Matieu de Caersi, Caerci, or Querci was a
troubadour from the
Quercy. According to the
rubric accompanying his only song in troubadour manuscript ''C'',
[A 14th-century manuscript from ]Occitania
Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language, Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This ...
, now filed as BN f.f. 856 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
, Paris. he was ''Mayestre Matieus de Caersi'', that is, a
Master of Arts from Quercy, possibly
Cahors. He is not to be identified with the Matheus who composed a ''
tenso'' with
Bertram de Gordon in 1212.
Matieu's lone surviving song is ' ("I am so afflicted that I cannot be happy"), a ''
planh'' on the death of
James I of Aragon (died 26 August 1276). It is often compared and contrasted with another ''planh'' on James' death composed by
Cerverí de Girona, ''Si per tristor, per dol no per cossir''. Cerverí's piece is direct and almost personal, as the troubadour asks the
Virgin Mary to show as much mercy to James as he showed on earth, referring to his establishing the
Mercedarian Order in
Barcelona. Matieu, on the other hand, is moralising and religious. He is also self-concerned, as he asks James' sons to continue to protect him. The merits of both works have been debated by critics.
Structurally, Matieu imposes ''
coblas capfinidas'' on what is otherwise the metric and rhyme form used by
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras in '. The pieces also has two ''
tornadas''. The first plays on the fact that James died a day after the
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
of
James, son of Zebedee (Santiago Matamoros): ''de dos Jacmes dobla festa.ns remanha
ieu IEU or Ieu may refer to:
* Independent Education Union of Australia, the union of employees working in non-government schools in Australia
* Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, a free English-language online encyclopedia with a wide range of article ...
' ("from two James God has given us a double festival"). Earlier Matieu had compared the sorrow of the people of James' lands as like that of the Britons bemoaning the loss of
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
: ''ben devetz aitant de dol aver cum per Artus agron silh de Bretanha''.
Notes
Sources
*
Riquer, Martín de. ''Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos''. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.
French troubadours
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
{{France-poet-stub