Arnaut Plagues or Plages (fl. c. 1230–1245) was a

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) 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 troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

probably from

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. Only one song of his survives, a ''

tenso A ''tenso'' (; french: tençon) 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 ...

'' with the

trobairitz The ''trobairitz'' () were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. ''Trobairitz'' is both singular and plural. The word ''trobairitz'' is first attested in the 13th-century roma ...

Felipa, ''Ben volgra midons saub(r)es''. Though this song has also been attributed to

Peirol Peirol or PeiròlIn Occitan, ''peir'' (French "pierre") means "stone" and ''-ol'' is a diminutive suffix, the name Peirol being understood as the equivalent of "Little Stone" but also "Petit Pierre" (Lil' Peter) or "Pierrot" (Pete or Petey); howev ...

and

Peire Rogier Peire Rogier (born c. 1145) was a twelfth-century Auvergnat troubadour ( fl. 1160 – 1180) and cathedral canon from Clermont. He left his cathedral to become a travelling minstrel before settling down for a time in Narbonne at the court of th ...

, textual evidence and the bulk of manuscripts seem to point to Arnaut. A line that reads ''hom plagues'' ("one would be pleased") seems to be a play on Arnaut's name. Intertextually the dialogue has some commonalities with the work of

Falquet de Romans Falquet (or Folquet) de RomansFalquet always appears in Latin documents as ''Falquetus de Rotmanis'' and his Occitan name is sometimes spelled ''Falqet'', ''Falqetz'', or ''Falkez'' and ''Rotmans'' or ''Roman''. His Italian name is ''Falchetto di ...

(1212–1220), who travelled in Provence and

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. The exchange between Arnaut and the trobairitz is difficult to follow, however, because the

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 ...

s do not clearly mark the beginning and end of stanzas.

Uc de Saint Circ Uc de Saint Circ (San Sir) or Hugues (Hugh) de Saint Circq ( fl. 1217–1253Aubrey, ''The Music of the Troubadours'', 22–23.) was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of seve ...

composed a song, ''Messonget, un sirventes'', that acknowledges that it is written to ''el son d'en Arnaut Plagues'' ("the melody of lord Arnaut Plagues rom ''Ben volgra''). When Uc composed this (1226 or 1245) would provide the only concrete date for Arnaut's life. Arnaut's melody was also used by other troubadours but despite its popularity, it has been lost to us. Arnaut Plagues has sometimes been confused with

Arnaut Catalan Arnaut Catalan ( fl. 1219–1253) was a troubadour active in the Languedoc, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by ...

, who composed a humorous bilingual ''

'' with

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

while entertaining at his court.

References

*Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn; Shepard, Laurie; and White, Sarah. (1995). ''Songs of the Women Troubadours''. New York: Garland Publishing. . *Chambers, Frank M. "Imitation of Form in the Old Provençal Lyric." ''Romance Philology'', 6 (1952/1953) pp. 104–121. * Jeanroy, Alfred. ''La poésie lyrique des troubadours''. Toulouse: Privat. 1934. {{authority control 13th-century French troubadours Year of birth uncertain People from Provence