Bertolome Zorzi (; fl. 1266–1273) was a Venetian nobleman, merchant, 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 ...

. Like all Lombard troubadours, he composed in the

Occitan language Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, ...

. Eighteen of his works survive. According to his '' vida'', while travelling with a large band of merchants to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, they were captured by the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

, which was then at war with the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

, and taken prisoner to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

.Egan, 15. There Zorzi composed many songs from prison and even collaborated on some ''

tenso A ''tenso'' (; ) is a style of troubadour song. It takes the form of a debate in which each voice defends a position; common topics relate to love or ethics. Usually, the tenso is written by two different poets, but several examples exist in whic ...

s'' with Bonifaci Calvo, a native Genoese troubadour. In response to a ''

sirventes The ''sirventes'' or ''serventes'' (), sometimes translated as "service song", was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry practiced by the troubadours. The name comes from ''sirvent'' ('serviceman'), from whose perspective the song is allegedly wr ...

'' in which Bonifaci blamed the Genoese for allowing the Venetians to gain the upper hand and insult them, Zorzi composed the ''sirventes'' ''Molt me sui fort d'un chant merveillatz'' ("I was very much surprised by a song") justifying Venice. The response convinced Bonifaci and the two became friends.Egan, 16. Upon the release of the prisoners when Venice and Genoa came to terms of peace (about seven years later), Bertolome returned to Venice and was rewarded by the

Doge Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to: Internet culture * Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed ** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme ** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...

with the castellanies of Coron and Modon in the southwestern

Morea Morea ( or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used by the Principality of Achaea, the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the O ...

. According to his ''vida'', there he fell in love with a beautiful local noblewoman and spent the rest of his life. Zorzi wrote a ''

sestina A sestina (, from ''sesto'', sixth; Old Occitan: ''cledisat'' ; also known as ''sestine'', ''sextine'', ''sextain'') is a fixed verse, fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi. The wor ...

'' entitled ''En tal dezir mos cors intra'' that alludes to the

Perceval Perceval (, also written Percival, Parzival, Parsifal), alternatively called Peredur (), is a figure in the legend of King Arthur, often appearing as one of the Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Tro ...

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

confessing to his uncle. Zorzi also has been cited as one of several troubadours who protested

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

's refusal to rescue his brother the ''

infante Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

from an Italian prison. In ''Mout fai sobrieira foli'', each stanza of Zorzi's ends with a corresponding quotation from Peire Vidal's ''Quant hom es en autrui poder'', whom he is defending from those who label him a "fool".

Example

An example of Zorzi's use of metaphor:

Notes

Sources

*Archer, Robert. ''The Pervasive Image: The Role of Analogy in the Poetry of Ausias March''. John Benjamins, 1985. . * *Chambers, Frank M. ''An Introduction to Old Provençal Versification''. Diane, 1985. . *Egan, Margarita (ed. and trans.) ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. . *Gardner, Edmund G
"The Holy Graal in Italian Literature."
''The Modern Language Review'', Vol. 20, No. 4. (Oct., 1925), pp. 443–453. *Kinkade, Richard P
"Alfonso, X, Cantiga 235, and the Events of 1269–1278."
'' Speculum'', Vol. 67, No. 2. (Apr., 1992), pp. 284–323. *Levy, Emil. ''Der Troubadour Bertolome Zorzi''. Halle: Niemeyer, 1883. *Elliott, A. M
Review
of ''Der Troubadour Bertolome Zorzi'' by Emil Levy. In ''The American Journal of Philology'', Vol. 5, No. 1. (1884), pp. 107–108. *Strong, E. B
"The ''Rimado de palacio'': López de Ayala's Rimed Confession."
''Hispanic Review'', Vol. 37, No. 4. (Oct., 1969), pp. 439–451. {{Authority control 13th-century Venetian writers 13th-century Italian troubadours Republic of Venice merchants Prison music 13th-century Italian businesspeople Zorzi family Prisoners of war held by the Republic of Genoa Venetian governors People of the Venetian–Genoese wars