Arnaut de Mareuil
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Arnaut de Mareuil, Maruelh, Marolh, Marol, Maroill, Maruoill, or Meruoill (fl. late 12th century) was a troubadour, composing lyric poetry in the Occitan language. Twenty-five, perhaps twenty-nine, of his songs, all cansos, survive, six with music.
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 who eventually became a jongleur; 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 surviving poems may be seen as a sequence (lyric cycle) 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. His cantaire (singer) and jongleur (minstrel, messenger) was Pistoleta.
[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.
- Gaunt, Simon, and Kay, Sarah (edd.) The Troubadours: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0 521 574730.
- Johnston, R. C. Les poèsies lyriques du troubadour Arnaut de Mareuil. Paris, 1935.
