Simon Doria ( it, Simone, oc, Symon; fl. 1250–1293) was a
Genoese statesman and man of letters, of the important
Doria
Doria or Dória may refer to:
People Surname
* Doria (family), a prominent Genoese family
** Andrea Doria (1466–1560), Genoese admiral
** Ansaldo Doria, 12th century Genoese statesman and commander
** Brancaleone Doria (died c. 1409?), husband ...
family. As a
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 ...
he wrote six surviving ''
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 ...
s'', four with
Lanfranc Cigala, one incomplete with
Jacme Grils, and another with a certain Alberto. He was the son of a Perceval Doria, but not the
Perceval Doria
Perceval Doria (born c. 1195, died 1264) was a Genoese naval and military leader in the thirteenth century. A Ghibelline, he was a partisan of the Hohenstaufen in Italy and served the Emperor Frederick II and Manfred of Sicily as vicar of Romagna ...
who was also a troubadour and probably his cousin.
Identification
A Simon Doria is first recorded in 1253 at
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
, carrying money and gold cloth. In 1254 and 1256 he is recorded as the husband of a Contessina, sister of Giacomino, of the house of the
margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...
s of
Gavi
GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization ...
. In 1257 he accepted some money in ''mutuum''. In 1267 he was absent from Genoa and represented there by a proxy. He was dead by 13 March 1275. Obviously a banker or merchant, this Simon is difficult to identify with the troubadour.
It is more probable that the troubadour was the Simon Doria who appears as an ambassador to
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
in a treaty of 6 September 1262. He was ''
podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
'' of
Savona in 1265–1266. He would then be one of many such podestà-troubadours of which the 13th century furnishes examples, many from Genoa. On 13 January 1265 this Simon was sent as an ambassador to Genoa to request
Tommaso Malocello as the future ''podestà'' of Savona. In 1267 he was in Genoa again, and on 8 July he signed a document ratifying the peace between the Genoese and the
Knights Templar under
Thomas Berard. This Simon is last mentioned in 1293 when he was named ''
podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
'' of
Albenga
Albenga ( lij, Arbenga; la, Albingaunum) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is ...
.
A certain Simon Doria was in possession of a galley at Genoa in 1311. This was probably not the troubadour, but rather the same Simon as he who was ambassador to the pope in 1271 or 1281. There are thus probably three Simons of the Doria family. It is impossible to perfectly distinguish them, but the tenso with Alberto must have been written before 1250, based on a reference to the
Emperor Frederick II in line 40, so the mid-century ambassador-''podestà'' is most likely. The ship-owner of 1311 is almost impossible.
Works
The ''tenso'' with Jacme Grils is preserved in two manuscripts: troubadour MS "''O''", which is a 14th-century Italian work on parchment, now "Latin 3208" in the
Biblioteca Vaticana
The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
; and a
1, an Italian paper manuscript from 1589, now in the
Biblioteca Estense
The Biblioteca Estense ('' Estense Library''), was the family library of the marquis and dukes of Este. The exact date of the library's birth is still under speculation, however it is known for certain that the library was in use during the fourte ...
in
Modena. It is begun by Simon:
The ''tenso'' with Alberto, possibly Alberto Fieschi, ''N'Albert, chauçeç la cal mais vos plaira'', is found only in
chansonnier called "troubadour manuscript ''T''", numbered 15211 in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France, where it is kept today. It is originally a late 13th-century Italian work. This ''tenso'' is the only datable work in Simon's oeuvre, thanks to his stanza #5:
Sources
*Bertoni, Giulio. ''I Trovatori d'Italia: Biografie, testi, tradizioni, note''. Rome: Società Multigrafica Editrice Somu, 1967
915
*Meneghetti, Maria Luisa. "Intertextuality and dialogism in the troubadours." ''The Troubadours: An Introduction''. Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay, edd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. .
External links
''Tensos'' with Lanfranch at Rialto.unina.it.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doria, Simon
13th-century Genoese people
Italian politicians
French male poets
13th-century Italian troubadours
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
Italian male poets
Male composers