Raimon Jordan
Encyclopedia
Raimon Jordan was a Toulousain troubadour
and the viscount
of Saint-Antonin
in the Rouergue
near the boundary with Quercy
(fl. c. 1178–1195).
There is a vida
of Jordan which exists in several manuscripts, some with an accompanying razo
. Like typical vidas, it tell us where he was from and whom he loved. He was from Pena d'Albeges (modern Penne
). At some point he had a love affair with Elis (Lucia) de Montfort, wife of Guillem de Gordon (c. 1165) and then Bernart de Casnac (c. 1214). This affair was originally in a vida of Bertran de Born
, but it was cut out and placed in Jordan's own vida-razo at a later date.
Jordan was a contemporary of Bertran and partook with him in the Revolt of 1173–1174 as a partisan of Henry the Young King
against Henry Curtmantle
, Duke of Aquitaine
and King of England. He may have received a near fatal wound on the same campaign in which the Young King died in 1183. Jordan's own wife fell in with "heretics" (ereges), certainly Cathars, though one document says Patarics.
Of Jordan's literary output, twelve poems survive. They include eleven cansos and one tenso
(and possibly a sirventes
). The incipit found at the end of a razo introducing one of his canso
s says maintas bonas chansos fetz: "he made many good cansos." The melody of Jordan's Vas vos soplei, domna, premieramen also survives. It was copied by the later troubadour Peire Cardenal
for his Rics homs que greu ditz vertat e leu men. The most recent modern edition of his works is Il trovatore Raimon Jordan edited by Stefano Asperti (Modena: Mucchi, 1990).
Jordan's work is generally ahistorical and his poetry "suggests a jazz
musician working over well-worn themes to move inexorably deeper into the poetic imagination." His innovations have led to comparisons with Thelonious Monk
. Though Jordan is not usually regarded as a master by modern standards, the Monge de Montaudon
, writing in the 1190s in the generation after him, gave him a high place in his Pos Peire d'Alvernh'a cantat. Jordan was one of the early troubadours to employ the mythology of the "wild man" in his poems. He refers to the "solace of the savage" (aissi farai lo conort del salvatge) and remarks that the expectation of joy makes him brave and that therefore he should better enjoy the snowfall rather than the blossoming of the flowers. In general Jordan's poetry emphasises the accompanying suffering of love and the stoic embrace of the suffering as a necessary consequence to be endured. The sufferings of love were compared to the buffeting of a tempestuous sea, a metaphor which was common enough in the literature of the time, when the sea was typically viewed as dangerous:
In another passage, Jordan explains that his song is an "interpreter" of his sorrows to the lady for whom he is suffering:
Indeed, his devotion to a lady knew no bounds and he was a sacrilegious poet. In one of his more famous passages he exclaims that he would give up eternity in Paradise for one night with a certain lady:
Jordan wrote one canso for performance by women. In it he attacks the misogyny of earlier troubadours (antic trobadors) who have "slandered and misled women in their love poems". The song also attacks a satirist for "adopting the manner of a preacher" for the express purpose of criticising women publicly. In the last stanza of the canso, the female performer says:
Otherwise, his work is characterised by "striking feudal metaphors."
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 the 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 Saint-Antonin
Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val
Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France.-History:...
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...
near the boundary with Quercy
Quercy
Quercy is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auvergne....
(fl. c. 1178–1195).
There is a 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 Jordan which exists in several manuscripts, some with an accompanying razo
Razo
Raso is an islet of 8 square kilometers in the Barlavento archipelago of Cape Verde. Raso is flanked by the smaller Branco islet on the west and by São Nicolau island on its eastern side. Raso is uninhabited and is now the only home of the Raso Lark. The Brown Booby and Red-billed Tropicbird visit...
. Like typical vidas, it tell us where he was from and whom he loved. He was from Pena d'Albeges (modern Penne
Penne, Tarn
Penne feather) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-Prehistory:The first traces of activity date back to the Bronze Age...
). At some point he had a love affair with Elis (Lucia) de Montfort, wife of Guillem de Gordon (c. 1165) and then Bernart de Casnac (c. 1214). This affair was originally in a vida 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 it was cut out and placed in Jordan's own vida-razo at a later date.
Jordan was a contemporary of Bertran and partook with him in the Revolt of 1173–1174 as a partisan of Henry the Young King
Henry the Young King
Henry, known as the Young King was the second of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine but the first to survive infancy. He was officially King of England; Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine.-Early life:Little is known of the young prince Henry before the events...
against Henry Curtmantle
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, Duke of Aquitaine
Duke of Aquitaine
The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....
and King of England. He may have received a near fatal wound on the same campaign in which the Young King died in 1183. Jordan's own wife fell in with "heretics" (ereges), certainly Cathars, though one document says Patarics.
Of Jordan's literary output, twelve poems survive. They include eleven cansos and one 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...
(and possibly 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...
). The incipit found at the end of a razo introducing one of his canso
Canso
Canso can refer to several different things:* Canso, Nova Scotia, a small fishing town in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada.* Canso Causeway, a rock-fill causeway connecting Cape Breton Island to mainland Nova Scotia, Canada...
s says maintas bonas chansos fetz: "he made many good cansos." The melody of Jordan's Vas vos soplei, domna, premieramen also survives. It was copied by the later troubadour Peire Cardenal
Peire Cardenal
Peire Cardenal was a troubadour known for his satirical sirventes and his dislike of the clergy...
for his Rics homs que greu ditz vertat e leu men. The most recent modern edition of his works is Il trovatore Raimon Jordan edited by Stefano Asperti (Modena: Mucchi, 1990).
Jordan's work is generally ahistorical and his poetry "suggests a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician working over well-worn themes to move inexorably deeper into the poetic imagination." His innovations have led to comparisons with Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
. Though Jordan is not usually regarded as a master by modern standards, the Monge de Montaudon
Monge de Montaudon
The Monge de Montaudon , born Pèire de Vic, was a nobleman, monk, and troubadour from the Auvergne, born at the castle of Vic-sur-Cère near Aurillac, where he became a Benedictine monk around 1180...
, writing in the 1190s in the generation after him, gave him a high place in his Pos Peire d'Alvernh'a cantat. Jordan was one of the early troubadours to employ the mythology of the "wild man" in his poems. He refers to the "solace of the savage" (aissi farai lo conort del salvatge) and remarks that the expectation of joy makes him brave and that therefore he should better enjoy the snowfall rather than the blossoming of the flowers. In general Jordan's poetry emphasises the accompanying suffering of love and the stoic embrace of the suffering as a necessary consequence to be endured. The sufferings of love were compared to the buffeting of a tempestuous sea, a metaphor which was common enough in the literature of the time, when the sea was typically viewed as dangerous:
- Com hom e mar quan se sent perilhar
- Que dins son cor sospir'e dels olhs plora
- E contra.l vent non pot nul genh trobar . . .
In another passage, Jordan explains that his song is an "interpreter" of his sorrows to the lady for whom he is suffering:
- Si saubes cilh don m'agr'ops mantenensa
- Tan coralmen me destrenho.l cossir, . . .
- Mas ma chansos li sera latiniers,
- A leis per cui fatz tan greu abstenensa.
Indeed, his devotion to a lady knew no bounds and he was a sacrilegious poet. In one of his more famous passages he exclaims that he would give up eternity in Paradise for one night with a certain lady:
- Que tan la desir e volh
- Que, s'er'en coita de mort,
- Non queri'a a Deu tan fort
- Que lai el seu paradis
- M'aculhis
- Com que'm des lezer
- D'una noit ab leis jazer.
Jordan wrote one canso for performance by women. In it he attacks the misogyny of earlier troubadours (antic trobadors) who have "slandered and misled women in their love poems". The song also attacks a satirist for "adopting the manner of a preacher" for the express purpose of criticising women publicly. In the last stanza of the canso, the female performer says:
Que quascus hom deu razonar son fraire
E queia domna sa seror . . .
E s'ieu per so velh far razonamen
A las domnas, no m'o reptes nien.
For each man must reason with his brother,
And every woman with her sister . . .
And if I wish to reason with women,
Don't reprove me for it at all.
Otherwise, his work is characterised by "striking feudal metaphors."