Raimon de Cornet (, also spelled ''Ramon de Cornet''; fl. 1324–1340) was a fourteenth-century Toulousain

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, 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 a prolific author of verse; more than forty of his poems survive, most in

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

but two in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. He also wrote letters, a didactic poem (sometimes classed as the last ''

ensenhamen An ''ensenhamen'' (; meaning "instruction" or "teaching") was an Old Occitan didactic (often lyric) poem associated with the troubadours. As a genre of Occitan literature, its limits have been open to debate since it was first defined in the 19th ...

''), a

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

, and some treatises on

computation Computation is any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that follows a well-defined model (e.g., an algorithm). Mechanical or electronic devices (or, historically, people) that perform computations are known as ''computers''. An es ...

(i.e. practical

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

). He was the "last of the troubadours" and represented ''l'esprit le plus brillant'' (the most brilliant spirit) of the "Toulousain School". He appears in contemporary documents with the titles '' En'' (sir, also ''mossen'') and ''

Fra A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

re'' (brother, also ''fray'', ''frai'', or ''frayre''). Raimon's ''

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' is his ''Doctrinal de trobar'' (doctrines of composition) composed around 1324 and dedicated to

Peter, Count of Ribagorza Peter of Aragon ( ca, Pere d'Aragó, es, Pedro de Aragón; 1305 – 4 November 1381) was an ''infante'' (royal prince) of the Crown of Aragon who served three successive kings as a soldier, diplomat and counsellor before joining the Franciscans in ...

. The ''Doctrinal'' follows the grammar put forward later by the

Consistori del Gay Saber The Consistori del Gay Saber (; "Consistory of the Gay Science") was a poetic academy founded at Toulouse in 1323 to revive and perpetuate the lyric poetry of the troubadours. Also known as the Acadèmia dels Jòcs Florals or Académie des Jeux ...

Guilhem Molinier Guilhem Molinier or Moulinier ( 1330–50) was a medieval Occitan poet from Toulouse. His most notable work is ''Leys d'amors'' ("Laws of Love"), a treatise on rhetoric and grammar that achieved great notoriety and, beyond the Occitan, influenced ...

and it is structurally identical to Guilhem's ''

Leys d'Amors Guilhem Molinier or Moulinier ( 1330–50) was a medieval Occitan poet from Toulouse. His most notable work is ''Leys d'amors'' ("Laws of Love"), a treatise on rhetoric and grammar that achieved great notoriety and, beyond the Occitan, influenced ...

''. Both works spend a good deal of space quoting illustrative passages from the greatest troubadours of the past. The ''Doctrinal'' is considered the first work of the ''Gay Saber'' tradition. In a passage praising the pleasure of poetry, Raimon lists many of the traditional genres, which he and others like him had helped to define: Raimon strongly supported the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

and bitterly opposed the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than i ...

, and eventually

Philip VI of France Philip VI (french: Philippe; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (french: le Fortuné, link=no) or the Catholic (french: le Catholique, link=no) and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 ...

. He wrote two "Crusade songs". The earlier one was composed in 1332, when Philip VI announced his intention of going on Crusade in July. Raimon suggests that the king should impose a tax on those men who do not join the Crusade, and in any case those who remain in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

should pray two or three times daily for those who do go to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. He notes that

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

will inevitably accompany the host and attempt to convert the "

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

". The second song, composed in 1336, is an attack on Philip for not completing his promised Crusade. Raimon's poem ''Quar mot orne fan vers'' contains the earliest reference to

basse danse The ''basse danse'', or "low dance", was a popular court dance in the 15th and early 16th centuries, especially at the Burgundian court. The word ''basse'' describes the nature of the dance, in which partners move quietly and gracefully in a s ...

. In describing the profession of the

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 ...

s he notes that they rapidly pick up the ''bassas dansas''. This reference predates any other by a century.Aubrey, "References", p. 119. Eighteen of Raimon's lyric poems are preserved in the final, unfinished folios of the

Cançoner Gil The ''Cançoner Gil'' (, ) is an Occitan chansonnier produced in Catalonia in the middle of the 14th century. In the systematic nomenclature of Occitanists, it is typically named MS ''Sg'', but as ''Z'' in the reassignment of letter names by F ...

, known as troubadour MS ''Sg'' or ''Z'', now MS 146 in the

Biblioteca de Catalunya The Library of Catalonia ( ca, Biblioteca de Catalunya, ) is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic producti ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. In 1341, possibly in Raimon's lifetime, the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

poet

Joan de Castellnou Joan de Castellnou (; fl. 1341–1355) was a troubadour of the Consistori del Gay Saber active in Toulouse. He left behind five or six ''cansos'', three '' vers'', a ''dansa'', a '' conselh'', and a ''sirventes''. His most famous works are no ...

wrote a ''Glosari al Doctrinal de Ramon de Cornet'', a gloss on the ''Doctrinal''. __NOTOC__

Works in the Cançoner Gil

;'' Canços'' *"Al mes d'abril can veyrez nutg los camps" *"Le mieus saber ioy deziran se pert" *"Ara·s fos hieu si malautz e cotxatz" *"Intrar vuyll en guerrejar si puch tan" *"Cars motz gentils fons e grans mars d'apteza" *"Cent castels e cent tors" *"En aycel tems com no sen fretg ni cauma" (titled "Saumesca") *"Amors corals me fay deios un cas" (called a ''canso'') ;''

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 ...

'' *"Jus en la font de cobeytat se bayna" *"Totz temps azir falsetatz ez engan" *"Qui dels escachs vol belamen iogar" (''com deu hom jogar als escachs'') ;''Vers'' (poems) *"Car vey lo mon de mal pugat al cim" *"Pauc homes vey de sen tan freyturos" *"Raso ni sens no pot vezer lo moble" *"Ben es vilas e mals e rustichs" *"Ab tot mon sen d'amors si pusch faray" ;'' Tenço'' *"Pres mes talens d'un pech partimen far" with Arnau Alaman, ''donzel d'Albi'' ;Unclassified *"A Sent Marcel d'Albeges, prop de Salaç"

References

*Aubrey, Elizabeth (1989)
"References to Music in Old Occitan Literature."
''Acta Musicologica'', 61:2 (May–Aug.), pp. 110–149. *Aubrey, Elizabeth (1996). ''The Music of the Troubadours''. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. . *Auroux, Sylvain (2000). ''History of the Language Sciences''. Walter de Gruyter. . * *Desmet, Piet (2000). ''The History of Linguistic and Grammatical Praxis''. Peeters Publishers. . *Paden, William D. (1995). "The Troubadours and the Albigensian Crusade: A Long View." ''Romance Philology'', 49:2 (Nov.), pp. 168–191 *Paterson, Linda (2003)
"Lyric allusions to the crusades and the Holy Land."
Colston Symposium. *Zeeman, Nicolette (1988)
"The Lover-Poet and Love as the Most Pleasing ''Matere'' in Medieval French Love Poetry."
''The Modern Language Review'', 83:4 (Oct.), pp. 820–842.

External links

Medieval Sourcebook The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the Fordham University History Department and Center for Medieval Studies. It is a web site with modern, medieval and ancient primary source documents, maps, secondary sources, bibliographies ...

Cançoner provençal (Cançoner Gil)
at the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes

Notes

{{authority control 14th-century French troubadours 14th-century Latin writers Medieval writers about the Crusades Medieval Latin poets Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Clergy from Toulouse Medieval linguists Linguists from France Writers from Toulouse