Raimbaut de Vaqueiras | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, from a collection of troubadour songs,BNF Richelieu Manuscrits Français 854,Bibliothèque Nationale Française, Paris. | |
| Born | c. 1180 |
| Died | 4 September 1207 |
| Occupations | Troubadour and, later in his life,knight |
| Notable work | Eras quan vey verdeyar |
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras orVaqueyras (fl. 1180 – 1207) was aProvençaltroubadour and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courts[1] until 1203, when he joined theFourth Crusade. His writings, particularly the so-calledEpic Letter, form an important commentary on the politics of theLatin Empire in its earliest years. Vaqueiras's works include a multilingual poem,Eras quan vey verdeyar where he usedFrench,Tuscan,Galician-Portuguese andGascon, together with his ownProvençal.
Vaqueiras was fromVacqueyras, nearOrange. He spent most of his career as court poet and close friend ofBoniface I of Montferrat, with whom he served in battle against the communes ofAsti andAlessandria. Vaqueiras claimed he earned aknighthood through protecting Boniface with his shield in battle atMessina, when they took part inEmperor Henry VI's invasion ofSicily. He was present at the siege and capture ofConstantinople in 1204, and then accompanied Boniface toThessalonica. It is generally presumed that Raimbaut died on 4 September 1207, together with Boniface, in an ambush by theVlach.
The only critical edition of Vaqueiras attributes 33 extant songs to him; only eight of the associate melodies have survived. He used a wide range of styles, including adescort, severalcansos andtensos, analba and agap; he, withPerdigon andAdemar de Peiteus, invented thetorneyamen (or, at least, left us its earliest example). One of his songs, "Kalenda Maia", is referred to as anestampida and is considered one of the best troubadour melodies.[by whom?] However, according to therazó, he borrowed the tune from two other musicians. This would explain why the song is called anestampida, which is, theoretically, a purely instrumental piece.
In 1922, Vaqueiras was the subject of a verse drama by Nino Berrini,Rambaldo di Vaqueiras: I Monferrato. Strongly derivative ofEdmond Rostand'sCyrano de Bergerac andLa Princesse Lointaine, it presents a highly romantic, fictionalised image of the poet, in love with his patron's daughter Beatrice. At the end, he returns, mortally wounded, from Thessalonica, to die in her arms.
Vaqueiras and the song "Kalenda Maya" are referenced disparagingly by the protagonist-narrator inNicole Galland's novelCrossed: A Tale of the Fourth Crusade.
A similar fictionalised account of a courtly love relationship between Vaqueiras and Beatrice del Carretto (subject of Vaqueiras's early songs, daughter ofBoniface of Montferrat and Helena del Bosco) is the subject of a short story,Miłość i płaszcz (The Love and the Cloak), byTeodor Parnicki, dating from the period between 1933–1939.
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