Bieiris de Romans

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Bieiris de Roman(s)[1] (from Bietris, also Beatriz or Beatritz; English: "Beatrice") was a trobairitz of the first half of the thirteenth century. Her birthplace was Romans near Montélimar.[2] She left behind one canso, "Na Maria, pretz e fina valors" ("Lady Maria, in your merit and distinction"), addressed to another woman named Mary. The poem is written in the typical troubadour style of courtly love and has been consequently analysed as a lesbian poem.[3] Bieiris may, however, be simply writing from the masculine point of view, fully immersing herself in the masculinity of the genre.[3] Nonetheless, the certain ascription of the poem to a woman makes it unlikely that there was any attempt to "fool" the audience: the poem is consequently emasculated.

François Zufferey has argued that Bieiris' composition is in fact a work by Gui d'Ussel.[4] Joining him in ascribing the poem of Bieiris to a man are Oskar Schultz-Gora, Gianfranco Folena, and Elizabeth W. Poe.[5] The early French medievalist Jean-Baptiste de Lacurne de Sainte-Palaye believed it to have been written on behalf of a man.[5] Bieiris' lesbianism, too, has its defenders: Pierre Bec, Magda Bogin, Renat Nelli, and John Boswell.[6] Angelica Rieger, on the other hand, has forcefully defended her authorship and denied her lesbianism.[7] She has sought to show that Bieiris is in fact employing the language of affection popular among noblewomen of the period.[8] The Na Maria of the poem has even been understood as the Virgin Mary, and the sincerity and innocence of the lyrics do not disqualify it.[6]

The last stanza of her canso goes like this:

Bella doman, cui pretz e joi enansa
e gen parlar, a vos mas coblas man,
car en vos es gajess' e alegranssa,
e tot lo ben qu'om en domna deman.
Lovely woman, whom joy and noble speech uplift,
and merit, to you my stanzas go,
for in you are gaiety and happiness,
and all good things one could ask of a woman.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ There is some disagreement as to whether the manuscripts read "Beiris", "Bierris", or "Bietris".
  2. ^ a b Bogin, 132–133.
  3. ^ a b Sankovitch, 122.
  4. ^ Poe, 208.
  5. ^ a b Pendle, 31.
  6. ^ a b Pendle, 32.
  7. ^ Harvey, 333.
  8. ^ Paterson, 198.

[edit] Sources

  • Bogin, Magda. The Women Troubadours. W. W. Norton & Company, 1988. ISBN 0 393 00965 3.
  • Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn; Shepard, Laurie; and White, Sarah. Songs of the Women Troubadours. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0 8153 0817 5.
  • Dronke, Peter. Women Writers of the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
  • Harvey, Ruth E. Review of The Voice of the Trobairitz: Perspectives on the Women Troubadours by William D. Paden. In Medium aevum, 59 (1990) pp. 332–333.
  • Paterson, Linda M. Review of The Voice of the Trobairitz: Perspectives on the Women Troubadours by William D. Paden. In The Modern Language Review, 86:1 (Jan., 1991), p. 198.
  • Pendle, Karin. Women and Music: A History. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN 0 25321 422 X.
  • Poe, Elizabeth W. Review of The Voice of the Trobairitz: Perspectives on the Women Troubadours by William D. Paden. In Speculum, 67:1 (Jan., 1992), pp. 207–209.
  • Sankovitch, Tilde. "The trobairitz". The Troubadours: An Introduction. Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay, edd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0 521 57473 0.