Bernart de Venzac
Encyclopedia
Bernart de Venzac was an obscure troubadour
from Venzac near Rodez
in the Rouergue
. He wrote in the Marcabru
nian style, leaving behind five moralising pieces (two cansos
and three sirventes
) and one religious alba
. Two of his works were confused by copyists with those of Marcabru in some manuscripts.
Bernart's career can be dated because of references in his poetry to his patron, Hugh II of Rodez
. In his poem Iverns vay e.l temps tenebros he even prays to his recently-deceased patron requesting him change any "false" words in his poem to right ones: Prec que.l mot fals en sian ras / Pel compte N'Uc, en qui es dos. Whether this request was at all serious or merely a form of courtl flattery is not known, but the latter is suspected. Since Hugh died in 1208, this poem is usually dated to late that year or early 1209. Another reference, to the peace del bisb'e d'elh ("of the bishop and him [Hugh]"), probably refers to the concord reached between the count and the Bishop of Rodez in May 1195. For this reason the poem is usually dated to late 1195 or early 1196 and Bernart's fluorit can be established from these two dates.
Bernart is sometime clumped in a primitive Marcabrunian "school" of poetry alongside Bernart Marti
, Gavaudan
, and Peire d'Alvernhe
. Like those of the "school", Bernart has much to say of "false love" (fals'amor) and he moralises on the right, courtly conduct of men:
Like Marcabru, Bernart also employs a complex ironic attack on cuckolders by portraying the object of their sexual liaisons as not the women they intend but rather their husbands. Bitter irony is a mainstay of Bernart's work. In general his moralising consists in attacking the perceived corruption of society and contemporary crisis of spiritual values. He makes a great deal of envy, greed, adultery, and pride. His language, however, is skilled and he employs a vocabular at once popular, colourful, rich with rare words, and deeply expressive. Among the many unique words he used (and possibly invented) are esparpalh, frevoluc, frescum, and amarum. His poem Lanquan cort la doussa bia ("When the sweet breeze blows") is written in the trobar clus
style.
To Bernart has been attributed an anonymous "prayer" to "Saint Mary of the Orient" in which the poet requests protection for King Philip Augustus
and the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa as they embarked on the Third Crusade
(1189). Nevertheless, the acrimony he displays towards his own society has incited a charge of Cathar
elements in his writings (Maria Picchio Simonelli, 1975). He was an influence on Peire Cardenal
.
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....
from Venzac near Rodez
Rodez
Rodez is a town and commune in southern France, in the Aveyron department, of which it is the capital. Its inhabitants are called Ruthénois.-History:Existing from at least the 5th century BC, Rodez was founded by the Celts...
in the Rouergue
Rouergue
Rouergue is a former province of France, bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan and on the west by Quercy...
. He wrote in the Marcabru
Marcabru
Marcabru is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two vidas attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are evidently built on hints in the poems, not on independent information.According to the brief life in MS...
nian style, leaving behind five moralising pieces (two cansos
Canso (song)
The canso is a song style used by the troubadours. It consists of three parts. The first stanza is the exordium, where the composer explains his purpose. The main body of the song occurs in the following stanzas, and usually draw out a variety of relationships with the exordium. The canso can end...
and three sirventes
Sirventes
The sirventes or serventes is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry used by the troubadours. In early Catalan it became a sirventesch and was imported into that language in the fourteenth century, where it developed into a unique didactic/moralistic type...
) and one religious alba
Alba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
. Two of his works were confused by copyists with those of Marcabru in some manuscripts.
Bernart's career can be dated because of references in his poetry to his patron, Hugh II of Rodez
Hugh II of Rodez
Hugh II , of the House of Millau, was the Count of Rodez and Viscount of Carlat and Creyssels from around 1156 until his death. He was the son of Hugh I of Rodez and Carlat and Ermengard of Creyssels. Hugh was himself a vassal of the Counts of Toulouse.In May 1195 Hugh associated his son Hugh III...
. In his poem Iverns vay e.l temps tenebros he even prays to his recently-deceased patron requesting him change any "false" words in his poem to right ones: Prec que.l mot fals en sian ras / Pel compte N'Uc, en qui es dos. Whether this request was at all serious or merely a form of courtl flattery is not known, but the latter is suspected. Since Hugh died in 1208, this poem is usually dated to late that year or early 1209. Another reference, to the peace del bisb'e d'elh ("of the bishop and him [Hugh]"), probably refers to the concord reached between the count and the Bishop of Rodez in May 1195. For this reason the poem is usually dated to late 1195 or early 1196 and Bernart's fluorit can be established from these two dates.
Bernart is sometime clumped in a primitive Marcabrunian "school" of poetry alongside Bernart Marti
Bernart Marti
Bernart Marti was a troubadour, composing poems and satires in Occitan, in the mid twelfth century. Nine or ten of his poems survive; they show that he was influenced by his contemporaries Marcabru and knew Peire d'Alvernha, whom, in one poem, he accused of abandoning holy orders...
, Gavaudan
Gavaudan
Gavaudan was a troubadour and hired soldier at the courts of both Raymond V and Raymond VI of Toulouse and later on in Castile. He was from Gévaudan, as his name implies...
, and Peire d'Alvernhe
Peire d'Alvernhe
Peire d'Alvernhe or d'Alvernha was an Auvergnat troubadour with twenty-one or twenty-four surviving works. He composed in an "esoteric" and "formally complex" style known as the trobar clus...
. Like those of the "school", Bernart has much to say of "false love" (fals'amor) and he moralises on the right, courtly conduct of men:
Like Marcabru, Bernart also employs a complex ironic attack on cuckolders by portraying the object of their sexual liaisons as not the women they intend but rather their husbands. Bitter irony is a mainstay of Bernart's work. In general his moralising consists in attacking the perceived corruption of society and contemporary crisis of spiritual values. He makes a great deal of envy, greed, adultery, and pride. His language, however, is skilled and he employs a vocabular at once popular, colourful, rich with rare words, and deeply expressive. Among the many unique words he used (and possibly invented) are esparpalh, frevoluc, frescum, and amarum. His poem Lanquan cort la doussa bia ("When the sweet breeze blows") is written in the trobar clus
Trobar clus
Trobar clus , or closed form, was a complex and obscure style of poetry used by troubadours for their more discerning audiences, and it was only truly appreciated by an elite few. It was developed extensively by Marcabru, but by 1200 its inaccessibility led to its disappearance...
style.
To Bernart has been attributed an anonymous "prayer" to "Saint Mary of the Orient" in which the poet requests protection for King Philip Augustus
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
and the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa as they embarked on the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
(1189). Nevertheless, the acrimony he displays towards his own society has incited a charge of Cathar
Cathar
Catharism was a name given to a Christian religious sect with dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries...
elements in his writings (Maria Picchio Simonelli, 1975). He was an influence on Peire Cardenal
Peire Cardenal
Peire Cardenal was a troubadour known for his satirical sirventes and his dislike of the clergy...
.