Raimon Jordan (fl. c. 1178–1195)Boase, 823. was a Toulousain

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 ...

and the

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

of Saint-Antonin in the

Rouergue Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan ...

near the boundary with

Quercy Quercy (; oc, Carcin , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and ...

. His poetry was in

Old Occitan Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label= Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries. Old ...

. There is a '' vida'' of Jordan which exists in several manuscripts, some with an accompanying ''

razo A ''razo'' (, literally "cause", "reason") was a short piece of Occitan prose detailing the circumstances of a troubadour composition. A ''razo'' normally introduced an individual poem, acting as a prose preface and explanation; it might, however ...

''. Like typical ''vidas'', it tell us where he was from and whom he loved. He was from Pena d'Albeges (modern

Penne Penne () is an Extrusion, extruded type of pasta with cylinder (geometry), cylinder-shaped pieces, their ends cut at an angle. ''Penne'' is the plural form of the Italian ''penna'' (meaning ''feather'' but ''pen'' as well), deriving from Latin ' ...

). At some point he had a love affair with Elis (Lucia) de Montfort, wife of Guillem de Gordon (c. 1165) and then Bernart de Casnac (c. 1214). This affair was originally in a ''vida'' of Bertran de Born, but it was cut out and placed in Jordan's own ''vida-razo'' at a later date. Jordan was a contemporary of Bertran and partook with him in the

Revolt of 1173–1174 The Revolt of 1173–1174 was a rebellion against King Henry II of England by three of his sons, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their rebel supporters. The revolt ended in failure after eighteen months; Henry's rebellious family members had ...

as a partisan of

Henry the Young King Henry the Young King (28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine to survive childhood. Beginning in 1170, he was titular King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Mai ...

against Henry Curtmantle,

Duke of Aquitaine The Duke of Aquitaine ( oc, Duc d'Aquitània, french: Duc d'Aquitaine, ) was the ruler of the medieval region of Aquitaine (not to be confused with modern-day Aquitaine) under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings. As su ...

and King of England.Poe, 316. He may have received a near fatal wound on the same campaign in which the Young King died in 1183.Poe, 317. Jordan's own wife fell in with "heretics" (''ereges''), certainly

Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. F ...

, though one document calls them ''Patarics''. Of Jordan's literary output, twelve poems survive.Gaunt, "Review", 970. They include eleven ''cansos'' and one ''

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 ...

'' (and possibly 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 ...

''). The incipit found at the end of a ''razo'' introducing one of his '' cansos'' says ''maintas bonas chansos fetz'': "he made many good ''cansos''." The melody of Jordan's ''Vas vos soplei, domna, premieramen'' also survives. It was copied by the later troubadour Peire Cardenal for his ''Rics homs que greu ditz vertat e leu men''. The most recent modern edition of his works is ''Il trovatore Raimon Jordan'' edited by Stefano Asperti (Modena: Mucchi, 1990). Jordan's work is generally ahistorical and his poetry "suggests a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musician working over well-worn themes to move inexorably deeper into the poetic imagination."Stäblein, 239. His innovations have led to comparisons with

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

. Though Jordan is not usually regarded as a master by modern standards, the

Monge de Montaudon The (Lo) Monge de Montaudon (meaning "monk of Montaudon") ( fl. 1193–1210Gaunt and Kay, Appendix I, 287.), born Pèire de Vic, was a nobleman, monk, and troubadour from the Auvergne, born at the castle of Vic-sur-Cère near Aurillac, where ...

, writing in the 1190s in the generation after him, gave him a high place in his ''Pos Peire d'Alvernh'a cantat''. Jordan was one of the early troubadours to employ the mythology of the "wild man" in his poems. He refers to the "solace of the savage" (''aissi farai lo conort del salvatge'') and remarks that the expectation of joy makes him brave and that therefore he should better enjoy the snowfall rather than the blossoming of the flowers. In general Jordan's poetry emphasises the accompanying suffering of love and the stoic embrace of the suffering as a necessary consequence to be endured. The sufferings of love were compared to the buffeting of a tempestuous sea, a metaphor which was common enough in the literature of the time, when the sea was typically viewed as dangerous:

:''Com hom e mar quan se sent perilhar'' :''Que dins son cor sospir'e dels olhs plora'' :''E contra.l vent non pot nul genh trobar . . .''

In another passage, Jordan explains that his song is an "interpreter" of his sorrows to the lady for whom he is suffering:

:''Si saubes cilh don m'agr'ops mantenensa'' :''Tan coralmen me destrenho.l cossir, . . .'' :''Mas ma chansos li sera latiniers,'' :''A leis per cui fatz tan greu abstenensa.''

Indeed, his devotion to a lady knew no bounds and he was a sacrilegious poet. In one of his more famous passages he exclaims that he would give up eternity in Paradise for one night with a certain lady:

:''Que tan la desir e volh'' :''Que, s'er'en coita de mort,'' :''Non queri'a a Deu tan fort'' :''Que lai el seu paradis'' ::''M'aculhis'' :''Com que'm des lezer'' :''D'una noit ab leis jazer.''Sargent, 599.

Jordan wrote one ''canso'' for performance by women. In it he attacks the misogyny of earlier troubadours (''antic trobadors'') who have "slandered and misled women in their love poems".Léglu, 19. The song also attacks a satirist for "adopting the manner of a preacher" for the express purpose of criticising women publicly. In the last stanza of the ''canso'', the female performer says:

Otherwise, his work is characterised by "striking feudal metaphors."

References

*Archer, Robert
"Symbolic Metaphor and Reading-Processes in Ausiàs March"
''The Modern Language Review'', 77:1 (January 1982), pp. 89–99. *Aubrey, Elizabeth
"References to Music in Old Occitan Literature"
''Acta Musicologica'', 61:2 (May - August 1989), pp. 110–149. *Boase, Roger
"The 'Penitents of Love' and the Wild Man in the Storm: A Passage by the Knight of La Tour-Landry"
''The Modern Language Review'', 84:4 (October 1989), pp. 817–833. * Gaunt, Simon.
Review
of ''Il trovatore Raimon Jordan'' by Stefano Asperti", in ''The Modern Language Review'', 87:4 (October 1992), pp. 970–971. *Gaunt, Simon
"Sexual Difference and the Metaphor of Language in a Troubadour Poem"
''The Modern Language Review'', 83:2 (April 1988), pp. 297–313. *Léglu, Catherine. "Did women perform satirical poetry? Trobairitz and Soldadeiras in Medieval Occitan poetry." ''Forum for Modern Language Studies''. 37:1 (January 2001), pp. 15–25. *Perrin, Robert H
"Descant and Troubadour Melodies: A Problem in Terms"
''Journal of the American Musicological Society'', 16:3 (Autumn 1963), pp. 313–324. *Poe, Elizabeth W
"At the Boundary between Vida and Razo: The Biography of Raimon Jordan"
''Neophilologus'', 72:2 (April 1988), pp. 316–319. *Sargent, Barbara Nelson
"Parody in Aucassin et Nicolette: Some Further Considerations"
''The French Review'', 43:4 (March 1970), pp. 597–605. *Schutz, A. H
"Where Were the Provençal "Vidas" and "Razos" Written?"
''Modern Philology'', 35:3 (February 1938), pp. 225–232. *Stäblein, Patricia Harris.
Review
of ''Il trovatore Raimon Jordan'' by Stefano Asperti", in '' Speculum'', 69:1 (January 1994), pp. 238–241.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Raimon 12th-century French troubadours Occitan nobility Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain Musicians from Toulouse Writers from Toulouse Nobility from Toulouse