Peire Guillem (or Guilhem) de Tolosa was a 13th-century

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 ...

from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Only one ''

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 ...

'' he wrote ("En Sordel, que us es semblan"), a ''

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 ...

'' with the contemporary Italian poet

Sordello Sordello da Goito or Sordel de Goit (sometimes ''Sordell'') was a 13th-century Italian troubadour. His life and work have inspired several authors including Dante Alighieri, Robert Browning, and Samuel Beckett. Life Sordello was born in the m ...

, survives. According to his ''

vida Vida means “life” in Spanish and Portuguese. It may refer to: Geography * Vida (Gradačac), village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Lake Vida, Victoria Valley, Antarctica * U.S. settled places: ** Vida, Montana ** Vida, Oregon ** Vida, Missour ...

'', Peire Guillem was a courtly man who loved high society. The author of the ''vida'' also expresses admiration for his

couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

s but laments the excessive number he composed, even though so few of his works still exist. He was also said to have composed ''sirventes joglarescs'', or ''sirventes'' in the manner of joglars, to criticise "the barons" (presumably the high noblesse). He also wrote a work criticising the prolific

trouvère ''Trouvère'' (, ), sometimes spelled ''trouveur'' (, ), is the Northern French ('' langue d'oïl'') form of the '' langue d'oc'' (Occitan) word ''trobador'', the precursor of the modern French word '' troubadour''. ''Trouvère'' refers to po ...

Theobald I of Navarre Theobald I (, ; 30 May 1201 – 8 July 1253), also called the Troubadour and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Theobald IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234. He initiated the Barons' Crusade, was famous as a trouvère, and was the ...

. The troubadour

Bertran Carbonel Bertran Carbonel (fl. 1252–1265) was a Provençal troubadour from Marseille. He is a polarising figure among scholars and his reputation varies between authorities. Eighteen of his lyric works survive, as well as seventy-two (Gaunt and Kay) or n ...

twice mentions another troubadour by the initials P.G., possibly indicating Peire Guilhem. He mourns a certain P.G. in 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 ...

'', where the initials probably stand in the manuscript for a full name, since three syllables would be required by the metre. Perhaps Pey Guillem, Pey being a hypocoristic form of Peire, is intended. In another case, Bertran directs a ''

'' of admonition against a troubadour identified only by his initials: ''.P. / ponchat et enapres un .G.''. According to his ''vida'', he entered the "Order of ''Spaza,''" probably the "Order of the Sword," which means either the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

or the

Order of the Faith and Peace The Order of the Faith and Peace or Order of the Sword was a military order in Gascony in the mid-13th century. The order was first mentioned by Pope Gregory IX in 1231 in a letter to ''magistro militiae ordinis sancti Jacobi ejusque fratribus ...

Sources

*''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. Margarita Egan, trans. New York: Garland, 1984. . *"PC 345: Peire Guillem de Toloza," ''Bibliografia Elettronica dei Trovatori'', v. 1.5. {{authority control Writers from Toulouse 13th-century French troubadours Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown