Raimon Gaucelm de Bezers (
fl. 1262–1275) was a
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
ian
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 ...
with nine surviving works. Many of his works appear with dates in the
rubric
A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the la, rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th cent ...
s in manuscript ''C'', a 14th-century work now "BN f.f. 856" in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, allowing his career to be dated with ease.
Raimon was from
Béziers
Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...
, where he was a contemporary resident with
Joan Esteve
En Johan Esteve de Bezers, in modern orthography Joan Esteve ( fl. 1270–1288), was a troubadour from Béziers. The only chansonnier which contains his eleven works, also calls him Olier de Bezers, implying that he was perhaps a potter. All hi ...
and
Bernart d'Auriac Bernat or Bernart d'Auriac was a minor troubadour notable mainly for initiating a cycle of five short ''sirventes'' in the summer of 1285. According to a rubric of the chansonnier in which the cycle is preserved, Bernart was a ''mayestre de Bezers' ...
. The poets of Béziers in that day were
Gallicised
Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), Frenchification, or Gallicization is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by more ...
heavily and supported the French over and against the native Occitan aristocracy. In this vein he wrote, in 1268, ''Qui vol aver complida amistansa'', a ''
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 ...
'' about
Louis IX of France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
and his preparations for the
Eighth Crusade
The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see ...
. In 1270 he wrote ''Ab grans trebalhs et ab grans marrimens'', another ''canso'' and this time also a ''planh'' for Louis IX after his failed Crusade and death.
Raimon was a middle-class, urban poet, and certainly no courtesan. He was also a non-noble opponent of the artificial courtliness which surrounded aristocratic life in his day. He wrote ''A penas vauc en loc qu'om nom deman'' to encourage generosity to the poor. It is an indicator of his status in society that he penned ''Quascus planh le sieu damnatge'', a ''planh'' (1262) for a local
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
named Guiraut de Linhan and the only such poem surviving for a middle-class figure.
Raimon was fairly popular in his own lifetime, as evidenced by the first stanza of ''Un sirventes, si pogues, volgra far'', 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 ...
''. In it Raimon says that he wishes to go somewhere where the people don't ask him ''avetz fag res novel?'' ("have you made anything new?"). This poem was dedicated to Raimon Gaucelm de Sabran, lord of
Uzès
Uzès (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. In 2017, it had a population of 8,454. Uzès lies about north-northeast of Nîmes, west of Avignon and south-east of Alès.
History
Originally ''Uc ...
, whom Raimon calls ''fraire'' (brother) because they share a first name. Another poem, ''Belh Senher Dieus, quora veirai mo fraire'', was dedicated, according to its rubric, to the ''senhor d’Uzest que avia nom aissi quon elh Raimon Gaucelm'': "lord of Uzès who has the same name as Raimon Gaucelm."
Raimon composed one humorous ''
partimen
The ''partimen'' (; ca, partiment ; also known as ''partia'' or ''joc partit'') is a cognate form of the French jeu-parti (plural ''jeux-partis''). It is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry composed between two troubadours, a subgenre of the ''tenso'' ...
'' (a ''
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 ...
'' with a proposed dilemma) with
Joan Miralhas Joan Miralhas was troubadour of Béziers in the late 13th century. Nothing is known of him besides this and that he wrote a ''partimen'' with Raimon Gaucelm
Raimon Gaucelm de Bezers (fl. 1262–1275) was a Languedocian troubadour with nine s ...
in which Raimon poses the following question:
Raimon also wrote religious songs, including ''A Dieu done m'arma de bon'amor'' and ''Dieus m'a dada febre tersana dobla''. This last was, according to the rubric, ''so son coblas que fes R. Gaucelm quan fo malautes'': "the stanzas R. Gaucelm made when he was ill." It was composed on the model of ''A Dieu done m'arma'' as a prayer to God for delivery from illness and from sin, possibly on the poet's deathbed (c. 1285).
Works
Complete worksat Rialto
Sources
*
Riquer, Martín de. ''Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos''. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raimon Gaucelm De Bezers
13th-century French troubadours
People from Béziers