Peire de Maensac was an

Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a vas ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

and

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 ...

. He was from Maensac (either Mauzat,

Manzat Manzat (; Auvergnat: ''Manzac'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following is a list of the 464 Communes of France, communes of the Puy-de-Dôme De ...

or Mainsat) in the lands of

Dalfi d'Alvernha Dalfi d'Alvernha (french: Dauphin d'Auvergne) was the Count of Clermont and Montferrand, a troubadour and a patron of troubadours. He was born around 1150 and died in 1234 or 1235. He is sometimes called Robert IV, but there is no solid evidence ...

. He came from the

petty nobility The petty nobility is the lower nobility classes. Finland Petty nobility in Finland is dated at least back to 13th century and was formed by nobles around their strategic interests. The idea was more capable peasants with leader roles in local c ...

. His brother Austor or Austors was also a troubadour, but none of his works survives.Austor is not ''Astorgins de Mayencac, domicellus'' mentioned in a document of 1238, as commonly supposed. (Egan, 76 n3) According to Peire's ''

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 ...

'' the brothers agreed that one of them would "have the castle" (i.e. inherit) and the other would be the "inventor" (i.e. troubadour). Peire became the troubadour. He wrote poems dedicated to the (unnamed) wife of Bernart de Tierci. According to his ''vida'' he sang so much to her that she eventually allowed herself to be "abducted" by him. He fled with her to the castle of Dalf d'Alvernha, but her husband waged a "great war" to bring her back. Dalfi reputedly defended the castle so well that Bernart was unable to ever reclaim her. Peire was called a "pleasant companion" by his biographer. He wrote mostly ''

cansos The ''canso'' or ''canson'' or ''canzo'' () was a song style used by the troubadours. It was, by far, the most common genre used, especially by early troubadours, and only in the second half of the 13th century was its dominance challenged by a ...

'' of

courtly love Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...

with "pleasing melodies", but also ''

coblas A ''cobla esparsa'' ( literally meaning "scattered stanza") in Old Occitan is the name used for a single-stanza poem in troubadour poetry. They constitute about 15% of the troubadour output, and they are the dominant form among late (after 1220) au ...

de solatz''. The meaning of this last phrase is not certain. It could mean "good entertaining

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" (''bon couplets divertissants'') according to Boutière-Schutz, the first of the ''vida's'' editors, but it could also mean simply ''

tenso A ''tenso'' (; french: tençon) is a style of troubadour song. It takes the form of a debate in which each voice defends a position; common topics relate to love or ethics. Usually, the tenso is written by two different poets, but several examples ...

s'', as preferred by Egan, the ''vida's'' first English editor. He was attacked by

Robert of Auvergne Robert of Auvergne, also called Robert de la Tour (died 7 January 1234), was a French people, French nobleman, prelate and poet from the Auvergne. He served as bishop of Clermont from 1195 until 1227 and thereafter as archbishop of Lyon until hi ...

in a ''

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 ...

''.

Notes

Sources

*''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. Margarita Egan, trans. New York: Garland, 1984. . {{authority control People from Auvergne 13th-century French troubadours Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown