Raimbaut of Orange (
Old Provençal: Raimbaut d'Aurenga; 1147 – 1173) was the lord of
Orange and
Aumelas and an influential
troubadour in the
Kingdom of Arles in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. His properties included the towns of
Frontignan and
Mireval. He was the only son of
William of Aumelas and of
Tiburge, Countess of Orange, daughter of
Raimbaut, Count of Orange. After the early death of his father, Raimbaut's guardians were his uncle
William VII of Montpellier and his elder sister
Tibors.
Raimbaut contributed to the creation of ''trobar ric'', or articulate style, in troubadour poetry. Abou
forty of his workssurvive, displaying a gusto for rare rhymes and intricate poetic form.
His death in 1173 is mourned in a ''planh'' (lament) by
Giraut de Bornelh, and also in the only surviving poem of the
trobairitz
The ''trobairitz'' () were Occitania, Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. ''Trobairitz'' is both singular and plural.
The word ''trobairitz'' is first attested in the 13th-c ...
Azalais de Porcairagues, who was the lover of Raimbaut's cousin
Gui Guerrejat. It seems possible that Azalais' poem was composed in an earlier form while Raimbaut was still alive, because in his poem ''A mon vers dirai chanso'' he appears to contribute to the
poetical debate begun by
Guilhem de Saint-Leidier and taken up by Azalais as to whether a lady is dishonoured by taking a lover who is richer than herself. Aimo Sakari argues that Azalais is the mysterious ''joglar'' (
jongleur) addressed in several poems by Raimbaut.
Bibliography
*Pattison, Walter T. ''The Life and Works of the Troubadour Raimbaut d'Orange''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1952. LCCN 52-5321.
*Sakari, A. "Azalais de Porcairagues, le 'Joglar' de Raimbaut d'Orange" in ''Neuphilologische Mitteilungen'', vol. 50 (1949) pp. 23–43, 56-87, 174-198.
External links
Complete works in Provençal and their English translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raimbaut of Orange
1140s births
1173 deaths
People from the Holy Roman Empire
People from Orange, Vaucluse
12th-century troubadours