Aimeric de Belenoi ( fl. 1215–1242 22.) was a Gascon

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 ...

. At least fifteen of his songs survived. Seven others were attributed to him in some medieval manuscripts.

Early life

Aimeric was born in the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

of Lesparra in the Bordelais (''metropolis civitas Burdigalensium'', the modern

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

).Egan, 1–2. His uncle was another troubadour, Peire de Corbiac. His ''vida'' says he was a

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and later a

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 ...

before he took to "inventing good songs, which were beautiful and charming." He apparently was the

feudal lord An overlord in the Kingdom of England, English Feudalism in England, feudal system was a lord of the manor, lord of a manor who had Subinfeudation, subinfeudated a particular Manorialism, manor, Estate in land, estate or fief, fee, to a Leaseho ...

of Belenoi, an unknown location.

Career

The chief object of his songs was a lady named Gentil de Rieux (''Gentilis de Gienciaco''), a Gascon from Gensac-Saint-Julien and the wife of Raimon de Benque. His biographer records that he lingered in Gascony a long time "for her" before moving on to

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, where he died. Aimeric's poetry refers to events at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

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 ...

, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, implying that he travelled. He was at the Este court in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

in the 1210s, where he probably had contact with

Aimeric de Pegulhan Aimeric or Aimery de Peguilhan, Peguillan, or Pégulhan (c. 1170 – c. 1230) was a troubadour (floruit, fl. 1190–1221)Gaunt and Kay, 279. born in Peguilhan (near Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne, Saint-Gaudens), the son of a cloth merchant. ...

Albertet de Sestaro Albertet de Sestaro, sometimes called Albertet de Terascon ( fl. 1194–1221), was a Provençal jongleur and troubadour from the Gapençais (''Gapensés'' in Occitan). Of his total oeuvre, twenty three poems survive. "Albertet" or "Albertetz" ...

, Guillem Augier Novella and

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 ...

.. He may also have made the acquaintance of

Peire Cardenal Peire Cardenal (or Cardinal) (c. 1180 – c. 1278) was a troubadour (fl. 1204 – 1272) known for his satirical ''sirventes'' and his dislike of the clergy. Ninety-six pieces of his remain, a number rarely matched by other poets of the age.Aubrey, ...

. Aimeric went to Castile before making his final trip to Catalonia. His last datable work was ''Nulhs hom en res no falh'', 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 ...

'' for

Nuño Sánchez Nuño Sánchez ( ca, Nunó, ''Nunyó'', or'' Nunyo Sanç'', french: Nuno Sanche) ( 1185 – 1242) was a nobleman and statesman in the Crown of Aragon. Nuño was the son of Sancho, Count of Provence, Roussillon, and Cerdagne, and Sancha Núñez ...

, who died in 1242. This ''planh'' was addressed to the ''comtessa Beatris'', wife of

Raymond Berengar IV of Provence Ramon Berenguer IV (french: Raimond-Bérenger; 1198 – 19 August 1245) was a member of the House of Barcelona who ruled as count of Provence and Forcalquier. He was the first count of Provence to live in the county in more than one hundred years ...

, and ''senher N'Imo'', her brother Aimone, son of

Thomas I of Savoy Thomas Ι (''Tommaso I''; c. 1178 – 1 March 1233) was Count of Savoy from 1189 to 1233. He is sometimes numbered "Thomas I" to distinguish him from his son of the same name. His long reign marked a decisive period in the history of Savoy. Bi ...

. Though the work is often ascribed to

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras __NOTOC__ Raimbaut de Vaqueiras or Vaqueyras ( fl. 1180 – 1207) was a Provençal troubadour and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courtsAmelia E. Van Vleck, ''The Lyric Texts'' p. 33, in ''Handbook of the Trou ...

in 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, the reference to this pair and the style of the work, favour ascription to Aimeric. It is the only piece of work by Aimeric which survives with a melody, though that melody is ascribed (with the lyrics) in its lone manuscript to Peirol. The melody is

through-composed In music theory of musical form, through-composed music is a continuous, non- sectional, and non- repetitive piece of music. The term is typically used to describe songs, but can also apply to instrumental music. While most musical forms such as t ...

. 180]. For Aimeric's motivic construction see pp.

191 Year 191 (Roman numerals, CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ' ...

ndash;2. Aimeric's verses were first collected by Maria Dumitrescu as ''Poésies du troubadour Aimeric de Belenoi'' and published at

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1935. She criticised his work as "banal", but it enjoyed widespread popularity in the High Middle Ages, especially in Italy, and it is varied in its intertwining themes moral, religious, and amorous.Gaunt and Kay, 279.

Works

All twenty two works that are sometime attributed to Aimeric are listed below, alphabetically:

Sources

* *Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. . *Gaunt, Simon, and Kay, Sarah (edd.) ''The Troubadours: An Introduction''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. .

External links

Complete works of Aimeric de Belenoi

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belenoi, Aimeric de Gascons 13th-century French troubadours People from Gironde 1215 births 1242 deaths