Guilhem de Saint-Leidier or Guillem de Saint Deidier was a 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 12th century, composing in Occitan. He was lord of Saint Didier-en-Velay, was born at some date before 1150, and died between 1195 and 1200. He was said to have loved Belissende, sister of Dalfi d'Alvernha and wife of Eracle III of Polignac

Polignac

Polignac is the name of several communes in France:* Polignac, Charente-Maritime* Polignac, Haute-Loire, in the Haute-Loire département, dominated by the fortress Château de Polignac with its square donjon tower, 32 m tall...

, Guilhem's feudal overlord.

His known work includes fifteen canso

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...

s, one tensó

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...

and one 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...

. Indications in the text and in 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...

suggest that he worked in Gascogne, Comminges

Comminges

The Comminges is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding closely to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the department of Haute-Garonne...

, the Agenais

Agenais

Agenais, or Agenois, was a province of France located in southwest France south of Périgord.In ancient Gaul the region was the country of the Nitiobroges with Aginnum for their capital, which in the fourth century was the Civitas Agennensium, which was a part of Aquitania Secunda and which formed...

 and the Bordelais

Bordelais

Bordelais is a French term meaning "of Bordeaux" and can refer to* an inhabitant of the city Bordeaux* the area surrounding the city Bordeaux* an inhabitant of the commune Les Bordes-sur-Lez* Bordeaux wine, or the Bordeaux wine region...

. He is the first poet named in the poetical survey by the Monk of Montaudon, written around 1195.

With one of his poems Guilhem began a poetical debate on the question whether a lady is dishonoured by taking a lover who is richer or more powerful than herself. The one known poem by the trobairitz

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...

 Azalais de Porcairagues

Azalais de Porcairagues

Azalais de Porcairagues or Alasais de Porcaragues was a trobairitz , composing in Occitan in the late 12th century....

 appears to contribute to this debate, as does one by her friend Raimbaut of Orange

Raimbaut of Orange

Raimbaut of Orange , or in Occitan Raimbaut d'Aurenga, was the lord of Orange and Aumelas. His properties included the towns of Frontignan and Mireval. He was the only son of William of Aumelas and of Tiburge, daughter of Raimbaut, count of Orange...

, A mon vers dirai chanso. Soon afterwards there is a partimen

Jeu parti

Jeu parti [Fr.; Occitan joc partit, “partimen”]. A debate or dialogue in the form of a poem. According to Guilhem Molinier, the author of Las leys d'amors, a 13th-century treatise on how to write poetry in the style of the troubadours, there is a clear difference between a partimen and a tenso: in...

on the topic between Dalfi d'Alvernha and Perdigon

Perdigon

Perdigon or Perdigo was a troubadour from Lespéron in the Gabales, diocese of Gévaudan, modern Lozère. Fourteen of his works survive, including three cansos with melodies...

, and then a tensó between Guiraut de Bornelh and king Alfonso II of Aragon

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...

.

Guilhem's daughter's son, Gauseran

Gauseran de Saint-Leidier

Gauceran or Gauseran de Saint-Leidier was an Auvergnat castellan and troubadour from Saint-Didier-la-Séauve in the Bishopric of Velay. He was the son of a daughter of the troubadour Guilhem de Saint Leidier. According to his vida he fell in love with Beatrice, daughter of William VI of Montferrat...

, was also a troubadour.