Cercamon (, fl. 1135-1145) was one of the earliest

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 '' trobai ...

s. His true name and other biographical data are unknown. He was apparently a

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...

-born jester of sorts who spent most of his career in the courts of

William X of Aquitaine William X ( Occitan: ''Guillém X''; 1099 – 9 April 1137), called the Saint, was Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, and Count of Poitou (as William VIII) from 1126 to 1137. Early life William was the son of William IX by his second wif ...

and perhaps of Eble III of Ventadorn. He was the inventor of the ''

planh A genre of the troubadours, the or (; "lament") is a funeral lament for "a great personage, a protector, a friend or relative, or a lady."Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker, "Topoi", in F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, eds., ''A Handbook of the T ...

'' (the Provençal dirge), of the ''

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 ...

'' (a sort of rhymed debate in which two poets write one stanza each) and perhaps of the ''

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 w ...

''. Most of the information about Cercamon's life is nothing but rumour and conjecture; some of his contemporaries credit him as Marcabru's mentor, and some

circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...

points to his dying on crusade as a follower of

Louis VII of France Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...

. About seven of his lyrics survive, but not a single melody; the works that most contributed to his fame among his contemporaries, his '' pastorelas'' or pastourelles, are lost. ''Cercamon'' means "world searcher" in medieval

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; ...

. The fossil primate '' Cercamonius'' was named after him.

References

* Alfred Jeanroy (1966). ''Les Poésies de Cercamon''. Paris: Libraire Honoré Champion. *Wolf, George and Rosenstein, Roy (1983). ''The Poetry of Cercamon and Jaufre Rudel''. London: Garland Publishing, Inc. *''Biographies des troubadours'' ed. J. Boutière, A.-H. Schutz (Paris: Nizet, 1964) pp. 9–13.

External links

Complete works, in Provençal, with English translations
{{Authority control Gascons 12th-century French troubadours Crusade literature Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown