Peire Rogier (born c. 1145) was a twelfth-century

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 ...

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 ...

( fl. 1160 – 1180) and cathedral canon from Clermont. He left his cathedral to become a travelling

minstrel 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 ...

before settling down for a time in

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...

at the court of the Viscountess Ermengard. His life and career are known because his late thirteenth-century ''

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 ...

'' survives, as well as some of his works. The reliability of his ''vida'', upon which all the details of his goings and comings are known, however, is not complete. According to it, he left the religious life to become 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 ...

. He fell in love with his hostess and patron and wrote many songs in her honour, giving Ermengard the nickname ''Tort-n'avetz'' ("You are wrong"), but for what reasons is unknown.Cheyette, 8. Eventually the people of the Narbonnaise believed that he was in a sexual relationship with the viscountess and so she asked him to leave. He moved on to the court 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 ...

, where he also remained for a long time. From Raimbaut's court he moved on to sojourn at that of

Alfonso VIII of Castile Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (''El Noble'') or the one of Las Navas (''el de las Navas''), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at ...

, then that of

Alfonso II of Aragon Alfonso II (1–25 March 1157Benito Vicente de Cuéllar (1995)«Los "condes-reyes" de Barcelona y la "adquisición" del reino de Aragón por la dinastía bellónida» p. 630-631; in ''Hidalguía''. XLIII (252) pp. 619–632."Alfonso II el Casto, hi ...

, and finally that of

Raymond V of Toulouse Raymond V ( oc, Ramon; c. 1134 – c. 1194) was Count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194. He was the son of Alphonse I of Toulouse and Faydida of Provence. Alphonse took his son with him on the Second Crusade in 1147. When Alpho ...

, where he arrived circa 1170. According to his ''vida'', he became much esteemed as a troubadour through his travels, but there is no evidence otherwise for any movements in Spain, except perhaps the assembly of troubadours at the court of Aragon mentioned in a work of

Peire d'Alvernhe Peire d'Alvernhe or d'Alvernha (''Pèire'' in modern Occitan; b. c. 1130) was an Auvergnat troubadour (active 1149–1170) with twenty-oneGaunt and Kay, 287. or twenty-fourEgan, 72.Aubrey, ''The Music of the Troubadours'', 8. surviving works. ...

(which need not have taken place). He entered the

Order of Grandmont Grandmontines were the monks of the Order of Grandmont, a religious order founded by Saint Stephen of Thiers, towards the end of the 11th century. The order was named after its motherhouse, Grandmont Abbey in the eponymous village, now part of t ...

before his death. BnF ms

Peire Rogier's style 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 ...

poetry is of the extremely reverent variety, in which the man submits completely to his lady and she is a paragon of virtue and courtliness (though the word ''cortezia'' is absent from his surviving works).Mott, xxvii. She can by mere words convert a boorish man into a courtly one. Love need not be physical to be enjoyed and suffering on behalf of one's lady is considered pleasure. From one of his works:

He has been alleged as the author of the ''

Roman de Flamenca ''Flamenca'' () is a 13th-century anonymous romance, written in the Occitan language in Occitania. Most literary allusions in the text are from Old French sources. The author A certain Sir Bernardet may have been the author, however the Bern ...

'',Henckels, 159. but as this was written around 1234–1235, he would have done so while about ninety years of age, which is hardly likely.Pietsch, 202. However, the author of the ''Flamenca'' probably imitated the dialogue of Peire Rogier's poems. As the originator of internal dialogue in the troubadour lyric, Peire Rogier was also imitated by

Guiraut 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 ...

Sources

*Cheyette, Fredric L. ''Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001. *Pietsch, K
"The Authorship of Flamenca."
''Modern Language Notes'', Vol. 10, No. 7. (Nov., 1895), pp 201–202. *Henckels, Théodore
"The Authorship of Flamenca."
''Modern Language Notes'', Vol. 10, No. 5. (May, 1895), pp 158–159. *Pattison, Walter T
"The Troubadours of Peire D'Alvernhe's Satire in Spain."
''PMLA'', Vol. 50, No. 1. (Mar., 1935), pp 14–24. *Denomy, Alexander J
"Courtly Love and Courtliness."
'' Speculum'', Vol. 28, No. 1. (Jan., 1953), pp 44–63. *Mott, Lewis F
"The Love Theories of Chrétien de Troies."
''PMLA'', Vol. 8, Appendix. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Modern Language Association of America, 1893. (1893), pp xxvii–xxxi.

External links

Complete works
at trobar.org

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogier, Peire 12th-century French troubadours Musicians from Clermont-Ferrand 1140s births Year of death unknown Clergy from Clermont-Ferrand