Eble or Ebles d'Ussel (also ''d'Ussèl'' or ''d'Uisel''; fl. c. 1200) was a
Limousin
Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...
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 ...
, the eldest of three brothers,
castellan
A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...
s of the castle of
Ussel-sur-Sarzonne, northeast of
Ventadorn. His younger brothers were
Peire and
Gui
Gui or GUI may refer to:
People Surname
* Gui (surname), an ancient Chinese surname, ''xing''
* Bernard Gui (1261 or 1262–1331), inquisitor of the Dominican Order
* Luigi Gui (1914–2010), Italian politician
* Gui Minhai (born 1964), Ch ...
and he also had a cousin named
Elias
Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated tradit ...
, all troubadours. Of his corpus only one ''
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 ...
'', one ''
partimen
The ''partimen'' (; ; 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 ''tenso'' or ''cobla'' ...
'' (with
Guilhem Ademar
Guilhem Ademar (; also spelled Guillem, Adamar, or Azemar; fl. 1190/1195–1217) was a troubadour from the Gévaudan in France. He travelled between the courts of Albi, Toulouse, Narbonne, and Spain. He achieved fame enough during his life to b ...
), and a ''
cobla
The ''cobla'' (, plural ''cobles'') is a traditional music ensemble of Catalonia, and in Northern Catalonia in France. It is generally used to accompany the sardana, a traditional Catalan folk dance, danced in a circle.
Structure
The modern Cobl ...
'' survive. The only sources for his life, besides his own songs, are the ''
vida'' of his brother Gui and a document recording the donation of land to the abbey of
Bonaigue by two brothers Guido and Eblo Usseli. According to Gui's ''vida'', Eble composed "bad ''tensos''".
[''The Vidas of the Troubadours'', ed. and trans. Margarita Egan (New York: Garland, 1984), p. 44. .]
The complete works of the four relations of Ussel, including Eble, were first compiled in one volume by J. Audiau as ''Les poésies des quatre troubadours d'Ussel'' (Paris, Delagrave, 1922). They are all available online a
trobar.org
Notes
{{Authority control
13th-century French troubadours
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
People from Limousin