Guillem or Guilhem Magret (;
fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
1195–1210) 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
jongleur
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term 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 enterta ...
from the
Viennois. He left behind eight poems, of which survive 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 ...
'' and a ''
canso'' with melodies.
According to his ''
vida'', he was a gambler and publican who could not keep the money he earned but spent it away gambling and frequenting taverns, and so he was always ill-equipped for riding. In ''Maigret, pujat m’es el cap'', a ''tenso'' with
Guilhem Rainol d'Apt, he is despised by his debate partner as a ''joglar vielh, nesci, badoc'': "an old, silly, stupid jongleur". Despite this, his biographer notes that he was well liked and honoured and his songs were "good".
Guillem travelled widely in Spain, sojourning at the courts of
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.
Background
Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Sancha ...
and
Alfonso IX of León
Alfonso IX (15 August 117123 or 24 September 1230) was King of León from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death.
He took steps towards modernizing and democratizing his dominion and founded the University of Salaman ...
. Eventually he entered a hospital in Spain, in the land of "Lord Roiz Peire dels Gambiaros" (probably
Pedro Ruiz de los Cameros), and there ended his life. Among the dates which can be established for Guillem's life are 1196, when he composed a song on the death of
Alfonso II and succession of Peter II in Aragon, and 1204, when he wrote a song to celebrate the November coronation of Peter by
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216.
Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...
in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
Guillem's music is rich, diverse,
motivically-varied, and
neumatic
A neume (; sometimes spelled neum) is the basic element of Western and some Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation.
The earliest neumes were inflective marks that indicated the general shape but n ...
ally-textured. ''L'aigue puge contremont'' contains four unusual
B–
F leaps, which Guillem probably intended as a motive.
Sources
*Aubrey, Elizabeth. ''The Music of the Troubadours''. Indiana University Press, 1996. .
*Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. ''The Vidas of the Troubadours''. New York: Garland, 1984. .
External links
''Maigret, pujat m’es el cap''at Rialto.
{{authority control
13th-century French troubadours
12th-century births
13th-century deaths
People from Vienne, Isère