Uc de la Bacalaria ( fl. 1206) was a

Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...

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 ...

from La Bachellerie near

Uzerche Uzerche (; oc, Usercha) is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France. In 1787, the English writer Arthur Young described the town as "the pearl of the Limousin" because of its picturesque setting ...

, the home town of

Gaucelm Faidit Gaucelm Faidit ( literally "Gaucelm the Dispossessed" c. 1156 – c. 1209) was a troubadour, born in Uzerche, in the Limousin, from a family of knights in service of the count of Turenne. He travelled widely in France, Spain, and Hungary. His ...

. According to his '' vida'', he was a

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 ...

who travelled infrequently and was hardly known. He composed ''

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 ...

'', ''

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'', one ''

alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingdom ...

'', and one ''

descort The ''descort'' () was a form and genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry used by troubadours. It was heavily discordant in verse form and/or feeling and often used to express disagreement. It was possibly invented by Garin d'Apchier when he wrote ''Qua ...

''. Six songs are surviving: one ''canso'', one ''alba'', and four ''tensos'' (three ''

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 '' ten ...

s'' and one ''

torneyamen A ''torneyamen'' (; ca, tornejament ; "tournament") or ''certamen'' was a lyric genre of the troubadours of the thirteenth century. Closely related to the ''tenso'', a debate between two poets, and the ''partimen'', a question posed by one poet ...

''). According to the ''vida'', he was courtly, capable, and learned. Uc participated in a three-way ''torneyamen'' with Savaric de Malleo and Gaucelm Faidit.Markale, 98–99. Savaric posed the dilemma: if a lady with three suitors gazes into the eyes of one, squeezes the hand of the other, and nudges the foot of the third, to whom did she show the truest affection? Uc's answer is that the suitor whose hand was grasped was her true love, for a lady's gaze can rest on anything. Uc wrote another ''partimen'' with Gaucelm and two others with Bertran de Sant Felitz. Uc also wrote an erotic ''alba'', ''Per grazir la bon' estrena'', in which, like his contemporary

Guiraut Riquier Guiraut Riquier de Narbona ( 1230 in Narbonne – 1292 in Narbonne or Rodez) is among the last of the Occitan troubadours. He is well known because of his great care in writing out his works and keeping them together—the New Grove Encyclopedia c ...

, he desires the dawn to arrive, in contrast to earlier troubadours, who always dreaded the dawn and the jealous husband. Both troubadours appear to have wished to revived the genre and Uc explicitly writes that ''vuelh far alb' ab son novelh'': "I want to make an ''alba'' with a new sound."Monson, 264–265. Uc's only ''canso'' was .

Notes

Sources

''Gaucelm, tres jocs enamoratz''
with translation by James H. Donalson. *Egan, Margarita (ed. and trans.) ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York:

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

, 1984. . *Harvey, Ruth and Linda M. Paterson. ''The Troubadour Tensos and Partimens: A Critical Edition''. D. S. Brewer, 2010. *Markale, Jean. ''Courtly Love: The Path of Sexual Initiation''. Inner Traditions/Bear & Company, 2000. . *Monson, Don A
"The Troubadour's Lady Reconsidered Again."
'' Speculum'', Vol. 70, No. 2. (Apr., 1995), pp. 255–274. * Riquer, Martín de. ''Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos''. 3 vol. Barcelona:

Planeta Planeta or El Planeta means (the) planet in multiple languages. It may refer to: Film, TV and publications * '' El Planeta'', a Boston-based Spanish language newspaper * ''El Planeta'' (Ecuador), an Ecuadorian newspaper, see List of newspapers in ...

, 1975. {{Authority control 13th-century French troubadours People from Corrèze