Guilhem de Berguedan
Encyclopedia
Guillem de Berguedà or Guilhem de Berguedan in Occitan, was a Catalan
troubadour
and viscount
of Berguedà
. He was the most prolific Catalan poet of the twelfth century, though he composed in Occitan, and thirty-one of his poems survive. Most are sirventes
, "typically violent and obscene, reflecting his character and turbulent life," but there are a few cansos
. Most of what is known about him derives from his vida
and his songs.
The viscounty of Berguedà was a fief of the County of Cerdagne
and the first mention of its dates to the tenth century. In 1131 Guillem's father (also Guillem) appears for the first time in a document as rendering homage to Huguet de Mataplana
, from he held a fief. It is not until 1138 that the troubadour Guillem first appears in documents, as a child at the side of his father. Later writings indicate that he had three younger brothers, Raymond, Berengar, and Bernard.
Some sirventes
mention an imprisonment sometime before 1175, but in that year Guillem's adult career as a troubadour commenced. In several sirventes Guillem had insulted and humiliated Ramon Folc, the viscount of Cardona
, thus earning Ramon's enmity. The influential viscount of Cardona then sought to turn Alfonso II
and his court against the troubadour, but on 3 March 1175 Guillem dishonorably
attacked and killed Ramon. His title and fiefs were confiscated and he was consequently exiled from Catalonia and is not heard of again for seven years. During his exile he befriended one Arnau de Castellbò and gathered around himself a small group of loyal supporters. It was probably during this period of exile that he made his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
.
Guillem's career in Catalonia picks up again in the 1180s. By his father's will of 1183 Guillem stood to inherit the castles of Madrona (known as Castell Berguedà), Casserres
, Puig-reig
, Espinalbet, and Montmajor
the fief held from Huguet de Mataplana. Through some poems of Bertran de Born
, a friend and fellow troubadour, we know that Guillem was an enemy of Alfonso II. The troubadour and the king appear to have made peace by 14 April 1185, when Guillem figured among some followers of the king at a meeting with Richard Coeur de Lion
at the Château de Najac
, to fortify their alliance against Raymond VI of Toulouse
.
In 1187 Guillem made his first will and testament, which survives in its original. He left Fenollet and the castle of Puig-reig to the Templars and a few minor possessions to the Hospitallers. Other than that all was left to his brother Berengar, who had to donate a quarter to Bernard. Guillem had apparently amassed debts to the Temple and the Hosptial: they were allowed to hold their inheritances until the debt was paid. The will permits us to describe Guillem's power in feudal terms: he held five castles with their knights and vassals and corresponding territories, diverse places and manors in upper and lower Berguedà, a fief in Cerdagne, and rights over Caldes
and Sentmenat del Vallès
. He did not, at the time of the first testament, have a wife or any recognised children.
Shortly after the will relations with the king turned sour, signalled by a mocking sirventes against Alfonso. In 1190 Guillem offended the king and the archbishop of Tarragona, Berenguer de Vilademuls, and addressed a sirventes to his friend Arnau de Castellbò at the court of Alfonso VIII of Castile
, then allied with Sancho VI of Navarre
against the king of Aragon. Guillem's final years were occupied by wars, where he fought on the side of Arnau and Ponç de Cabrera against the king, Bishop Arnau de Preixens of Urgell, and Count Ermengol VIII of Urgell
.
In 1195 Bertran de Born composed a song repenting of his career of disputes and wars and encouraging Guillem to do the same. There was no time for the poem to have an effect: in 1195 or 1196 Guillem was assassinated by a soldier probably in the employ of one of his numerous enemies.
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
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....
and viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
of Berguedà
Berguedà
Berguedà is a comarca in the interior of Catalonia, Spain, lying partly in the Pyrenees and partly in Catalonia's Depressió Central.-Geography:...
. He was the most prolific Catalan poet of the twelfth century, though he composed in Occitan, and thirty-one of his poems survive. Most are 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...
, "typically violent and obscene, reflecting his character and turbulent life," but there are a few 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...
. Most of what is known about him derives from his 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...
and his songs.
The viscounty of Berguedà was a fief of the County of Cerdagne
County of Cerdagne
The County of Cerdanya was one of the Catalan counties formed in the last decades of the 8th century by the Franks in the Marca Hispanica. The original Cerdanya consisted of the valley of the upper Segre. Today Cerdanya is a Catalan comarca.-Origins:...
and the first mention of its dates to the tenth century. In 1131 Guillem's father (also Guillem) appears for the first time in a document as rendering homage to Huguet de Mataplana
Huguet de Mataplana
Huguet de Mataplana was a Catalan nobleman and poet. His name is also spelled Hug, Huc, Uc, or Uget....
, from he held a fief. It is not until 1138 that the troubadour Guillem first appears in documents, as a child at the side of his father. Later writings indicate that he had three younger brothers, Raymond, Berengar, and Bernard.
Some 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...
mention an imprisonment sometime before 1175, but in that year Guillem's adult career as a troubadour commenced. In several sirventes Guillem had insulted and humiliated Ramon Folc, the viscount of Cardona
Cardona
Cardona is a town ìn Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona; about 90 km northwest of the city of Barcelona, on a hill almost surrounded by the river Cardoner, a branch of the Llobregat.Near the town is an extensive deposit of rock salt...
, thus earning Ramon's enmity. The influential viscount of Cardona then sought to turn Alfonso II
Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso II or Alfons I ; Huesca, 1-25 March 1157 – 25 April 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1164 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon and the first King of Aragon who was...
and his court against the troubadour, but on 3 March 1175 Guillem dishonorably
Chivalry
Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...
attacked and killed Ramon. His title and fiefs were confiscated and he was consequently exiled from Catalonia and is not heard of again for seven years. During his exile he befriended one Arnau de Castellbò and gathered around himself a small group of loyal supporters. It was probably during this period of exile that he made his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
.
Guillem's career in Catalonia picks up again in the 1180s. By his father's will of 1183 Guillem stood to inherit the castles of Madrona (known as Castell Berguedà), Casserres
Casserres
Casserres is a town and municipality in the comarca of Berguedà, Catalonia, a part of the Baix Berguedà region. The town is first mentioned in 798, when Wilfred the Hairy established a castle here, naming it Castrum Serris...
, Puig-reig
Puig-reig
Puig-reig is a municipality and town in the comarca of Berguedà, Catalonia. As of 2009, the town had a population of 4,403.Situated atop a hill overlooking the Llobregat River, its name means "Royal Hill" in old Catalan. The town includes two medieval fortresses, as well as numerous examples of...
, Espinalbet, and Montmajor
Montmajor
Montmajor is a municipality in the comarca of Berguedà, Catalonia.-Geography:Montmajor is made up of four distinct enclaves, quite separated from one another. The principal area of the town essentially surrounds the town of Navès, which is in the comarca of Solsonès...
the fief held from Huguet de Mataplana. Through some poems 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:...
, a friend and fellow troubadour, we know that Guillem was an enemy of Alfonso II. The troubadour and the king appear to have made peace by 14 April 1185, when Guillem figured among some followers of the king at a meeting with Richard Coeur de Lion
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
at the Château de Najac
Château de Najac
Château de Najac or the royal fortress of Najac is located in Najac, in the Aveyron département, in southern France.The castle was built in 1253 by the villagers on the orders of Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Saint Louis, on the site of an older castle built in 1100 by Bertrand of St Gilles,...
, to fortify their alliance against Raymond VI of Toulouse
Raymond VI of Toulouse
Raymond VI was count of Toulouse and marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.-Early life:...
.
In 1187 Guillem made his first will and testament, which survives in its original. He left Fenollet and the castle of Puig-reig to the Templars and a few minor possessions to the Hospitallers. Other than that all was left to his brother Berengar, who had to donate a quarter to Bernard. Guillem had apparently amassed debts to the Temple and the Hosptial: they were allowed to hold their inheritances until the debt was paid. The will permits us to describe Guillem's power in feudal terms: he held five castles with their knights and vassals and corresponding territories, diverse places and manors in upper and lower Berguedà, a fief in Cerdagne, and rights over Caldes
Caldes de Montbui
Caldes de Montbui is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the upper valley of the Caldes river, and the highest point of the municipality is the peak of el Farell at 816 m....
and Sentmenat del Vallès
Sentmenat
Sentmenat is a municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia.-References:*Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria . Guia de Catalunya, Barcelona:Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3 . ISBN 84-87135-02-1 .-External links:*...
. He did not, at the time of the first testament, have a wife or any recognised children.
Shortly after the will relations with the king turned sour, signalled by a mocking sirventes against Alfonso. In 1190 Guillem offended the king and the archbishop of Tarragona, Berenguer de Vilademuls, and addressed a sirventes to his friend Arnau de Castellbò at the court of Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII , called the Noble or el de las Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate...
, then allied with Sancho VI of Navarre
Sancho VI of Navarre
Sancho VI Garcés , called the Wise , was the king of Navarre from 1150 until his death in 1194....
against the king of Aragon. Guillem's final years were occupied by wars, where he fought on the side of Arnau and Ponç de Cabrera against the king, Bishop Arnau de Preixens of Urgell, and Count Ermengol VIII of Urgell
Ermengol VIII of Urgell
Ermengol VIII , known as el de Sant Hilari, was the Count of Urgell from 1184 to his death. He was a son of Ermengol VII and Dulce, daughter of Roger III of Foix....
.
In 1195 Bertran de Born composed a song repenting of his career of disputes and wars and encouraging Guillem to do the same. There was no time for the poem to have an effect: in 1195 or 1196 Guillem was assassinated by a soldier probably in the employ of one of his numerous enemies.
Sources
- Egan, Margarita, ed. and trans. The Vidas of the Troubadours. New York: Garland, 1984. ISBN 0 8240 9437 9.
- Gaunt, Simon, and Kay, Sarah. "Appendix I: Major Troubadours" (pp. 279–291). The Troubadours: An Introduction. Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay, edd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0 521 57473 0.