Maria de Ventadorn (or Ventedorn) (french: Marie de Ventadour) was a patron of

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 ...

poetry at the end of the 12th century. Maria was one of ''las tres de Torena'', "the three of Turenne", the three daughters of viscount Raymond II of Turenne and of Elise de Séverac. These three, according to

Bertran de Born Bertran de Born (; 1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the 12th-13th century. He composed love songs (cansos) but was better known for his political songs (sirventes). He ...

, possessed ''tota beltat terrena'', "all earthly beauty". Her date of birth is uncertain; she possibly died in 1222. Her name is variously recorded as Marie de Turenne and Marguerite de Turenne. She married viscount Eble V of Ventadour (

Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine regio ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

); they had a son, Eble (VI), who married Dauphine de la Tour d'Auvergne, and a daughter, Alix or Alasia. Maria's husband was the grandson of Eble III (patron of the important early troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn), and the great-grandson of Eble le chanteur, believed to have been among the creators of the genre. Maria is addressed, or at least mentioned, in the work of several troubadours including

Gaucelm Faidit Gaucelm Faidit ( literally "Gaucelm the Dispossessed" c. 1156 – c. 1209) was a troubadour, born in Uzerche, in the Limousin, from a family of knights in service of the count of Turenne. He travelled widely in France, Spain, and Hungary. His ...

, the Monk of Montaudon,

Gausbert de Puicibot Jausbert de Puycibot was a Limousin troubadour of the early thirteenth century ( fl. 1220–1231). Fifteen of his works have survived (fourteen of them ''cansos''), most of them conventional, but with a few that are expressive of "true feelin ...

, Pons de Capduelh, Guiraut de Calanso, Bertran de Born and

Gui d'Ussel Gui d'Ussel, d'Ussèl, or d'Uisel ( fl. 1195–1209Aubrey, 16.) was a troubadour from the Limousin. Twenty of his poems survive: eight ''cansos'', two ''pastorelas'', two ''coblas'', and eight ''tensos'', several with his relatives and includi ...

. According to a poetic commentary included in the Biographies des Troubadours, Hugh IX of Lusignan was Maria's "knight" (). Maria de Ventadorn is listed as a

trobairitz The ''trobairitz'' () were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. ''Trobairitz'' is both singular and plural. The word ''trobairitz'' is first attested in the 13th-century r ...

in her own right on the strength of a single '' tensó'' or poetic debate (dated ''c.'' 1197), of which alternate verses were apparently composed by her and by Gui d'Ussel. The question at issue in the debate was this: once a man has succeeded in his plea to be accepted as a lady's lover, does he thereafter become her equal, or does he remain her servant? Maria takes the latter view.

References

* ''Biographies des troubadours'' ed. J. Boutière, A.-H. Schutz (Paris: Nizet, 1964) pp. 170–179, 208-214, 314-320. * Pierre Bec, ''Chants d'amour des femmes-troubadours: trobairitz et chansons de femme'' (Paris: Stock, 1995) pp. 164–171: Occitan text and French translation of the ''tensó''. * Jean Mouzat, ''Les poèmes de Gaucelm Faidit''. Paris: Nizet, 1965. 12th-century births 1222 deaths 12th-century French women writers 12th-century French troubadours 12th-century women composers 13th-century French women French untitled nobility French patrons of literature Trobairitz Year of birth unknown {{France-poet-stub