Bonifaci, Bonifatz, or Bonifacio Calvo (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1253–1266) was a Genoese

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 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....

 of the late thirteenth century. The only biographical account of (part of) his life is found in the vida

Vida (Occitan literary form)

Vida is the usual term for a brief prose biography, written in Old Occitan, of a troubadour or trobairitz.The word vida means "life" in Occitan languages. In the chansonniers, the manuscript collections of medieval troubadour poetry, the works of a particular author are often accompanied by a...

of Bertolome Zorzi

Bertolome Zorzi

Bertolome Zorzi was a Venetian nobleman, merchant, and troubadour. Like all Lombard troubadours, he composed in the Occitan language. Eighteen of his works survive....

. He is, however, the most notable Genoese troubadour after Lanfranc Cigala

Lanfranc Cigala

Lanfranc Cigala was a Genoese nobleman, knight, judge, and man of letters of the mid thirteenth century. He remains one of the most famous Occitan troubadours of Lombardy. Thirty-two of his poems survive, dealing with Crusading, heresy, papal power, peace in Christendom, and loyalty in love...

. In total, nineteen of his poems and two descort

Descort

The descort is a subgenre of Occitan lyric poetry used by the troubadours. It is a song heavily discordant in verse form and/or feeling and often used to express disagreement. It was invented by Garin d'Apchier when he wrote Quan foill'e flors reverdezis...

s have survived.

Bonifaci is known to have spent most of his career at the court of Alfonso X of Castile

Alfonso X of Castile

Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...

, where the prevailing language was Galician-Portuguese

Galician-Portuguese

Galician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was first spoken in the area bounded in the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Douro River in the south but it was later extended south...

. He wrote primarily in Occitan, concentrating on sirventes in imitation of Bertran de Born

Bertran de Born

Bertran de Born was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the twelfth century.-Life and works:...

, but he did take up the court language and wrote two cantigas de amor

Cantiga

A cantiga is a medieval monophonic song, characteristic of the Galician-Portuguese lyric. Over 400 extant cantigas come from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, narrative songs about miracles or hymns in praise of the Holy Virgin...

and a multilingual poem. He wrote one sirventes encouraging Alfonso to go to war with Henry III of England

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

 over Gascony, an event which provides a reliable date for the work's composition (1253–1254). Outside of sirventes, he composed love songs

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...

 in the style of Arnaut Daniel

Arnaut Daniel

Arnaut Daniel de Riberac was an Occitan troubadour of the 12th century, praised by Dante as "il miglior fabbro" and called "Grand Master of Love" by Petrarch...

, but his most lauded work is a planh

Planh

The planh or plaing is a funeral lament used by the troubadours, modeled on the medieval Latin planctus. It differed from the planctus in that it was intended for a secular audience...

on the death of his lady.

The notion that Bonifaci had been knighted by Ferdinand III of Castile

Ferdinand III of Castile

Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

 and fell in love with Ferdinand's niece Berenguela, which inspired him to compose in Galician-Portuguese, is legendary, being based on an unreliable passage of Jean de Nostredame

Jean de Nostredame

Jean de Nostredame was a Provençal historian and writer. He was the younger brother of Michel de Nostredame.He was baptised at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence on 19 February 1522...

.

In 1266 Bonifaci returned to Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

. He continued composing in Occitan, producing two descort

Descort

The descort is a subgenre of Occitan lyric poetry used by the troubadours. It is a song heavily discordant in verse form and/or feeling and often used to express disagreement. It was invented by Garin d'Apchier when he wrote Quan foill'e flors reverdezis...

s with Scotto

Scotto (troubadour)

Scotto, Scotz, or Scot was a Genoese troubadour of the mid-thirteenth century. His identity is shrouded in obscurity and scholars have suggested that his full name was perhaps Ogerio Scotto, Alberto Scotto, or Scotto Scotti...

 and Luquet Gattulus. During a war between Genoa

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 and Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, Bonifaci composed a 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...

, "Ges no m'es greu, s'ieu non sui ren prezatz" (It matters little to me if I am not esteemed), in which he blamed the Genoese for allowing themselves to be defeated the Venetians and insulting the latter. In response, Bertolome Zorzi, a Venetian prisoner of war, wrote "Molt me sui fort d'un chant mer[a]veillatz" (I was very much surprised by a song), defending his country's conduct and blaming Genoa for the war. According to Bertolome's vida, Bonifaci was convinced by Bertolome's poem and the two became friends. They composed many 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...

s together.