Gaucelm Faidit
Gaucelm Faidit(Old Occitan[ɡawˈtʃɛlmfajˈdit]literally "Gaucelm the Dispossessed" c. 1156 – c. 1209) was atroubadour,born inUzerche,in theLimousin,from a family of knights in service of the count ofTurenne.He travelled widely inFrance,Spain,andHungary.His known patrons includeGeoffrey II, Duke of BrittanyandDalfi d'Alvernha;he was also at one time inPoitiersat the court ofRichard I of England,for whose death he wrote a famousplanh(lament) in 1199. It is possible, though controversial, that Gaucelm took part in theThird Crusadefrom 1189–1191; it seems clear that in 1202 he set out on theFourth Crusade,as did his then-patron,Boniface of Montferrat,but after 1202 there is no further historical trace of Gaucelm.
Three sources – the anonymousvida(biography) of Gaucelm, an exchange of verses between Gaucelm andElias d'Ussel,and the satiricalsirventeson rival troubadours by theMonk of Montaudon– allege that Gaucelm married a prostitute. According to thevida,her name was Guillelma Monja: "she was very beautiful and well educated" and accompanied her husband on Crusade. Thevidaalso claims that Gaucelm was rather fat, and that after their marriage, Guillelma also put on weight.
About seventy of Gaucelm's poems and fourteen of his melodies survive. Six poems are addressed to Boniface of Montferrat, and twelve toMaria de Ventadorn.Several of his poems are accompanied in the manuscripts by detailed explanations (razós), usually concerning love affairs and rivalries that allegedly inspired the poems. These tales involve Gaucelm withHugh IX of Lusignan,his sonHugh X,Alfonso II, Count of Provence,and others.
References
[edit]- Mouzat, J.-D. (1965).Les Poèmes de Gaucelm Faidit, troubadour du XIIe siècle.Paris: Les Classiques d'Oc.
- Biographies des troubadoursed. J. Boutière, A.-H. Schutz (Paris: Nizet, 1964) pp. 167–195.
- Rossell i Mayo, Antoni.Les poesies i les melodies del trobador Gaucelm Faidit.Cabrera de Mar, Maresme [Espanya]: Galerada, 2013. pp. 10, etc.
