Peire Cardenal, occitan poet and patriot Cover Image

PEIRE CARDENAL, POET ŞI PATRIOT OCCITAN
Peire Cardenal, occitan poet and patriot

Author(s): Constantin Zamfir
Subject(s): History
Published by: Universitatea »Dunarea de Jos« din Galati -Facultatea de Istorie, Teologie și Filosofie
Keywords: Peire Cardenal; Raymond VI; Toulouse; Cathars; troubadour.

Summary/Abstract: The 12th century represented a true Renaissance for the Western European culture. Poetry is one of the arts which has known a strong affirmation since the first half of the previous century. It all started with Guillaume (1071-1126), the seventh earl of Poitiers and the ninth duke of Aquitaine. This is when the troubadours make their appearance in the cultural history of the Occident, a special phenomenon that profoundly marked European lyrics. The poetry of the troubadours were a true "explosion" of artistic creation. Following this poetic effervescence, many written works by poets more or less talented followed. Among all these poets, Peire Cardenal is distinguished due to his life and creations. He saw daylight at Puy en Velay in the province of Auvergne, (at 500 km south of Paris), most likely in the year 1180 (some sources give his birth year as 1176). He had a very long life and died sometime in 1278. His latest writings are dated 1271. The poet was from a noble family, which directed him towards an ecclesiastical career. After entering the suggested career, Peire quickly abandoned it, preferring to become a troubadour. Parts of his extensive work survived to this day. These include 12 love songs and over 80 by sirventes (poems with satirical content, moral or political, which mocked the clergy). Peire Cardenal is an incontestable master of this latter kind of poetry. In total, from his creations we have 96 poems. The poet was between 1204-1208 the secretary of the Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. More of his poems are full of anticlerical feelings, which were shared by many people in the South of France. It is these poems that we analyse in our brief essay.

  • Issue Year: 8/2015
  • Issue No: suppl.
  • Page Range: 23-32
  • Page Count: 10