Alamanda de Castelnau
Encyclopedia
Alamanda was a trobairitz
whose only surviving work is a tenso
with Giraut de Bornelh
called S'ie.us qier conseill, bella amia Alamanda. In the past she was usually considered fictitious and the "tenso" was considered a piece of Giraut's writing. However, an Alamanda is mentioned by three other troubadour
s, including the trobairitz Lombarda
, indicating that she was probably real and quite prominent in Occitan poetic circles.
The trobairitz is probably identical with the Alamanda de Castelnau or Castelnou who was born around 1160. She was probably poetically active only briefly while spending her youth at the court of Raymond V of Toulouse
. She left his court to marry Guilhem de Castelnou and later became a canoness of Saint-Étienne at Toulouse
, dying in 1223.
Trobairitz
The trobairitz were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries, active from around 1170 to approximately 1260. The word trobairitz was first used in the 13th-century romance Flamenca. It comes from the Provençal word trobar, the literal meaning of which is "to find", and the...
whose only surviving work is a tenso
Tenso
A tenso is a style of Occitan song favoured by the troubadours. It takes the form of a debate in which each voice defends a position on a topic relating to love or ethics. Closely related genres include the partimen and the cobla exchange...
with Giraut de Bornelh
Giraut de Bornelh
Giraut de Bornelh , whose first name is also spelled Guiraut and whose nickname was Borneil or Borneyll, was a troubadour, born to a lower class family in the Limousin, probably in Bourney, near Excideuil...
called S'ie.us qier conseill, bella amia Alamanda. In the past she was usually considered fictitious and the "tenso" was considered a piece of Giraut's writing. However, an Alamanda is mentioned by three other troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
s, including the trobairitz Lombarda
Lombarda
Lombarda was an early 13th-century trobairitz from Toulouse known only from her vida and a short tenso. Though her name has been taken to imply that she was from Lombardy, it rather indicates that she was from a banking or merchant family, since "Lombard" was used throughout western Europe in...
, indicating that she was probably real and quite prominent in Occitan poetic circles.
The trobairitz is probably identical with the Alamanda de Castelnau or Castelnou who was born around 1160. She was probably poetically active only briefly while spending her youth at the court of Raymond V of Toulouse
Raymond V of Toulouse
Raymond V was count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194.He was the son of Alphonse-Jordan. When Alphonse died in the Holy Land in 1148, the county of Toulouse passed to his son Raymond, at the time 14 years old....
. She left his court to marry Guilhem de Castelnou and later became a canoness of Saint-Étienne at Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, dying in 1223.