Peire de Valeira, Valeria, or Valera (fl. early–mid twelfth century) was a Gascon

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 ''trobairi ...

. Since troubadour poetry probably originated in northwest

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

(

Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...

and

Saintonge Saintonge may refer to: *County of Saintonge, a historical province of France on the Atlantic coast *Saintonge (region), a region of France corresponding to the historical province Places *Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge, a commune in the Charente-Mari ...

) and first spread—within a generation—south into Gascony, Peire was one of the earliest troubadours.Zumthor, 15. Only two of his poems survive,Egan, 80. one ''

canso The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) is a representative body of companies that provide air traffic control. It represents the interests of Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). CANSO members are responsible for supporting ov ...

'' ("Vezer volgra n'Ezelgarda") and one ''

cobla The cobla (, plural ''cobles'') is a traditional music ensemble of Catalonia, and in Northern Catalonia in France. It is generally used to accompany the Sardana, a traditional Catalan folk dance, danced in a circle. Structure The modern Cobla no ...

'' ("Qui qu'Amors don son voler"). His birthplace was Valera, near

Podensac Podensac (; oc-gsc, Podençac) is a commune in the Gironde department. It is located in the famous Bordeaux wine region in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (southwestern France). Geography Podensac is located within the Graves vineyards, on the left bank of ...

and

Saint-Macaire Saint-Macaire (; oc, Sent Macari) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is the site of the Château de Tardes. Saint-Macaire station has rail connections to Agen, Langon and Bordeaux. Popula ...

in the Gironde. His '' vida'' places his birthplace in the

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

of Arnaut Guillem de Marsan, who was himself a troubadour. He was a contemporary of

Marcabru Marcabru (; fl. 1130–1150) is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two '' vidas'' attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are evidently built on hints in the poems; ...

and originally a

jongleur A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...

. His poems were typical for the time, according to

Uc de Saint Circ Uc de Saint Circ (San Sir) or Hugues (Hugh) de Saint Circq (fl. 1217–1253Aubrey, ''The Music of the Troubadours'', 22–23.) was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of sever ...

, the probable author of his ''vida'', being about natural objects (like leaves, flowers, and birds), but not of great value to the biographer's time. But Uc saves his harshest critique for the end, as Elizabeth Poe relates:

The unexpected afterthough, one of the factors contributing to the humor of the sentence ... is another typical device of Uc's style. He catches us off guard with this tactic at the end of the short ''vida'' about Peire de Valeira, for example, which he concludes with the harsh judgement: ''Sei cantar non aguen gran valor'' "His songs did not have much value" . . .and just when we think he has completed his devastating critique, he adds ''ni el'' "and neither did he."

Peire's entire ''vida'', found in MSS ''I'' and ''K'', however, is probably unreliable, since it appears to confuse him with another Gascon troubadour,

Arnaut de Tintinhac Arnaut de Tintinhac or Tintignac was a 12th-century Gascon nobleman and troubadour from Naves, near Tulle. He was the lord of Tintinhac, probably a feudatory of the viscount of Turrenne, and very proud of his heritage, as indicated when he refers ...

. Peire is often placed in a hypothetical "school" of poetry which includes Bernart de Ventadorn,

Cercamon Cercamon (, fl. 1135-1145) was one of the earliest troubadours. His true name and other biographical data are unknown. He was apparently a Gascony-born jester of sorts who spent most of his career in the courts of William X of Aquitaine and perha ...

Jaufre Rudel Jaufre Rudel (Jaufré in modern Occitan) was the Prince of Blaye (''Princes de Blaia'') and a troubadour of the early- to mid-12th century, who probably died during the Second Crusade, in or after 1147. He is noted for developing the theme of "lo ...

Marcoat Marcoat was a minor Gascon troubadour and joglar who flourished in the mid twelfth century. He is often cited in connexion with Eleanor of Aquitaine and is placed in a hypothetical "school" of poetry which includes Bernart de Ventadorn, Marcabru, ...

, and

Peire Rogier Peire Rogier (born c. 1145) was a twelfth-century Auvergnat troubadour (fl. 1160 – 1180) and cathedral canon from Clermont. He left his cathedral to become a travelling minstrel before settling down for a time in Narbonne at the court of the ...

among others.Harvey, 102. Further, the references in his ''vida'' to songs of the time concerning leaves, flowers, songs, and birds may be evidence for an early troubadour genre which did not survive. It may also be that the distinctiveness of Peire's genre was regional, a Gascon style. The later Gascon troubadour

Guiraut de Calanso Giraut or Guiraut de Calanso or Calanson ( fl. 1202–1212)Gaunt and Kay, 286. was a Gascon troubadour in the Occitan language. Of his lyric works that remain five are '' cansos'', two ''descorts'', a '' congé'', a ''planh'', and a ''vers'' ...

wrote verses that were ''d'aquella saison'' ("of that time") and disliked in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, perhaps pointing to a Gascon tradition (or "literary fad") which was not popular outside of ''Gascoigna'' (Gascony).Wilson, 516. The ''paubra valor'' ("poor value") of Peire's songs may be a reflection of the popularity of Gascon influence.

Notes

Sources

*Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. . *Harvey, Ruth. "Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Troubadours." ''The World of Eleanor of Aquitaine: Literature and Society in Southern France between the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries'', edd. Marcus Bull and Catherine Léglu. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2005. . *Poe, Elizabeth W. "The ''vidas'' and ''razos''." ''A Handbook of the Troubadours''. F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, edd. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. . * Riquer, Martín de. ''Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos''. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975. *Wilson, Elizabeth R. "Old Provençal "vidas" as Literary Commentary." ''Romance Philology'', 33:4 (1980:May), pp. 510–518. * Zumthor, Paul
"Les marques du chant: le point de vue du philologue."
''Revue de musicologie'', 73:1 (1987), pp. 7–18. {{authority control Gascons 12th-century French troubadours Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown People from Gironde