit, fl. 1217–1253Aubrey, ''The Music of the Troubadours'', 22–23.) was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author ...

was also produced around this time. a title which translates as "Reasons (or Guidelines) of troubadour composition". He began his career as a joglar and he spent his formative years at the court of Hug de Mataplana, which he often recalls fondly in his poems and songs. In the ''Razós'', Raimon distinguishes the "parladura francesa" (French) from the "cella de Lemosin" (Occitan). He also discusses the art of the listener (''li auzidor'') and his responsibility to understand the troubadour works. Raimon's insistence that the audience understand what is sung and that they keep silent during its singing has been regarded as seminal in the history of classical music. To him, listeners have a responsibility to enquire about what they do not understand (which is "one of the wisest things in the world") and to be true to the quality of the work, praising greatness and condemning poor form. Vidal also took pains to argue for the superiority of '' lemosí'' (or ''Lemozi'', i.e., Occitan) over other vernaculars, prompting the Florentine poet

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

to write a ''

De Vulgari Eloquentia ''De vulgari eloquentia'' (; "On eloquence in the vernacular") is the title of a Latin essay by Dante Alighieri. Although meant to consist of four books, it abruptly terminates in the middle of the second book. It was probably composed shortly aft ...

'' justifying the use of the Tuscan vernacular as opposed to the Occitan. The ''Razós'' ends with an Occitan-

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

glossary. Late in the 13th century, Terramagnino of Pisa wrote a condensed verse form of the ''Razós''.

Jofre de Foixà Jofre de Foixà (or Jaufre de Foixa) (died c. 1300) was a troubadour from Foixà in the Empordà, the second son of Bernard of Foixà. At a young age Jofre became a Franciscan and appears in that position when mentioned for the first time at Mon ...

wrote an expanded version, the ''Regles de trobar'', for

James II of Sicily James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Spanish: ''Jaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just,, an, Chaime lo Chusto, es, Jaime el Justo. was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He ...

. In addition to the aforementioned tract, there are preserved several fragments of song lyrics and three narrative ''

romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

''. Among his most famous is ''So fo e·l temps qu'om era gais'', which is fawning in its treatment of

Raimon de Miraval Raimon de Miraval(h) (c. 1135/1160 – c. 1220) was a troubadour (fl. 1180–1220) and, according to his '' vida'', "a poor knight from Carcassonne who owned less than a quarter of the castle of Miraval."Graham-Leigh, 28. Favoured by Raym ...

, an earlier troubadour. In the ''nova'', Raimon presents two ladies as fighting over one knight. The ''nova'' or ''ensenhamen'' called ''Abril issi'e mays intrava'', which also refers to Miraval (and to the three sons of

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

: '' Enricx'', '' Richartz'', and '' Jofrés''), is an assessment of contemporary literature and one of the best descriptions of the joglar that we possess. Finally, the ''Castiagilós'' is much like a fable, which narrates the story of a jealous husband who is eventually convinced that his suspicions are baseless. Vidal wrote at the height of the troubadours' popularity and as he himself said:

"all people wish to listen to troubadour songs and to compose (''trobar'') them, including
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
,
Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
s,
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, emperors, princes, kings, dukes, counts, viscounts, vavassours, knights, clerics, townsmen, and villeins."
''Tota gens Crestiana, Juzeus e Sarazís, emperador, princeps, rei, duc, conte, vesconte, contor, valvasor e tuit autre cavailler e clergues borgés e vilanz.''

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External links

Full text in Occitan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal De Bezaudun, Raimon 1196 births 1252 deaths People from Garrotxa 13th-century Spanish troubadours Linguists from Spain Medieval linguists