Guillem AugierHis surname is variously spelled Ogier or Ozier, and on ''

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 ...

'' names him ''Guillem Mogier de Bezers'', making him from

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...

. Novella was a troubadour from Vienne in the Dauphinois who lived most of his adulthood in

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 ...

and was active as a minstrel in the early or mid thirteenth century.Graham-Leigh, 30 and n118. According to his late thirteenth-century ''

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 ...

'', "he composed good '' descartz'' and '' sirventes'' in the manner of

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, in which he praised some and blamed others." Augier spent his early career at the court of the

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusa ...

, and was there associated with such figures as

Guilhem Figueira Guillem or Guilhem Figueira or Figera was a Languedocian jongleur and troubadour from Toulouse active at the court of the Emperor Frederick II in the 1230s.Graham-Leigh, 30. He was a close associate of both Aimery de Pégulhan and Guillem Augier N ...

and

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

, until 1230. Among Augier's most famous works is his ''sirventes'' (a '' planh'' or lament) now entitled ''A People Grieving for the Death of their Lord'', which commemorates either the murder of Raymond I Trencavel in 1167 or, as is more preferred, of Raymond Roger Trencavel in 1209.Graham-Leigh, 31.Siberry, 160, who believes that Augier blames the Crusaders for the murder. It has been described as a "funeral oration", but its contemporaneousness with the death of Raymond Roger has been called into question recently. It was probably written at a much later date. The chief purpose of the ''sirventes'' may be to mourn the lost culture of Languedoc before the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

and the "lord" of the story is probably a stereotype meant to represent that culture.Graham-Leigh, 32. It can therefore be viewed as representative of a genre of anti-Crusading verse prevalent in the ''trovatore'' traditions of Italy at the time. On the other hand, it is said to convey a "sense of personal loss" and not "opposition to the expedition".

References

*Graham-Leigh, Elaine. ''The Southern French Nobility and the Albigensian Crusade''. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2005. . *Siberry, Elizabeth. ''Criticism of Crusading, 1095–1274''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985. .

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novella, Guillem Augier 13th-century French troubadours People from Vienne, Isère