A medieval depiction of Bernart de Ventadorn.

Bernart de Ventadorn (1130-1140 – 1190-1200) was a troubador composer and poet. Image File history File links BernardDeVentadour. ... Image File history File links BernardDeVentadour. ... Events February 13 - Innocent II is elected pope An antipope schism occurs when Roger II of Sicily supports Anacletus II as pope instead of Innocent II. Innocent flees to France and Anacletus crowns Roger King. ... Events Henry Jasomirgott was made count palatine of the Rhine. ... Events March 16 - Massacre and mass-suicide of the Jews of York, England prompted by Crusaders and Richard Malebys kill 150-500 Jews in Cliffords Tower June 10 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowned in the Saleph River while leading an army to Jerusalem. ... Events University of Paris receives charter from Philip II of France The Kanem-Bornu Empire was established in northern Africa around the year 1200 Mongol victory over Northern China — 30,000,000 killed Births Al-Abhari, Persian philosopher and mathematician (died 1265) Ulrich von Liechtenstein, German nobleman and poet (died...

According to the troubadour Uc de Saint Circ (1217?-1253?), Bernart was possibly the son of a baker at the castle of Ventadour (Ventadorn), in Corrèze, France. Yet another source, a satirical poem written by a younger contemporary, Peire d'Alvernha, indicates that he was the son of either a servant, a soldier, or a baker, and his mother was also either a servant or a baker. From evidence given in Bernart's early poem, Lo temps vai e ven e vire, he most likely learned the art of singing and writing from his protector, viscount Eble III of Ventadorn. He composed his first poems to his patron's wife, Marguerite de Turenne. A troubadour was a composer and performer of songs during the Middle Ages in Europe. ... Events April 9 - Peter of Courtenay crowned emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople at Rome, by Pope Honorius III May 20 - First Barons War, royalist victory at Lincoln. ... For broader historical context, see 1250s and 13th century. ... Corrèze is a département in the center of France, named after the Corrèze River. ... Eble III of Ventadorn was viscount of Ventadour (Corrèze, France). ...

Forced to leave Ventadour after falling in love with Marguerite, he traveled to Montluçon and Toulouse, and eventually followed Eleanor of Aquitaine to England and the Plantagenet court; evidence for this association and these travels comes mainly from his poems themselves. Later Bernart returned to Toulouse, where he was employed by Raimon V, Count of Toulouse; later still he went to Dordogne, where he entered a monastery. Most likely he died there. Montluçon is a city and commune in central France. ... The Capitole, the 18th century city hall of Toulouse and best known landmark in the city; in the foreground is the Place du Capitole, a hub of urban life at the very center of the city Toulouse (pronounced in standard French, and in local Toulouse accent) (Occitan: Tolosa, pronounced ) is... Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122[1] – March 31, 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Europe during the High Middle Ages. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked... Angevin is the name applied to two distinct medieval dynasties which originated as counts (from 1360, dukes) of the western French province of Anjou (of which angevin is the adjectival form), but later came to rule far greater areas including England, Hungary and Poland (see Angevin Empire). ... Raymond V (1134-1194) was count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194. ... Dordogne is a département in central France named after the Dordogne River. ...

Bernart is unique among secular composers of the 12th century in the amount of music which has survived: of his 45 poems, 18 have music intact, an unusual circumstance for a troubador composer (music of the trouvères has a higher survival rate, usually attributed to them surviving the Albigensian Crusade, which scattered the troubadors and destroyed many sources). His work probably dates between 1147 and 1180. Bernart is often credited with being the most important influence on the development of the trouvère tradition in northern France, since he was well known there, his melodies were widely circulated, and the early composers of trouvère music seem to have imitated him. Trouvère is the Northern French (langue doïl) version of troubador (langue doc), and refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadors but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France. ... The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209 - 1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the religion practiced by the Cathars of Languedoc, which the Roman Catholic hierarchy considered apostasy. ...

References and further reading

• Moshé Lazar (ed.), Bernart de Ventadour: Chansons d'Amour. Paris, Klincksieck, 1966
• Mark Herman and Ronnie Apter (tr.), A Bilingual Edition of the Love Songs of Bernart De Ventadorn in Occitan and English: Sugar and Salt. Ceredigion, Edwin Mellen Press, 1999. ISBN 0773480099
• Jerome Roche, "Bernart de Ventadorn," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
• Richard H. Hoppin, Medieval Music. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978. ISBN 0393090906
• Elizabeth Aubrey, "Music of the Troubadours", 1996.

External link

• Bernart de Ventadorn: Complete Works (in English and Provençal)

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Bernard de Ventadour

• French literature
• Provençal literature