Gau(s)bert Amiel or Gausbertz Amiels was a 13th-century 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 ...

. His only surviving song (''

canso The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) is a representative body of companies that provide air traffic control. It represents the interests of Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). CANSO members are responsible for supporting ov ...

'') is ''Breu vers per tal que meins y poing'', a humorous

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

of contemporary courtly poetry. This lone example of Gausbert's work is well represented in the manuscripts, however, appearing six, labelled A, D, I, K, N, and V. The poem is only ascribed to him in MS "D", where a marginal note names "Gibert Amiels" as the author. Based on the manuscripts, the poem must have been written between 1200 and 1254. All that is known of Gausbert that cannot be gleaned from his poem is found in his ''

vida Vida means “life” in Spanish and Portuguese. It may refer to: Geography * Vida (Gradačac), village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Lake Vida, Victoria Valley, Antarctica * U.S. settled places: ** Vida, Montana ** Vida, Oregon ** Vida, Missour ...

'', which, however, seem to use, as its primary source, his poem. He is described as "a poor knight, courteous and skilled in arms", and "he never fell in love with a dame nobler than he". The purpose of his surviving poem is to attack the ''rics'' (rich men, implying nobility and rank as well as material wealth) and their pursuance of younger women, who are poor Gausbert's targets. There are affinities in content with the work of

Marcabru Marcabru (; floruit, fl. 1130–1150) is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two ''vida (Occitan literary form), vidas'' attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are e ...

Sources

*Egan, Margarita (ed. and trans.) ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. . * Riquer, Martín de. ''Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos''. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975. {{authority control Gascons 13th-century French troubadours