A ''cobla esparsa'' ( literally meaning "scattered stanza") 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 ...

is the name used for a single-stanza poem in

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 ...

poetry. They constitute about 15% of the troubadour output, and they are the dominant form among late (after 1220) authors like

Bertran Carbonel Bertran Carbonel (fl. 1252–1265) was a Provençal troubadour from Marseille. He is a polarising figure among scholars and his reputation varies between authorities. Eighteen of his lyric works survive, as well as seventy-two (Gaunt and Kay) ...

and

Guillem de l'Olivier Guillem de l'Olivier d'Arle, also spelled Guilhem del Olivier, was a troubadour, probably active after 1260. He was from Provence, presumably the region around Arles, and he was also active in northern Italy. He was a prolific author of '' coblas e ...

.Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay, edd. (1999), ''The Troubadours: An Introduction'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ). The term ''cobla triada'' is used by modern scholars to indicate a ''cobla'' taken from a longer poem and let stand on its own, but its original medieval meaning was a ''cobla esparsa'' taken from a larger collection of such poems, since ''coblas esparsas'' were usually presented in large groupings. Sometimes, two authors would write a cobla esparsa each, in a ''cobla'' exchange; this corresponds, in a shorter form, to the earlier ''

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 ...

'' or ''

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 ...

''.

Martín de Riquer Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

(1964), Història de la Literatura Catalana, vol. 1 (Barcelona: Ariel), 509ff. Whether such exchanges should be regarded as a "genre" unto themselves, as a type of short ''tenso'', or as ''coblas esparsas'', one of which happens to be written in response to the other, is debated. The

Cançoneret de Ripoll The Cançoneret de Ripoll (, la, Carmina Riulpullensa), now manuscript 129 of Ripoll in the Arxiu de la Corona d'Aragó, is a short Catalan- Occitan chansonnier produced in the mid-fourteenth century but after 1346, when Peter IV of Aragon held a p ...

distinguishes between the ''cobles d'acuyndamens'', which bonds of vassallage, love, or fidelity, and ''cobles de qüestions'', which posed dilemmas. The ''acuyndamentum'' was a special bond of vassallage-fidelity in medieval

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

Sources

{{Western medieval lyric forms Occitan literature Poetic forms Western medieval lyric forms Occitan literary genres