Peire (or Pietro) de la Mula (''fl. c.'' 1200) was an Italian

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 ...

. Of his writings a pair of

couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

s and one ''

sirventes The ''sirventes'' or ''serventes'' (), sometimes translated as "service song", was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry practiced by the troubadours. The name comes from ''sirvent'' ('serviceman'), from whose perspective the song is allegedly wr ...

'' are all that survive. According to 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 ...

'', he was a '' joglars'' and ''trobaire'' (troubadour) who stayed for a long time in

Montferrat Montferrat (, ; it, Monferrato ; pms, Monfrà , locally ; la, Mons Ferratus) is part of the region of Piedmont in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Alessandria and Asti. Mo ...

Cortemilia Cortemilia ( pms, Cortmija) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. Cortemilia borders the following municipalities: Bergolo, Bosia, ...

, and the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

at the court of

Ottone del Carretto Ottone del Carretto (died 1237×42), a patron of troubadours and an imperialist, was the margrave of Savona (c.1185–91) and ''podestà'' of the Republic of Genoa (1194–95) and of Asti (1212). He was the founder of the Del Carretto family. Ch ...

( fl. 1190–1233).One manuscript containing the ''vida'' calls him ''miser N'Ot del Carret'' ("mister Lord Otto of Carretto"), another gives ''messer Ot del Caret'', without the title "lord" (Occitan ''en'' or ''n′''). This places Peire's activity before 1209, when Ottone lost Cortemilia. It has been suggested that Peire's surname could be a misreading of ''de Lamula'', as there are several places called Lamula are known, or of ''da Lama''. It may instead be a corruption of ''de l'Amola'', indicating origins in Amola, a town in

Frignano Frignano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about southwest of Caserta. Frignano borders the following municipalities: Aversa, Casaluce, San Marcellin ...

. There did exist in the High Middle Ages a locale called ''Mulum'' southeast of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

and which may be the basis for a "Mula" family name, though evidence for this is lacking in other sources. There was also a poet named only "Mola" who exchanged some verses with Guilhem Raimon. He may be the same individual as Peire de la Mula, but he has also been identified with the ''joglars'' Tremoleta. One of Peire's surviving couplets, ''Ia de razon no.m cal metr'en pantais'', can be dated to before 1185 on the basis of a reference to ''Androin''(''e''), that is,

Andronicus I Comnenus Andronikos I Komnenos ( gr, Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός; – 12 September 1185), Latinized as Andronicus I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1183 to 1185. He was the son of Isaac Komnenos and the grandson of the emperor Al ...

, who died that year. It was a screed against the young and rich. Peire's other couplet, ''Una leig vei d'escuoill'', was also an attack on minstrels (''joglars''), who, at his time, were bringing their "insolence" from across the Alps into the presence of the ''pros'' (powerful) of Italy. Peire refers in this work to both

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

(''Bretz'') and

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

(''Normans'') minstrels. Peire's only full-length work to survive, ''Dels joglars servir mi laisse'', is a ''sirventes joglaresc'', a ''sirventes'' insulting the minstrels (''joglars''), whom Peire says are "breeding like leverets". Minstrels (mere performers) are in the business for money, but troubadours (composers), in Peire's view, are honorable. For his ''sirventes'' Peire imitated the metre of

Raimbaut d'Aurenga Raimbaut of Orange (c. 1147 – 1173) or, in his native Old Provençal, Raimbaut d'Aurenga, was the lord of Orange and Aumelas. His properties included the towns of Frontignan and Mireval. He was the only son of William of Aumelas and of Tibu ...

's ''Er quant s'emba.l foill del fraisse''. Otherwise, Peire was influenced metrically and rhythmically by the works of

Giraut de Bornelh Giraut de Bornelh (; c. 1138 – 1215), whose first name is also spelled Guiraut and whose toponym is de Borneil or de Borneyll, was a troubadour connected to the castle of the viscount of Limoges. He is credited with the formalisation, if not the ...

Notes

Sources

*Bertoni, Giulio. ''I Trovatori d'Italia: Biografie, testi, tradizioni, note''. Rome: Società Multigrafica Editrice Somu, 1967

915 Year 915 ( CMXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League, personally led by Pope John X, lays s ...

* Riquer, Martín de. ''Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos''. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975. *''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. Margarita Egan, trans. New York: Garland, 1984. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Peire De La Mula 12th-century Italian troubadours 13th-century Italian troubadours People from Piedmont