Guillem de Ribes (''c''. 1140 – ''c''. 1220)José María Coll
"El trovador Guillem de Ribes, señor del castillo de San Pedro de Ribas"
''Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia'', 34:57–72. was a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid ...

nobleman 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 '' trobai ...

, that is, a composer of music and lyric verse in the

Old Occitan Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label= Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries. Ol ...

language. None of his works survive and he is known as a troubadour only from a single reference to him in a song by another troubadour Guillem was the son of Arnau de Ribes and younger brother of Ponç I de Ribes. The family were vassals of the

Bishop of Barcelona The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona is a Latin rite Catholic metropolitan archbishopric in northeastern Spain's Catalonia region. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is a Minor basilica: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i ...

. His father, a warrior, left the administration of the family castle,

Sant Pere de Ribes __NOTOC__ Sant Pere de Ribes is a town in the center of the Garraf comarca, in Barcelona province, Catalonia, Spain. The remains of a 12th-century castle once ruled by the troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and perform ...

, in the hands of his younger brother, Ramon I, for long periods and it was Ramon who inherited it after Arnau's death in 1168. Ponç, a warrior like his father, took over the lordship of the castle only after Ramon's death in 1180. He was absent for long periods and the actual administration was mainly in the hands of Guillem.See

Martín de Riquer Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aus ...

(1964), ''Història de la Literatura Catalana'', vol. 1 (Barcelona: Edicions Ariel), pp. 36–7, for the identification of the troubadour and the lord. In 1190, Ponç pawned Ribes to his brother in order to finance and personally oversee the defence of the castle of Miralpeix (now part of

Sitges Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspot ...

), held by one of his vassals, when it came under siege by two rivals, Berenguer de Castellet and Eymerich de Espiells. The castle was taken in an assault and partially destroyed. In a lawsuit brought against Guillem in the early 1200s, it was alleged that he had deliberately impeded the defence of the castle to his own benefit. He was succeeded by his nephew, Ponç II. The troubadour

Peire d'Alvernhe Peire d'Alvernhe or d'Alvernha (''Pèire'' in modern Occitan; b. c. 1130) was an Auvergnat troubadour (active 1149–1170) with twenty-oneGaunt and Kay, 287. or twenty-fourEgan, 72.Aubrey, ''The Music of the Troubadours'', 8. surviving works. ...

composed a song satirizing twelve contemporary troubadours. It was probably first performed for the entourage of

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, daughter of

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

and fiancée of

Alfonso VIII of Castile Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (''El Noble'') or the one of Las Navas (''el de las Navas''), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army a ...

, while it was passing through

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 ...

on its way to

Castile Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain *Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha *Kingdom of ...

in 1173. It is likely that the twelve targets of Peire's satire were present in the entourage at the time. Guillem is the fifth target: Guillem's active career as a troubadour can be placed in the early 1170s, when he was about thirty years old and before he had inherited the family castle.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillem De Ribes Catalan nobility 12th-century Spanish troubadours Poets from Catalonia