Nicoletto da Torino ( Occitan: Nic(c)olet de Turin or Nicolez de Turrin) was a

Piedmontese Piedmontese (; autonym: or , in it, piemontese) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, northwestern region of Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate language, in Italy it is often mistakenly reg ...

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 ...

and

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 '' trobair ...

of the first half of the thirteenth century, probably from

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, though some believe that to be his father's name. He produced three 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'' with Joan d'Albusson,

Falquet de Romans Falquet (or Folquet) de RomansFalquet always appears in Latin documents as ''Falquetus de Rotmanis'' and his Occitan name is sometimes spelled ''Falqet'', ''Falqetz'', or ''Falkez'' and ''Rotmans'' or ''Roman''. His Italian name is ''Falchetto d ...

, and

Uc de Saint Circ Uc de Saint Circ (San Sir) or Hugues (Hugh) de Saint Circq (fl. 1217–1253Aubrey, ''The Music of the Troubadours'', 22–23.) was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of sever ...

. Nicoletto is probably the same person as the "Nicolet" who appears in a list of

s in ''Li fol e.il put e.il filol'', a ''

sirventes The ''sirventes'' or ''serventes'' (), sometimes translated as "service song", was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry practiced by the troubadours. The name comes from ''sirvent'' ('serviceman'), from whose perspective the song is allegedly wr ...

'' of Aimeric de Peguilhan, which was written at the Malaspina court, probably in or around 1220. Chronologically such an identification is possible based on Nicoletto's surviving works and the references they contain. Based on his ''tenso'' with Falquet, Nicoletto evidently travelled in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

, where he found the people annoying, and returned to Italy to the court of Biandrate. Nicoletto also exchanged verses with Uc de Saint Circ. These lamented the fact that Adelaide di Vidalliana (today

Viadana Viadana may refer to: Surname * Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c. 1560 – 1627), Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar * Gilberto Viadana (born 1973), Italian figure skater Other * Viadana, Lombardy, a town in the province of Mantua, Lom ...

) had not been received with as much honour as Donella di Brescia and Selvaggia (perhaps Selvaggia d’Auramala, daughter of Conrad I Malaspina). This ''tenso'' has been customarily dated to c. 1225, when it is known Selvaggia was in the flower of youth.

Sources

*Bertoni, Giulio. ''I Trovatori d'Italia: Biografie, testi, tradizioni, note''. Rome: Società Multigrafica Editrice Somu, 1967

915 Year 915 ( CMXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League, personally led by Pope John X, lays s ...

*Paterson, Linda
"Joan d'Albuzon – Nicolet de Turin: ''En Nicolet, d'un sognie qu'ieu sognava'' (BdT 265.2 = 310.1)."
''Lecturae tropatorum'', 1 (2008), pp. 1–18. Entertainers from Turin 13th-century Italian troubadours Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{Italy-musician-stub