Pere Salvatge or Peire/Peyre Salvagge was a Catalan

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....

 of the late thirteenth century (fl.

Floruit

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

 1280–1287). He is most notable as a constant attendant at the court of Peter III

Peter III of Aragon

Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. He conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.-Youth and succession:Peter was the eldest son of James I of Aragon and his second wife...

 and Alfonso III of Aragon

Alfonso III of Aragon

Alfonso III , called the Liberal or the Free , was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1285...

. He may be the same person as the Peironet

Peironet

Peironet or Peyronet was a Catalan troubadour and jongleur . "Peironet" is a diminutive of the Occitan name "Peire", meaning Peter. He might be the same person as Pere Salvatge....

 who composed poems with Peter III.

Salvatge wrote the third piece in a five-piece cycle of 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...

written in Summer 1285. Early in the summer Bernart d'Auriac

Bernart d'Auriac

Bernat or Bernart d'Auriac was a minor troubadour notable mainly for initiating a cycle of five short sirventes in the summer of 1285. According to a rubric of the chansonnier in which the cycle is preserved, Bernart was a mayestre de Bezers .The sirventes cycle was prompted by the Aragonese...

 inaugurated the political debate by coming to the defence of the "three kings" Philip III of France

Philip III of France

Philip III , called the Bold , was the King of France, succeeding his father, Louis IX, and reigning from 1270 to 1285. He was a member of the House of Capet.-Biography:...

, Philip of Navarre

Philip IV of France

Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...

, and Charles of Valois

Charles of Valois

Charles of Valois was the fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His mother was a daughter of James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary. He was a member of the House of Capet and founded the House of Valois...

, who claimed the Crown of Aragon

Crown of Aragon

The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

. Under the direction of the French king they invaded Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

 in the so-called "Aragonese Crusade

Aragonese Crusade

The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragon, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against the King of Aragon, Peter III the Great, in 1284 and 1285...

". After Peter III of Aragon responded to Bernart, Pere responded to Peter in the short piece Senher, reys qu'enamoratz par.

Pere appears to have gotten his nickname from his occupationas a caballero salvaje or cavaller salvatge in the king's house. As such, he acted as messenger and herald

Herald

A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....

. Among his duties was directing the battle cry

Battle cry

A battle cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same military unit.Battle cries are not necessarily articulate, although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious sentiment....

 when the king's armies went to war. Pere is first mentioned by name in 1280 as a juglar del rey ("jongleur of the king"). In April 1286 he was charged with distributing compensation in precious metal and money to the other jongleurs who had assisted in Peter's coronation (in 1276). He was still alive in June 1287 when Alfonso III ordered proceedings against some men accused of kidnapping Pere's daughter.

Sources

• Riquer, Martín de. Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.