Uc de Saint Circ or Hugues (Hugh) de Saint Circq (fl.

Floruit

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

 1217–1253) 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....

 from 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....

. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of several vidas

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 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...

s of other troubadours, though only one of Bernart de Ventadorn

Bernart de Ventadorn

Bernart de Ventadorn , also known as Bernard de Ventadour or Bernat del Ventadorn, was a prominent troubador of the classical age of troubadour poetry. Now thought of as "the Master Singer" he developed the cançons into a more formalized style which allowed for sudden turns...

 exists under his name. Forty-four of his songs, including fifteen 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...

and only three canso melodies, have survived, along with a didactic manual

Ensenhamen

An ensenhamen was an Occitan didactic poem associated with the troubadours. As a genre of Occitan literature, its limits have been open to debate since it was first defined in the 19th century...

 entitled Ensenhamen d'onor. According to William E. Burgwinkle, as "poet, biographer, literary historian, and mythographer, Uc must be accorded his rightful place as the 'inventor' (trobador) of 'troubadour poetry' and the idealogical trappings with which it came to be associated."

Uc is probably to be identified with the Uc Faidit (meaning "exiled" or "dispossessed") who authored the Donatz proensals, one of the earliest Occitan grammar

Grammar

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...

s. This identity fits with Uc's status as the "inventor" of troubadour poetry as a distinct type and his life in Italy (possibly due to exile during the Albigensian Crusade

Albigensian Crusade

The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc...

).

Biography

Uc was born in the town of Thégra

Thégra

Thégra is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France.- See also :* Communes of the Lot department...

 to a minor nobleman, Arman, lord of Saint-Circ-d'Alzon, a village which no longer exists but was in the vicinity of Rocamadour

Rocamadour

Rocamadour is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. It lies in the former province of Quercy.Rocamadour has attracted visitors for its setting in a gorge above a tributary of the River Dordogne, and especially for its historical monuments and its sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin...

. According to Uc's vida, the castle of Saint-Circ lay "at the foot of" (al pe de) the church of Sainta-Maria de Rocamadour, which is atop a cliff overlooking the Alzon

Alzon

Alzon is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.The commune is located in the south of the Cévennes National Park, in the upper Vis river valley.-Population:-References:*...

 river valley and was destroyed by war in Uc's time. Furthermore according to his vida, Uc's many older brothers sent him off to receive a clerical education in Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

. At Montpellier he learned to read and write and discovered "songs and poems and 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...

and 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 and couplets and the deeds and the sayings of the worthy men and the worthy women who were living or had lived in the world." It was through this education that he became a minstrel (jongleur).

Uc's gained fame through the coblas

Cobla (Occitan literary term)

A cobla is a stanza in Occitan lyric poetry, the art form of the troubadours. Though not usually standalone work in itself, in many instances a cobla or two is all that survives of what was once a complete poem. Each cobla of a song was usually played to the same melody, but a few songs were...

and partimen

Partimen

The partimen is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry composed between two troubadours, a subgenre of the tenso or cobla exchange in which one poet presents a dilemma in the form of a question and the two debate the answer, each taking up a different side. It was especially popular in poetic contests....

s he exchanged with the Count of Rodez, under whom he probably served in the Albigensian Crusade, and through the two tensos he exchanged with Raymond III of Turenne, brother of Maria de Ventadorn

Maria de Ventadorn

Maria de Ventadorn was a patron of troubadour poetry at the end of the 12th century.Maria was one of las tres de Torena, "the three of Turenne", the three daughters of viscount Raymond II of Turenne and of Elise de Séverac. These three, according to Bertran de Born, possessed tota beltat terrena,...

. He also had contact with Dalfi d'Alvernha, to whom he addressed one poem. According to his vida, he went into Gascony

Gascony

Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...

, where he wandered around on foot—occasionally on horse—penniless. Eventually he gained settled down with Guillerma de Benauges, a countess and viscountess, who introduced him to Savaric de Mauleon, who in turn clothed and outfitted him.

According to his vida, he spent a considerable amount of time with Savaric in Poitou

Poitou

Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....

 and the surrounding regions before heading into Catalonia

Principality of Catalonia

The Principality of Catalonia , is a historic territory in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain and with an adjoining portion in southern France....

 and Aragon

Kingdom of Aragon

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...

, where he was at the court of Peter II

Peter II of Aragon

Peter II the Catholic was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.He was the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile...

; Castile

Kingdom of Castile

Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

, where he attended that of Alfonso VIII

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...

; and finally León

Kingdom of León

The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

, where he was at that of Alfonso IX

Alfonso IX of Leon

Alfonso IX was king of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death...

. Around 1220 he moved east into Provence

Provence

Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

, where his vida says he was "with all the barons", and into 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...

 and the March of Treviso

March of Treviso

The March of Treviso was a medieval territory in Venetia, between the Garda and the Julian March. The territory corresponded roughly to the region around the city of Treviso, including Belluno, Feltre, and Ceneda and the dioceses of all four cities. It bordered the March of Verona and the Muson...

 (marca Trevisana). During his travels in Languedoc, Spain, Provence, and Italy he probably met many other troubadours. Eventually Uc is said to have settled down with a wife and children, after which he never composed songs. Uc's association, in Italy, with the da Romano

Ezzelino da Romano

Ezzelino da Romano was the name of various seignors of fiefs and cities in northern Italy starting from the 12th century AD.*The family was founded by Ecelo , who received the fiefs of Romano, including Romano d'Ezzelino and Onara, near Cittadella, Veneto*Ezzelino II il Balbo*Ezzelino II da Romano,...

 and Malaspina families is evident in his surviving poetry. It lasted forty years while he was in Italy, where he was probably a Guelph

Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...

.

Poetry

According to one version of his vida, Uc non fez gaires de las cansos ("never accomplished much with his songs"), apparently because he was "never really in love with a lady". While the biographer commended his lyrical and melodic compositions, he probably regarded his fifteen cansos out of a total forty-four poems as unusually low. He was reputed to be able to feign love and to praise and belittle women with ease, but after his marriage his poetic output ceased.

Uc's poetry was influenced by his ecclesiastical education. As mentioned above, he wrote cansos and tensos, but also some sirventes. His work is in general pedantic and truculent. One of Uc's sirventes, which begins Messonget, un sirventes, acknowledges that it is el son d'en Arnaut Plagues ("the song of lord Arnaut Plagues

Arnaut Plagues

Arnaut Plagues or Plages was a troubadour probably from Provence.Only one song of his survives, a tenso with the trobairitz Felipa, Ben volgra midons saubes. Though this song has also been attributed to Peirol and Peire Rogier, textual evidence and the bulk of manuscripts seem to point to Arnaut...

"), an imitation of Be volgra midons saubres by Arnaut. Another of his sirventes, which begins as a "light" work with many textual affinities to at least four other troubadour works, but it ends as a political assault on Ezzelino III da Romano

Ezzelino III da Romano

Ezzelino III da Romano was an Italian feudal lord in the March of Treviso who was a close ally of the emperor Frederick II and ruled Verona, Vicenza and Padua for almost two decades...

, the viceroy of the Emperor Frederick II in Italy: Chanzos q'es leu per entendre.

In Un sirventes voill far, Uc demonstrates a hatred of the emperor, accusing him, a "monster of heresy", of believing in neither immortality nor paradise. Furthermore, he intends to humiliate France

Kingdom of France

The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...

 and the Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 and so the Crusade against him in Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

 is justified because selh qu'en Dieu non cre non deu terra tener: "he who does not believe in God should nto reign".

Uc also composed a danseta in which the refrain was apparently repeated between the four stanzas.

Prose

Late in his life, at the da Romano court, Uc became a representative of the academic prose style then coming into fashion. In this vein he composed a collection of vidas and razos. Most of these were written in Italy and the numerous historical errors they contain have been attribute to the time and distance between the lives and events they describe, for, judging by the Italianisms which had crept into Uc's vocabulary by the time they were written, he must have been in Italy a while before he began their composition. The razos have been dated to 1227–1230 and no post-1219 events are recorded in them. Uc's earliest attempt at biography, however, is the collection of razos 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:...

, which were possibly penned in Languedoc or shortly after his arrival in northern Italy; in his later works he refers to the razos of Bertran as l'autr'escrit: "the other writings". The sole vida to contain a direct claim of authorship is that of Bernart de Ventadorn, which says: Et ieu, N'Ucs de Saint Circ, de lui so qu'ieu ai escrit si me contet lo vescoms N'Ebles de Ventadorn ("And I, Lord Uc of Saint Circ, have written about him [Bernart] what the viscount Lord Ebles of Ventadorn told me").

Among the vidas he is supposed to have written is one of Sordello

Sordello

Sordello da Goito or Sordel de Goit was a 13th-century Lombard troubadour, born in the municipality of Goito in the province of Mantua...

, a troubadour at the court of Ezzelino III and Alberico da Romano

Alberico da Romano

Alberico da Romano , called Alberico II, was an Italian condottiero, troubadour, and an alternatingly Guelph and Ghibelline statesman. He was also a patron of Occitan literature.-Life and death:...

. In it he presents what is probably the "official" court version of the kidnapping of Cunizza

Cunizza da Romano

Cunizza da Romano was an Italian noblewoman, the third daughter of Ezzelino II da Romano and Adelaide di Mangona, and sister to Ezzelino III and Alberico da Romano....

: that Ezzelino ordered him, who lived at the court of Cunizza's erstwhile husband, Rizzardo di San Bonifacio, to take her back to him. Uc wrote an exchange with Peire Guilhem de Luserna

Peire Guilhem de Luserna

Peire Guilhem de Luserna was a Piedmontese troubadour.Peire's identity as an Italian has been up for debate since the 19th century. "Luserna" more probably refers to Luserna in the Piedmont, rich and populous in Peire’s time, a town on the left bank of the Pellice lying on the road into the...

, an Italian troubadour, concerning Cunizza, in which Uc attacked her and Peire defended her.