Arnaut Guilhem (or Guillem) de Marsan (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1160–1180) was a Landais nobleman and

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) 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 equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

. He was descended from a

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

s of Marsan and was himself lord of

Roquefort Roquefort () is a sheep milk blue cheese from southern France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, European Union law, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the na ...

and Montgaillard and co-lord of Marsan. Arnaut was a member of the 1170 escort of

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

, daughter of

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

, from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

to the Spanish border for her marriage to

Alfonso VIII of Castile Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarc ...

. He is attested in a charter of

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...

. Arnaut Guilhem was also an

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 ...

lyric poet Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

who composed one of the earliest ''

ensenhamen An (, or ) was an Old Occitan didactic (often Lyric poem, lyric) poem associated with the troubadours. As a genre of Occitan literature, its limits have been open to debate since it was first defined in the 19th century. The word has many varia ...

s'' or didactic poems: the ''Ensenhamen del cavalier'' (teaching of the cavalier). The medievalist Mark Johnston notes that his work is similar to that of another 12th-century troubadour poet,

Garin lo Brun Garin lo Brun or le Brun (; died 1156/1162) was an early Auvergnat troubadour. Life Garin lived in the Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay, where his family owned castles. He was himself lord of Châteauneuf-de-Randon in the Gévaudan and a vassal of E ...

. According to an Occitan '' vida'', the troubadour Peire de Valeira was from Arnaut Guilhem's lands. Arnaut Guilhem was the ancestor of three branches of the house of Marsan through his three sons: the co-lords of Marsans and lords of Roquefort and Montgaillard; the lords of Cauna; and the lords of Tardets.

Sources

*Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. . *Johnston, Mark. "Gender as Conduct in the Courtesy Guides for Aristocratic Boys and Girls of Amanieu de Sescas." ''Essays in Medieval Studies'', 20 (2003), pp. 75–84. {{authority control Gascons 12th-century French troubadours People from Landes (department)