Giraut or Guiraut de Calanso or Calanson (
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 ...
1202–1212)
[Gaunt and Kay, 286.] was a
Gascon 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 ...
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, ...
. Of his
lyric works that remain five are ''
cansos
The ''canso'' or ''canson'' or ''canzo'' () was a song style used by the troubadours. It was, by far, the most common genre used, especially by early troubadours, and only in the second half of the 13th century was its dominance challenged by a ...
'', two ''
descorts'', a ''
congé'', a ''
planh
A genre of the troubadours, the or (; "lament") is a funeral lament for "a great personage, a protector, a friend or relative, or a lady."Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker, "Topoi", in F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, eds., ''A Handbook of the T ...
'', and a ''vers'' (generic poem). He also wrote a mock ''
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 ...
'' (didactic poem) entitled ''Fadet juglar''.
Guiraut's hometown cannot be located. It may be a
Calanso in Gascony or one of two locales named
Chalançon, one in
Ardèche
Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.[Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.] .
[Egan, 41.] According to his ''
vida'' he was originally a
jongleur
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enterta ...
well-versed in letters.
His ''vida'' indicates that he composed "skillful songs ''desplazens'' and ''descortz''." The meaning of ''desplazens'' is under dispute: it could refer to a type of verse expressing displeasure or be an adjective ("displeasing in tone") modifying "songs" (''cansos'').
The author of the ''vida'' notes that these works were of the type ''d'aquella saison'', "of that time", and were disliked in
Provence
Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
, where he was disrespected among courtly society.
This may point to a Gascon literary tradition (or fad, as the case may be) distinct to that region and unpopular outside it. A clue to this tradition may be found in the ''vida'' of
Peire de Valeira, who also wrote songs "of that time" which were "of little value".
[Wilson, 516.]
Guiraut was an often present at the courts of
Castile,
León, and
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
.
His sole ''planh'' (lament) was written on the death of
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...
, the heir-apparent of
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 ...
, who died of illness during a campaign against the
Moors
The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a s ...
. Guiraut describes him thus:
Of the rest of Guiraut's corpus at least two works are conscious imitations. His lone ''vers'' is in imitation of
Arnaut Daniel
Arnaut Daniel (; floruit, fl. 1180–1200) was an Occitans, Occitan troubadour of the 12th century, praised by Dante Alighieri, Dante as "the best smith" (''miglior fabbro'') and called a "grand master of love" (''gran maestro d'amore'') by Petra ...
.
''Fadet juglar'' mockingly attacks a jongleur's ignorance in imitation of a similar work by
Guiraut de Cabreira Guerau III de Cabrera (died 1160/61), also called Guiraut (or Giraut) de Cabreira, was a Catalan nobleman and Occitan troubadour. He was the viscount of Àger and Cabrera from 1145. He was the son of Ponç II de Cabrera and Sancha.
Guerau is t ...
.
Much later, in 1280,
Guiraut Riquier
Guiraut Riquier de Narbona ( 1230 in Narbonne – 1292 in Narbonne or Rodez) is among the last of the Occitan troubadours. He is well known because of his great care in writing out his works and keeping them together—''The New Grove Dictionary ...
, for a competition, wrote a commentary on a work of Guiraut de Calanso's for
Henry II of Rodez
Henry II (Occitan: ''Enric II de Rodés'') (c. 1236–1304), of the House of Millau, was the Count of Rodez and Viscount of Carlat from 1274 until his death. He was the son of Hugh IV of Rodez and Isabeau de Roquefeuil.
Henry II was a troubadou ...
.
[Harvey, 23.] None of Guiraut de Calanso's music, if he wrote any, has survived.
Notes
Sources
*Aubrey, Elizabet
"References to Music in Old Occitan Literature."''Acta Musicologica'', 61:2 (May–Aug., 1989), pp. 110–149.
*
Chaytor, H. J.br>
''The Troubadours''.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1912.
*Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. .
*Gaunt, Simon, and Kay, Sarah (edd.) ''The Troubadours: An Introduction''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. .
*Harvey, Ruth. "Courtly culture in medieval Occitania" (pp. 8–27). ''The Troubadours: An Introduction''. Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay, edd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. .
*Wilson, Elizabeth R. "Old Provençal "vidas" as Literary Commentary." ''Romance Philology'', 33:4 (1980:May), pp. 510–518.
External links
Guiraut de Calanso: Complete Works.at Trobar.org
{{authority control
Gascons
13th-century French troubadours