Garin d'Apchier was an

Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a v ...

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

and

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 '' trobai ...

from Apcher in the Diocese of Mende in the

Gévaudan Gévaudan (; oc, Gavaudan, Gevaudan) is a historical area of France in Lozère ''département''. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe subordinate to the Arverni. History After the conquest of Gaul, the Romans preserved the c ...

. His life cannot be dated with precision. According to his '' vida'' he was "a valiant and good warrior ... and a handsome knight. And he knew all there was to know about love and gallantry."Egan, XXXV, p. 36. Garin left behind three ''

sirventes The ''sirventes'' or ''serventes'' (), sometimes translated as "service song", was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry practiced by the troubadours. The name comes from ''sirvent'' ('serviceman'), from whose perspective the song is allegedly w ...

''. According to his ''vida'', he invented the '' descort'' genre of

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

when he wrote the piece that begins ''Quan foill'e flors reverdezis / et aug lo chan del rossignol'' ("When the leaf and the flower bud / and I hear the song of the nightingale"), but this has now been lost. He wrote a short

literary cycle A literary cycle is a group of stories focused on common figures, often (though not necessarily) based on mythical figures or loosely on historical ones. Cycles which deal with an entire country are sometimes referred to as matters. A fictional c ...

of ''sirventes'' with

Torcafol Torcafol or Torcafols (fl. 1175–1200) is the nickname of an occitanian troubadour from Gévaudan. He is known for his ''sirventes'' with his rival Garin d'Apchier Garin d'Apchier was an Auvergnat castellan and troubadour from Apcher in the D ...

Notes

Sources

*Egan, Margarita, ed. ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. . *Latella, Fortunata
Premessa all’edizione in linea dei sirventesi di Garin d’Apchier e Torcafol.
2002.

External links

at Rialto. {{Authority control 12th-century French troubadours Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown People from Mende, Lozère