Jaufre Rudel (Jaufré in modern Occitan) was the Prince of

Blaye Blaye (; oc, Blaia ) is a commune and subprefecture in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. For centuries, Blaye was a particularly convenient crossing point for those who came from the north and went to Bordea ...

(''Princes de Blaia'') and 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 ...

of the early- to mid-12th century, who probably died during the Second Crusade, in or after 1147. He is noted for developing the theme of "love from afar" (''amor de lonh'' or ''amour de loin'') in his songs. Very little is known about his life, but a reference to him in a contemporary song by

Marcabru Marcabru (; fl. 1130–1150) is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two '' vidas'' attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are evidently built on hints in the poems; ...

describes him as being ''oltra mar''—across the sea, probably on the Second Crusade in 1147. Probably he was the son of Girard, also castellan of Blaye, and who was titled "prince" in an 1106 charter. Girard's father was the first to carry the title, being called ''princeps Blaviensis'' as early as 1090.

Gaston Paris Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris (; 9 August 1839 – 5 March 1903) was a French literary historian, philologist, and scholar specialized in Romance studies and medieval French literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, 19 ...

(1912), ''Mélanges de littérature française du moyen age'' (New York: Burt Franklin, ), pp. 498–503. During his father's lifetime the suzerainty of Blaye was disputed between the

Counts of Poitou Among the people who have borne the title of Count of Poitiers (or ''Poitou'', in what is now France but in the Middle Ages became part of Aquitaine) are: *Bodilon * Warinus (638–677), son of Bodilon *Hatton (735-778) Carolingian Counts ...

and the

Counts of Angoulême Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

. Shortly after the succession of William VIII of Poitou, who had inherited it from his father, Blaye was taken by Wulgrin II of Angoulême, who probably vested Jaufre with it. According to one hypothesis, based on flimsy evidence, Wulgrin was Jaufre's father. According to his legendary '' vida'', or fictionalised biography, he was inspired to go on Crusade upon hearing from returning pilgrims of the beauty of Countess

Hodierna of Tripoli Hodierna of Jerusalem ( 1110 – 1164) was a Countess consort of Tripoli through her marriage to Raymond II of Tripoli, and regent of the County of Tripoli during the minority of her son from 1152 until 1155. Early life She was the daughte ...

, and that she was his ''amor de lonh'', his far-off love. The legend claims that he fell sick on the journey and was brought ashore in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

a dying man. Countess Hodierna is said to have come down from her castle on hearing the news, and Rudel died in her arms. This romantic but unlikely story seems to have been derived from the enigmatic nature of Rudel's verse and his presumed death on the Crusade. Seven of Rudel's poems have survived to the present day, four of them with music. His composition ''Lanquan li jorn'' is thought to be the model for the

Minnesinger (; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who w ...

Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170c. 1230) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs (" Sprüche") in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundr ...

's crusade song ''Allerest lebe ich mir werde'' (''Palästinalied'').

Rudel in legend and literature

Nineteenth-century

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

found his legend irresistible. It was the subject of poems by

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in ...

, Heinrich Heine, Robert Browning (''Rudel to the Lady of Tripoli'') and Giosué Carducci (''Jaufré Rudel''). Algernon Charles Swinburne returned several times to the story in his poetry, in ''The Triumph of Time'', ''The Death of Rudel'' and the now-lost ''Rudel in Paradise'' (also titled ''The Golden House''). In ''The Triumph of Time'', he summarises the legend:

There lived a singer in France of old By the tideless dolorous midland sea. In a land of sand and ruin and gold There shone one woman, and none but she. And finding life for her love's sake fail, Being fain to see her, he bade set sail, Touched land, and saw her as life grew cold, And praised God, seeing; and so died he.

Died, praising God for his gift and grace: For she bowed down to him weeping, and said "Live"; and her tears were shed on his face Or ever the life in his face was shed. The sharp tears fell through her hair, and stung Once, and her close lips touched him and clung Once, and grew one with his lips for a space; And so drew back, and the man was dead.

Sir Nizamat Jung Bahadur, of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, also wrote an epic poem on the subject, ''Rudel of Blaye'', in 1926. The French

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Edmond Rostand took the legend of Rudel and Hodierna as the basis for his 1895 verse drama '' La Princesse Lointaine'', but reassigned the female lead from Hodierna to her jilted daughter Melisende, played by Sarah Bernhardt. More recently,

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

composer

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; born 14 October 1952) is a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho has received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Inte ...

has written an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

about Rudel and Clémence (the name used for Hodierna) called ''

L'amour de loin ' (''Love from Afar'') is an opera in five acts with music by Kaija Saariaho and a French-language libretto by Amin Maalouf. The opera received its world premiere performance on 15 August 2000 at the Salzburg Festival. Saariaho, living in Paris si ...

'', with a libretto by Amin Maalouf, which was given its world premiere at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

in 2000 and its US premiere at the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...

in 2002.

References

External links

Jaufré Rudel: Complete Works
(in English and Provençal, with MIDIs of the extant melodies)

* ttp://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.com/ The afterlife of Jaufré Rudel a growing resource of Rudel-related material and links {{Authority control 12th-century births 1140s deaths 12th-century French troubadours People from Gironde Medieval legends House of Taillefer Crusade literature Christians of the Second Crusade

Rudel in legend and literature

References

Further reading

External links