Ricau de Tarascon (also spelled Ricautz or Ricavi) was a

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

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 ...

from

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Tarasc ...

, active between 1200 and 1240. He served Count

Raymond Berengar V of Provence Ramon Berenguer V (french: Raimond-Bérenger; 1198 – 19 August 1245) was a member of the House of Barcelona who ruled as count of Provence and Forcalquier. He was the first count of Provence to live in the county in more than one hundred years ...

as an administrator. His ''

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 ...

'' portrays him as a good "servant" of ladies. He wrote both ''

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 ...

'' and ''

cansos The ''canso'' or ''canson'' or ''canzo'' () was a song style used by the troubadours. It was, by far, the most common genre used, especially by early troubadours, and only in the second half of the 13th century was its dominance challenged by a ...

'', but only two songs survive. "Ab tan de sen cum Deus m'a dat", a ''canso'', is accepted by scholars to be his and is generally ascribed to him in the

chansonnier A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings o ...

s, although it is also ascribed to

Gui de Cavalhon Gui de Cavalhon, Cavaillo, or Gavaillo (floruit, fl. 1200–1229) was a Provence, Provençal nobleman: a diplomat, warrior, and man of letters. He was probably also the Guionet who composed ''tensos'' and ''partimens'' with Cadenet (troubadour), Ca ...

and Aimeric de Peguillan. Ricau knew Gui personally, since together they composed a '' tenso'' (debate poem), "Cabrit, al mieu vejaire", in which Gui is called "Cabrit". The ''tenso'' is jocular in tone. Its poetic structure is borrowed from a song of

Perdigon Perdigon or Perdigo ( fl. 1190–1220Aubrey, p. 18.) was a troubadour from Lespéron in the Gévaudan.Egan, p. 83. Fourteen of his works survive, including three ''cansos'' with melodies.Aubrey, p. 19. He was respected and admired by contempo ...

's that was also reused by

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 ...

Notes

Sources

*Egan, Margarita, trans. (1984). ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland. . *Guida, Saverio. (1987). "La tenzone fra Ricau de Tarascon e ‘Cabrit’." ''Cultura Neolatina'', 47, pp. 197–221. Re-published in ''Miscellanea di studi in onore di Aurelio Roncaglia a cinquant’anni dalla sua laurea'' (Modena, 1989), pp. 637–661.

External links

*Guida, Saverio. (2003)
"Premessa all’edizione in linea della tenzone fra Ricau de Tarascon e Gui de Cavaillon (422.2 = 105.1)."
*Guida, Saverio. (2007)

*Guida, Saverio, ed. (1989). ttp://www.rialto.unina.it/RicTarasc/422.2(Guida).htm ''Cabrit, al mieu vejaire''{{in lang, it 13th-century French troubadours Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown People from Tarascon