Raimbaut de Vaqueiras

https://ia800908.us.archive.org/21/items/percysreliquesof01percuoft... https://archive.org/details/percysreliquesof01percuoft/page/n7

[Du Cange] quotes an ancient MS. in French metre, wherein the Leccour (Lat. Leccator) and the Minstrel are joined together, as receiving from Charlemagne a grant of the territory of Provence, and from whom the Provencal Troubadours were derived, &c

Indeed the Normans were so early distinguished for their minstreltalents, that an eminent French writer (s) makes no scruple to refer to them the origin of all modern Poetry, and shows that they were cele- brated for their Songs near a century before the Troubadours of Provence, who are supposed to have led the way to the Poets of Italy, France, and Spain

This high distinction and regard, although confined perhaps in the first instance to Poets and Songsters of the French nation, must have had a tendency to do honour to Poetry and Song among all his subjects, and to encourage the cultivation of these arts among the natives : as the indulgent favour shown by the monarch or his great courtiers to the Proven9al Troubadour, or Norman Rymour, would naturally be imitated by their inferior vassals to the English Gleeman or Minstrel.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambaldo_di_Vaqueiras

Rambaldo was the son of a poor knight of Provence of the castle of Vaqueiras; his father's name was Peiror and he was taken for a fool by the people.

He knew how to sing and compose coblas and sirventès ; and the Prince of Orange did him a great good and great honor, teaching him and making him known and esteemed by good society

After 1190 , he left his Provenza to go to Northern Italy , first passing through Genoa and then Tortona , where he came to the court of the Malaspina [4] .

Subsequently Raimbaut arrives in the Monferrato near the Marquis Bonifacio in 1192 . A privileged guest, he will remain for a long time at his court where he becomes one of the most esteemed finders . His Vida states that "he excelled in ingenuity, weapons and poetry" [5] .

His destiny followed, since then, that of Bonifacio del Monferrato : he fights against the city of Asti , in the Sicilian countryside in 1194 [6] , staying at the court of William of Forcalquier , in 1196 [7] , then he returned to Monferrato.

Here, he falls in love with Beatrice, sister of the marquis and wife of Enrico del Carretto . He will compose for her and start singing in different languages.

Become or become a soldier again, leaves for Romania , for the fourth crusade , together with the Marquis Bonifacio del Monferrato, who is in charge of it. His "Epic Letter" [11] remains the main source for the deeds of arms of Boniface and the first year of the crusade in the Latin Empire of Constantinople . It is said that the valiant Marquis gave him ( 1205 ) "an important land and a good income in the kingdom of Thessaloniki" (the Kingdom of Thessaloniki ). This epic ends in 1207 during the battle on the Rhodope Mountains, near Thessalonica , where the two friends find death [12]at the hands of Bulgarian rebels [13]

Of him there remain 26 compositions in Provençal language , in which, in addition to reworking the canonical repertoire of the genre, introduces elements of his creation. For example, the lyric "Eras quan vey verdeyar" consists of five stanzas, each in a different Romance language : Occitan , Italian , Oïl language , Gascon , Galego; "Domna, tant vos ai preiada" , in dialogical form, is a dispute between two lovers in Occitan and Genoese . The probably best known composition of the troubadour is "Kalenda Maya" , which is also the first known example of vocal extinguisher .

The studies of Linskill and Jean B. Barbaro have reduced the number of poems attributed to Raimbaut keeping four or five compositions in Provence and seventeen or eighteen in northern Italy or in the East [14] .

Raimbaut's work is divided into three major periods:

Before the Monferrato and Beatrice :

Corresponding essentially to the Provençal period of Raimbaut. His poetic activity centers around the theme: Dame, répondez à mes avances ou je pars ailleurs .

Monferrato cycle :

Beatrice is omnipresent and all the poems of Raimbaut mention this. Their central theme is: "J'ai trouvé ma Dame, je suis son vassal et he reste fidèle."

Crusades cycle :

Here, Raimbaut becomes aware of having become one of the most important leaders. There are two themes that intersect: "Je conseille et je tance" and "J'exhale ma douleur d'être exilé loin de ma Dame" .

• http://www.trobar.org/troubadours/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras/
• http://www.rialto.unina.it/BdT.htm
• https://archive.org/details/leepistoledeltr01nocegoog/page/n7
• Boniface I, marquess of Montferrat, 1st king of Thessalonica
• Beatrice Aleramici, del Monferrato