Raimon de las Salas

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Raimon de (las) Salas or la Sala was a Provençal troubadour probably of the 1220s/1230s. His short vida survives. He left behind four or five poems, but he must have composed more, since he is vida records his composition of cansos, albas, and retroensas. Along with Ferrari da Ferrara, he is the only troubadour known to have tried his hand at the retroensa.

Raimon was a burgess from Marseille.[1] He may have served at the court of Hugh II des Baux, viscount of Marseille, from 1193 to 1240. He mentions Raimbalda des Baux in one of his poems. His vida records that he was neither well known nor esteemed.[1]

Interestingly, two of Raimon's tensos were composed with women, including Si.m fos graziz mos chanz, eu m'esforcera, which has a modern English translation by Meg Bogin.[2] Raimon also composed a partimen with an otherwise unknown Bertran, who proposed the dilemma: who are better at making war, feasts, and gifts, the Lombards or Provençals?[3] Raimon praises his compatriots and puts down Lombard women as big and ugly.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Egan, 98.
  2. ^ Bogin, 156–9.
  3. ^ Paterson, 6.

[edit] Sources

  • Bogin, Meg. The Women Troubadours. Scarborough: Paddington, 1976. ISBN 0 8467 0113 8.
  • Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn; Shepard, Laurie; and White, Sarah. Songs of the Women Troubadours. New York: Garland Publishing, 1995. ISBN 0 8153 0817 5.
  • Egan, Margarita, ed. The Vidas of the Troubadours. New York: Garland, 1984. ISBN 0 8240 9437 9.
  • Paterson, Linda M. The World of the Troubadours: Medieval Occitan Society, c. 1100–c. 1300. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. ISBN 0 521 55832 8.
  • Riquer, Martín de. Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.