Almucs de Castelnau or Castelnou (c. 1140 – pre-1184) was a

trobairitz The ''trobairitz'' () were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. ''Trobairitz'' is both singular and plural. The word ''trobairitz'' is first attested in the 13th-century roma ...

(a female

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 a town near

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. Her name is also spelled ''Almuc'', ''Amucs'', ''Almois'', ''Almurs'', or ''Almirs''. Almucs' only surviving work is a poetic exchange with

Iseut de Capio N'Iseut de Capio"N'", contraction of "Na", is an Occitan honorific meaning "Lady". Her first name, sometimes spelled ''Iseuz'', is the Occitan form of Isolde. (born ''c''. 1140) was a noblewoman and trobairitz from Gévaudan. She was a neighbour ...

, another trobairitz. The song is presented 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 intermixed with a long ''

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, ...

''. It tells how Iseut begged Almucs de Castelnau to pardon Gigo (Gui), lord of Tournon (Tornon) in the

Vivarais Vivarais (; oc, Vivarés; la, Vivariensis provincia{{cite web , url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/orblatv.html , title = ORBIS LATINUS - Letter V) is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the ''département'' of ...

, Iseut's knight, who had committed "a great fault" against Almucs. Gigo, however, neither repented nor sought forgiveness, and so Almucs responded to Iseut in a ''cobla'' of her own. This exchange has been dated to around 1190. Almucs is also mentioned (''...dompna nal murs...'') in the poem ''Ia de chan'' by fellow trobairitz

Castelloza Na Castelloza (fl. early 13th century) was a noblewoman and trobairitz from Auvergne. Life According to her later ''vida'', Castelloza was the wife of Turc de Mairona, probably the lord of Meyronne.''Vidas'', p. 26. Turc's ancestors had particip ...

Identification

Almodis de Caseneuve

Almucs may be identified with a certain Almodis of Caseneuve, which is not far from Avignon and near Les Chapelins, possibly the home of Iseut de Capio. Chronologically, Almodis and Almucs would have been contemporaries and the lords of Caseneuve have documented relationships with other troubadours. Almodis was the second wife of Guiraut I de Simiane, who also ruled

Apt Apt. is an abbreviation for apartment. Apt may also refer to: Places * Apt Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument of France, in the town of Apt in Provence * Apt, Vaucluse, a commune of the Vaucluse département of France * A ...

and

Gordes Gordes (; oc, Gòrda) is a commune in the Vaucluse département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The residents are known as ''Gordiens.'' The nearest big city is Avignon; smaller cities nearby include Cavaillo ...

. She gave birth to four sons, including Raimbout d'Agould, the second eldest, who, in 1173, accompanied his father on

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

. Since Raimbout must have been of sufficient age at the time to undergo a long and arduous journey and Guiraut's first wife had died in 1151, the marriage of Almodis must be placed between that date and approximately 1161 (assuming that the eldest son would have to have been at least twelve at the time of the Crusade). Bogin suggests that a widower like Guiraut would have quickly remarried and that Almodis was therefore probably not born much later than 1140. If the Guiraut de Simiane mentioned in documents of 1113 and 1120 is the same as Almodis' husband, it is probable that he went on Crusade with the hope of dying in the East. In 1150 Guiraut witnessed the will of Tibors de Sarenom, the mother of

Raimbaut d'Aurenga Raimbaut of Orange (c. 1147 – 1173) or, in his native Old Provençal, Raimbaut d'Aurenga, was the lord of Orange and Aumelas. His properties included the towns of Frontignan and Mireval. He was the only son of William of Aumelas and of Tibu ...

. In 1184 Raimbout d'Agould made a donation to the

Abbey of Sénanque An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conc ...

in the name of his parents, who were presumably dead. Raimbout is subsequently mentioned frequently by

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 ...

as ''N'Agout''.

Wife of Guigo de Randon

It is possible that Almucs was the wife of Guigo de Castelnou de Randon, who flourished around 1200.

Sources

*Bogin, Meg (1976). ''The Women Troubadours''. Scarborough: Paddington. . *Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn; Shepard, Laurie; and White, Sarah (1995). ''Songs of the Women Troubadours''. New York: Garland Publishing. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Castelnau, Almucs de 1140s births People from Provence 12th-century French women writers 12th-century French troubadours Trobairitz 12th-century deaths French women poets