Bertran de Born (1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the twelfth century. Centuries: 11th century - 12th century - 13th century Decades: 1090s 1100s 1110s 1120s 1130s - 1140s - 1150s 1160s 1170s 1180s 1190s Years: 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 Events and Trends Abbot Suger rebuilds the monastery of St Denis outside Paris, seen as the initiation of the Gothic... A certified copy of the Magna Carta March 4 - King John of England makes an oath to the Pope as a crusader to gain the support of Innocent III. June 15 - King John of England was forced to put his seal on the Magna Carta, outlining the rights of landowning... Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ... Coat of arms of Limousin Limousin (Occitan: Lemosin) is a former province of France around the city of Limoges in central France. ... Occitan, or langue doc is a Romance language characterized by its richness, variability, and by the intelligibility of its dialects. ... A troubadour composing lyrics, Germany c. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The new buildings of the library. ...

Life and Works

Bertran de Born was the eldest son of Bertran de Born, lord of Autafort (French: Hautefort), and his wife Ermengardis. He had two younger brothers, Constantine and Itier. His father died in 1178, and Bertran succeeded him as lord of Autafort. By this time, he was already married to his first wife, Raimonda, and had two sons. Hautefort is a commune of the Dordogne département in southwestern France. ...

Autafort lies at the border between the Limousin and Périgord. As a result, Bertran became involved in the conflicts of the sons of Henry II Plantagenet. He was also fighting for control of Autafort. Coat of arms of Limousin Limousin (Occitan: Lemosin) is a former province of France around the city of Limoges in central France. ... Périgord (   pronunciation?) is a former province of France, corresponding to the current Dordogne département, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine région. ... Henry II of England (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland, and western France. ...

According to the feudal custom of his region, he was not the only lord of Autafort, but held it jointly with his brothers. Other cases of co-seigneuries were known among the troubadours, the most famous being that of the "four troubadours of Ussel", three brothers and a cousin, and that of Raimon de Miraval and his brothers. A typical strategy employed by the major territorial principalities (such as the duchy of Aquitaine or the county of Toulouse) to decrease the influence of the local lords of the manor was to encourage feudal conflicts within their families. Bertran's struggle, especially with his brother Constantine, is at the heart of his poetry, which is dominated by political topics. Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... Ussel is the name or part of the name of several communes in France: Ussel, in the Cantal département Ussel, in the Corrèze département Ussel, in the Lot département Ussel-dAllier, in the Allier département This is a disambiguation page — a list of articles... Raimon de Miraval(h) (fl. ... (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Dordogne Gironde Landes Lot-et-Garonne Pyrénées-Atlantiques Arrondissements 18 Cantons 235 Communes 2,296 Statistics Land area1 41,308 km² Population (Ranked 6th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... New city flag (Occitan cross) Traditional coat of arms Motto: (Occitan: For Toulouse, always more) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country Region Midi-Pyrénées Department Haute-Garonne (31) Intercommunality Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc  (UMP) (since 2004) City Statistics Land...

His first datable work is a sirventes (political or satirical song) of 1181, but it is clear from this he already had a reputation as a poet. In 1182, he was present at his overlord Henry II of England's court at Argentan. That same year, he had joined in Henry the Young King's revolt against his younger brother, Richard, Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine. He wrote songs encouraging Aimar V of Limoges and others to rebel, and took the oath against Richard at Limoges. His brother Constantine took the opposing side, and Bertran drove him out of the castle in July. The sirventes is a form of poetry utilised by the troubadours. ... Henry II of England (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland, and western France. ... Argentan is a commune, and the chief town of two cantons and of an arrondissement of the Orne département, in France. ... Henry, the Young King Henry the Young King (February 28, 1155–June 11, 1183) was the second of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. ... Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 6 July 1189 to 6 April 1199. ... Coat of arms of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, Plantagenet claimant to the county of Poitou, now favored as the coat of arms of Poitou by people in Poitou Poitou is a province of France. ... (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Dordogne Gironde Landes Lot-et-Garonne Pyrénées-Atlantiques Arrondissements 18 Cantons 235 Communes 2,296 Statistics Land area1 41,308 km² Population (Ranked 6th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... This article is about the French commune. ...

Henry the Young King, whom Bertran had praised and criticised in his poems, died in 1183; he wrote a planh (lament), in his memory, Mon chan fenisc ab dol et ab maltraire. (Another planh for Henry, Si tuit li dol e.l plor e.l marrimen, formerly attributed to Bertran, is now thought to be the work of Rigaut de Berbezill). In his punitive campaign against the rebels, Richard, aided by Alfonso II of Aragon, besieged Autafort and gave it to Constantine de Born. Henry II, however, returned it to the poet, and Constantine seems to have become a mercenary. The planh is a funeral lament used by the troubadours, modeled on the medieval Latin planctus. ... Alfonso II of Aragon Template:House of Aragón Alfonso II (Aragon) or Alfons I (Provence and Barcelona) (1152 – 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1162 until his death. ... A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national of a Party to the conflict and is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a...

Bertran was reconciled with Richard, whom he supported in turn against Philip II of France. At various times, he sought to exploit the dissensions among the Angevins in order to keep his independence. He gave them senhals (nicknames): Henry the Young King was Mariniers (Sailor), Geoffrey of Brittany was Rassa, and Richard, Oc-e-Non (Yes-and-No). He commemorated Geoffrey's death in the planh, A totz dic que ja mais non voil. He had contact with a number of other troubadours and also with the Northern French trouvère, Conon de Béthune, whom he addressed as Mon Ysombart. Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe II Auguste) (August 21, 1165 – July 14, 1223), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. ... Angevin (IPA: ) is the name applied to the residents of Anjou, a former province of the Kingdom of France, as well as to the residents of Angers. ... Geoffrey Plantagenet (September 23, 1158 – August 19, 1186) was Duke of Brittany between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage with the heiress Constance. ... 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. ... Conon de Béthune (c. ...

Although he composed a few cansos (love songs), Bertran de Born was predominantly a master of the sirventes. Be.m platz lo gais temps de pascor, which revels in warfare, was translated by Ezra Pound: Ezra Pound in 1913. ...

When Richard (by then King) and Philip delayed setting out on the Third Crusade, he chided them in songs praising the heroic defence of Tyre by Conrad of Montferrat (Folheta, vos mi prejatz que eu chan and Ara sai eu de pretz quals l'a plus gran). When Richard was released from captivity after being suspected of Conrad's murder, Bertran welcomed his return with Ar ven la coindeta sazos. Ironically, one of Bertran's sources of income was from the market of Châlus-Cabrol, where Richard was fatally wounded in 1199. The Third Crusade (1189–1192), also known as the Kings Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin. ... The Triumphal Arch Tyre (Arabic , Phoenician , Hebrew Tzor, Tiberian Hebrew , Akkadian , Greek Týros) is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. ... Imaginary portrait of Conrad by François-Édouard Picot, c. ... Châlus is a small village and ruined castle (now named Chalus-Cabrol) in the Haute-Vienne departement of France, in the Limousin region. ...

Widowed for the second time c. 1196, Bertran became a monk and entered the Cistercian abbey of Dalon, to which he had made numerous grants over the years. His last datable song was written in 1198. He ceases to appear in charters after 1202, and was certainly dead by 1215, when there is a record of a payment for a candle for his tomb. Cistercians coat of arms The Order of Cistercians (OCist) (Latin: ), otherwise White Monks (from the colour of the habit, over which a black scapular or apron is sometimes worn) is a Roman Catholic order of enclosed monks. ... Bold textTHIS IS THE PAGE THAT A.S. REALLY NEEDS!! THIS IS NOW MARKED!!! ] ps i like A.O. This article is about an abbey as a Christian monastic community. ...

His œuvre consists of about forty-seven works, thirty-six unanimously attributed to him in the manuscripts, and eleven uncertain attributions. Several melodies survive, and some of his songs have been recorded by Sequentia, Gérard Zuchetto and his Troubadours Art Ensemble, and the Martin Best Mediæval Consort. In Latin poetry, a sequence (Latin sequentia) is a poem written in a non-classical metre, often on a sacred Christian subject. ...

Family

Bertran de Born married twice. By his first wife, Raimonda, he had two sons (both knighted in 1192) and a daughter:

• Bertran, also a troubadour, still living in 1223.
• Itier, who died in 1237.
• Aimelina, who married Seguin de Lastours.

By his second wife, Philippa, he had two more sons: // Events Thomas II of Savoy becomes count of Flanders. ...

• Constantine, who became a monk at Dalon with his father.
• Bertran the Younger, who was still living in 1252.

Later Literary Image

Doré's illustration of Bertran in Hell, from Dante's L'Inferno

According to his later vida (a romanticised short biography attached to his songs), Henry II believed Bertran had fomented the rebellion of his son Henry the Young King. As a result, Dante Alighieri portrayed him in the Inferno as a sower of schism, punished in the eighth circle of Hell (Canto XXVIII), carrying his severed head like a lantern. Gustave Doré depicts this in his illustrations to the Divine Comedy. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Henry II of England (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland, and western France. ... Henry, the Young King Henry the Young King (February 28, 1155–June 11, 1183) was the second of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. ... Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. ... The Divine Comedy (Italian: , later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. ... Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ... Saint Denis of Paris A cephalophore (from the Greek for head-carrier) is a saint who is generally depicted carrying his head in his hands; in art, this was usually meant to signify that the subject in question had been martyred by beheading. ... Doré photographed by Felix Nadar. ... Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ...

Dante's depiction influenced Bertran's image in various later literary works. In her epic poem Cœur de Lion (1822), Eleanor Anne Porden depicted him fomenting discord in the Third Crusade, and becoming a hermit in the East out of remorse over his involvement in Richard's imprisonment. He also figures as a minor character in Maurice Hewlett's novel The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay (1900), depicted unflatteringly. He is described as "a man of hot blood, fumes and rages", with "a grudging spirit". One character dismisses him thus: "Great poet he was, great thief, and a silly fool." Detail of portrait of Eleanor Anne Porden, by Mary Ann Flaxman Eleanor Anne Porden (July 14, 1795-February 22, 1825) was a British Romantic poet and the first wife of the explorer John Franklin. ... Maurice Henry Hewlett (1861-1923), was an English historical novelist, poet and essayist. ...

His memory was better served by Ezra Pound, who translated some of his songs and also based several original poems around him and his works, notably Na Audiart (1908), Sestina: Altaforte (1909), and Near Perigord (1915). There are also allusions to him in some of the Cantos. Via the influence of Pound's Na Audiart, he is also mentioned in Sorley MacLean's poem, A' Bhuaile Ghreine (The Sunny Fold). Ezra Pound in 1913. ... Sorley MacLean (Scottish Gaelic: ) (b. ...

Notes

1. ^ In Robert Kehew (ed.) The Lark in the Morning, pp. 144-45

Works

• Gérard Gouiran (ed. and trans.), L’Amour et la Guerre: L’Oeuvre de Bertran de Born, 2 vols. (Aix en Provence & Marseille, 1985)
• William D. Padden, jr., Tilde Sankovitch & Patricia H. Stäblein (ed. and transl.), The Poems of the Troubadour Bertran de Born (Berkeley, Los Angeles & London, 1986)
• Complete works (external link)
• Works, translated by James H. Donalson (external link)

References

• Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Inferno, trans. Allen Mandelbaum, (Bantam Classics 1982) ISBN 0-553-21339-3
• Maurice Hewlett, The Life & Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay (London, 1900) (external link to Project Gutenberg text)
• Robert Kehew (ed.) Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours; translated by Ezra Pound, W D Snodgrass & Robert Kehew (Chicago, 2005) ISBN 0-226-42933-4
• Ezra Pound, Poems & Translations (New York, 2003)

This article includes material from the Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

• Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie Bouillet/Chassang

(=> projet Wikipédia) via [1]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Bertran de Born

• English translation of Bertran de Born's Bel m'es quan vei- translated by Jon Corelis