Arnaut de Mareuil

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Arnaut de Mareuil (fl. late 12th century) was a troubadour, composing lyric poetry in Occitan.

His name indicates that he came from Mareuil-sur-Belle (Dordogne) in Périgord. He is said to have been a "clerk" from a poor family; he settled at the courts of Toulouse and then Béziers. He apparently loved the countess Azalais, daughter of Raymond V of Toulouse, married to Roger II Trencavel, and Arnaut's 25 (or perhaps 29) surviving poems may be seen as a sequence telling of his love. Alfonso II of Aragon was his rival for Azalais's affections, and according to the razó to one of Arnaut's poems, the king jealously persuaded her to break off her friendship with Arnaut. He fled to Montpellier, where he found a patron in count William VIII.

Arnaut de Mareuil was less famous than his contemporary Arnaut Daniel, but has been said to surpass him in elegant simplicity of form and delicacy of sentiment.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Biographies des troubadours ed. J. Boutière, A.-H. Schutz (Paris: Nizet, 1964) pp. 32-38.
• Johnston, R.E. (1935), Les poèsies lyriques du troubadour Arnaut de Mareuil. Paris.