Jofre de Foixà (or Jaufre de Foixa) (died c. 1300) 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 ...

from Foixà in the Empordà, the second son of Bernard of Foixà. At a young age Jofre became a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

and appears in that position when mentioned for the first time at Monzón in 1267. In 1275 he put off the Franciscan habit for the black cowl of the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

s, almost certainly at the monastery of

Sant Feliu de Guíxols Sant Feliu de Guíxols () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Baix Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the Costa Brava and is an important port and tourist centre. The district ...

. When the French under Philip III invaded

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

as part of the

Aragonese Crusade The Aragonese Crusade (1284–1285), also known as the Crusade of Aragon or Crusade against Catalonia, was a military venture waged by the Kingdom of France against the Crown of Aragon. Fought as an extension of the War of the Sicilian Vespers ...

, king Peter III nominated Jofre procurator of the monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants and trusted to him many important missions. In 1293 he was in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

as abbot of San Giovanni degli Eremiti in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. There he enjoyed the favour of both

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Aragonese: ''Chaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just, was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He was also the King of Sicily (as James I) f ...

and Frederick II. The last time Jofre is mentioned is in 1295. While in Sicily, Jofre was commissioned by James to write a tract, ''Vers e regles de trobar'', concerning the rules of the troubadour art, mainly the grammar of Lemosi. The work, which contained many extracts from other troubadours, was intended to augment the ''Razos de trobar'' of Ramon Vidal. In his time, Vidal had written that "all people wish to listen to troubadour songs and to compose them, including Christians, Saracens, Jews, emperors, princes, kings, dukes, counts, viscounts, vavassours, clerics, townsmen, and villeins."Page, 644. By his time, Jofre could praise the ''engyn'' (understanding) of the laymen for the subtle vernacular grammar. Among the other surviving works of Jofre are three '' cansos'' 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 ...

''. In one of his ''cansos'' he devotes different stanzas to the different works of his favourite troubadours: Arnaut de Maruelh (stanzas I and II), Perdigon (III and IV), Folquet de Marseille (V),

Gaucelm Faidit Gaucelm Faidit ( literally "Gaucelm the Dispossessed" c. 1156 – c. 1209) was a troubadour, born in Uzerche, in the Limousin (province), Limousin, from a family of knights in service of the count of Turenne. He travelled widely in France, Sp ...

(VI). This innovation was taken up by

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

, who did the same thing to celebrate the poets of the Dolce Stil Novo.

VII
Vostres suy tan, don'agradiv'e pros,
qu'on piegz mi faitz, ab amor pus enteyra
humils e francs e fis sopley vas vos.

Sources

*Page, Christopher."Listening to the Trouvères." ''Early Music'', Vol. 25, No. 4, 25th Anniversary Issue; Listening Practice. (Nov., 1997), pp 638–650, 653–656, and 659.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jofre De Foixa 1300 deaths 13th-century Catalan troubadours Italian Benedictines Italian Franciscans Italian abbots Year of birth unknown 13th-century Sicilian people