Joan d'Aubusson or d'Albusson (

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 ...

1229), known as Johan or Johanet to

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, spoken in parts o ...

contemporaries (''Giovanni'' in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

), was an

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 ...

Gérard Gonfroy, ''Les troubadours limousins'', La Geste,

La Crèche La Crèche () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. Population People from La Crèche * Jean-Baptiste Baujault, sculptor * Anne Simon (comics) (born 1980), author and illustrator Se ...

, 2022. and a

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centu ...

. Only three of his works survive: two ''

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 ...

s'' 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 ...

''. Joan was often present at the court of the

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

Peter of Aubusson and his wife Margaret. He also stayed at the court of

Blacatz Blacatz, known in French genealogy as Blacas de Blacas III (1165–1237), was the feudal lord of Aups and a troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–135 ...

sometime between 1200 and 1236. He was apparently often present at the court of the

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (, , , ; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Ho ...

. Joan wrote songs about Frederick and his war with the

Lombard League The Lombard League (; ) was an alliance of cities formed in 1167, and supported by the popes, to counter the attempts by the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman emperors to establish direct royal administrative control over the cities of the Kingdom of It ...

. Along with Terrisio d'Atina, he described Frederick as the lord of the

four elements The classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Angola, Tibet, India, a ...

—air, earth, fire, and water—which he could thus command in his campaigns against the enemies of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. The only certain date in Joan's life is 1229, for he mentions the strengthening of the bond between

Boniface II of Montferrat Boniface II (July 1202 – 12 May 1253), called the Giant, was the eleventh Marquis of Montferrat from 1225 until his death. He became the titular King of Thessalonica in 1239. Boniface was the son of William VI and his second wife, Berta ...

and the emperor in that year. Joan wrote a famous ''

'' with

Sordello da Goito Sordello da Goito or Sordel de Goit (sometimes ''Sordell'') was a 13th-century Italy, Italian troubadour. His life and work have inspired several authors including Dante Alighieri, Robert Browning, and Samuel Beckett. Life Sordello was born i ...

, "Digatz mi s'es vers zo c'om brui" ("Tell me if you are truly what you proclaim"), in which he informs us that the Italian troubadour was forced to be a

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 ...

at the court of

Azzo VII of Este Azzo VII d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (also known as ''Novello''; 1205 – 16 February 1264) was marquis of Ferrara from 1215 to 1222, and again from 1240 until his death. The son of Azzo VI d'Este and a noblewoman from the Aldobrandeschi family ...

before becoming a troubadour in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. Besides his ''tenso'' with Sordello, Joan also composed a ''tenso'' with another Italian troubadour,

Nicoletto da Torino Nicoletto da Torino (Occitan: Nic(c)olet de Turin or Nicolez de Turrin) was a Piedmontese jongleur and troubadour of the first half of the thirteenth century, probably from Turin, though some believe that to be his father's name. He produced thre ...

Notes

Sources

*Bertoni, Giulio. ''I Trovatori d'Italia: Biografie, testi, tradizioni, note''. Rome: Somu, 1967

915 Year 915 ( CMXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League, personally led by Pope John X, lays siege to Garigliano (a fortified Ar ...

*Lewis, Frank R
"Peter of Aubusson"
in Notes and Documents. ''

The English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly by Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, a ...

'', Vol. 55, No. 219. (Jul., 1940), pp. 419–423. *Musca, Giosuè. ''Il mezzogiorno normanno-svevo e le crociate''. Bari: Edizioni Dedalo, 2002. . *Paterson, Linda
"Joan d'Albuzon – Nicolet de Turin: ''En Nicolet, d'un sognie qu'ieu sognava'' (BdT 265.2 = 310.1)."
''Lecturae tropatorum'', 1 (2008), pp. 1–18.

presented by

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joan Daubusson 13th-century French troubadours People from Limousin Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown