Bernart Arnaut d'Armagnac (died 1226), also Bernard Arnaud, was a

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) 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 equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

and from 1217 the

Count of Armagnac The following is a list of rulers of the County of Armagnac: House d'Armagnac, House of Armagnac *William of Fesenzac, William Count of Fézensac and Armagnac ?–960 *Bernard the Suspicious, first count privative of Armagnac 960–? *Gerald ...

in opposition to his brother,

Gerald V Gerald V d'Armagnac (died 1219), Count of Armagnac and Fézensac from 1215 to 1219, was the son of Bernard d'Armagnac, Viscount of Fézensaguet and Geralda of Foix.''Bulletin de la Section de géographie'', Vol.15, Ed. Comité des travaux historiq ...

, who inherited it from the childless Gerald IV. Joseph Vaissète, ''Histoire générale de Languedoc'', vol. 5, p. 598. Bruckner, Shepard, and White, p. 170. Bernart and Gerald were both sons of Bernard de Fézensaguet. Sometime before 1217, Bernart Arnaut had a literary correspondence with the

trobairitz The ''trobairitz'' () were Occitania, 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-c ...

Lombarda Lombarda (born c. 1190) was an early 13th-century trobairitz from Toulouse (floruit, fl. 1217–1262) known only from her ''Vida (Occitan literary form), vida'' and a short ''tenso''. Though her name has been taken to imply that she was from ...

. The background (''

razo A ''razo'' (, literally "cause", "reason") was a short piece of Old Occitan, Occitan prose detailing the circumstances of a troubadour composition. A ''razo'' normally introduced an individual poem, acting as a prose preface and explanation; it mi ...

'') to this exchange (''

tenso A ''tenso'' (; ) 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 exist in whic ...

'') is described in Lombarda's '' vida''. Bernart, after visiting and befriending Lombarda, left her (probably in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

) without seeing her for a last time. He then sent her his song ''Lombards volgr'eu eser per Na Lombarda''. Lombarda responded with ''Nom volgr' aver per Bernard Na Bernarda''. Their exchange has inspired many

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

readings. Bernart begins by taking the name "Lombards" in honour of his lady; Lombarda responds by calling herself "Bernarda". If Bernart's taking of his ladyfriend's name is regarded as a

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

move to subsume a woman's identity in her man, then Lombarda's response will be seen as an assertion of her individualism. Bernart also refers to Jordan III of L'Isle-Jourdain in his poem.

Bibliography

*Joseph Anglade, ''Les troubadours de Toulouse'' (Toulouse: Privat, 1928) pp. 121–123 * Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner, Laurie Shepard, and Sarah White, ''Songs of the Women Troubadours'' (New York: Garland Publishing, 1995) pp. 70–73, 169–70 *Sarah Kay, "Derivation, derived rhyme and the trobairitz" in ''The voice of the trobairitz: perspectives on the women troubadours'', ed. William D. Paden (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989) pp. 157–182 *Tilde Sankovitch, "Lombarda's reluctant mirror: speculum of another poet", in ''The Voice of the Trobairitz: Perspectives on the Women Troubadours'', ed. William D. Paden (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989) pp. 183–193

Notes

{{authority control 1226 deaths Bernart Arnaut 13th-century French troubadours Year of birth unknown