Amanieu de la Broqueira was a Gascon troubadour. His name suggests he was from Labroquère, near

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges (, literally ''Saint-Bertrand of Comminges''; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Sent Bertran de Comenge'') is a Communes of France, commune (municipality) and former episcopal see in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, ...

. He wrote two ''

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 ...

'' that have been preserved in the 14th-century troubadour

chansonnier A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings o ...

E (BN f.f. 1749): *''Mentre que·l talans mi cocha'' While the desire is pressing me"( 21,1) *''Quan reverdejon li conderc'' When the countryside turns green again"( 21,2) Along with the works of Guilhem d'Anduza and Guilhem Raimon de Gironella, Amanieu's songs are found only in chansonnier E, which has a high proportion of Gascon, Catalan and Langedocien composers. For reasons unknown, the chansonnier gives Amanieu's name as Ameus. In ''Quan reverdejon li conderc'', Amanieu gives his own name as Amaneus Aureilla, which is perhaps a family name or else indicates that he came from Aureilhan. Towards the end of the song, Amanieu laments that he did not send it by one of his preferred ''

jongleur A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It 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 entertainer who ...

s'', Porta-joia d'Engolmes from the

Angoumois Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional vin ...

and Paire de Bodeles from the . Porta-joia from Angoumois is probably the same person as the ''jongleur'' Porta-joia l'escassier (i.e., he who walks on crutches) mentioned by Raimon de Durfort. "Porta-joia" is a nickname meaning "he who carries joy". This places Amanieu's poetic activity in the last third of the twelfth century. ''Mentre que·l talans mi cocha'' has a refrain at verses 2 and 9 and might be classified as a ''

retroencha In the Middle Ages, the ''rotrouenge'' (Old French) or ''retroencha'' (Old Occitan) was a recognised type of lyric poetry, although no existing source defines the genre clearly. There are four conserved troubadour poems, all with refrains and three ...

''. Besides the information gleaned from his poems and the chansonnier, one contemporary document mentions him. In 1188, Amanieu was one of the witnesses of a donation of Count

Bernard IV of Armagnac Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

to the cathedral of Auch. His name was spelled "Amaneus de Broquera".

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Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{refend French troubadours Gascons