Lombarda (born c. 1190) was an early 13th-century trobairitz from Toulouse (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1217–1262) known only from her ''

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 ...

'' and a short '' tenso''. Though her name has been taken to imply that she was from

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 ...

, it rather indicates that she was from a banking or

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

family, since "Lombard" was used throughout Western Europe in this sense at the time. Other scholars have suggested, because of her connexion to a lord of Armagnac, that she was from

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

. She wrote in the trobar clus style, one of the few women to do so. Her only surviving work is tied up with her ''vida'' and a '' razo''. According to her ''vida,'' she was noble, beautiful, charming, and learned, skilled at composing songs about '' fin'amors''. The adjective "noble" and the honorific ''Na'' (lady) attached to her name imply that she was married and probably in her early twenties at the time of her poetic activity. Sometime before 1217, when he claimed Armagnac, Bernart Arnaut, the brother of then-count Geraud V, visited Lombarda and befriended her. He left, however, without seeing her one last time and sent a short poem to her house. It is to this poem that Lombarda penned a response and sent it to him.

Sources

*Bogin, Meg. ''The Women Troubadours''. Scarborough: Paddington, 1976. . *Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn; Shepard, Laurie; and White, Sarah. ''Songs of the Women Troubadours''. New York: Garland Publishing, 1995. . *Egan, Margarita, ed. ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. . 1190 births 13th-century deaths Musicians from Toulouse French women poets Trobairitz 13th-century French troubadours 13th-century French women writers Writers from Toulouse {{France-poet-stub