Guilhem de Montanhagol

Miniature of Montanhagol playing a harp from a 13th-century chansonnier

Guilhem de Montanhagol[1] (fl. 1233–1268) was a Provençal troubadour, most likely active in Toulouse, but known in the courts of Provence, Toulouse, Castile, and Aragon.[2][3] Guilhem left behind seven cansos and six sirventes.[3] He also left behind one tenso (specifically, a partimen) with Sordello (perhaps suggesting a brief sojourn in Lombardy) and his total surviving output comes to fourteen pieces.[2][3]

The meaning of Guilhem's name has been debated. "Montanhagol" means "from Montanhac", but it is not known which of the several places named Montanhac that could be.[4] For a long time it was thought that the correct form of the troubadour's name was simply "Guilhem Montanhagol", since the "de" (of) would be redundant.[5] Contemporary documents, however, clearly use "de".[5]

He was of humble birth.[2] According to his vida he was from Provence, though some modern scholars suspect he was a Toulousain.[2][4] His vida records that he was "a good inventor (trobaire) of poetry, and a great lover."[4] His lover was a lady named Jauseranda from Lunel, the lord of which castle, Raymond Gaucelm V, Guilhem probably knew.[4]

His cansos are awkward, and he emulated the earlier troubadours, praising mezura (moderation) among all the virtues.[2] He stated that "from love proceeds chastity" (d'amor mou castitatz), which may mean no more than that love is necessary for fidelity.[3][6] He has been viewed, most ardently by Cesare de Lollis, as a precursor of the Dolce Stil Novo and as an important link between Occitan and Italian literature through his work with Sordello.[6][7] He has been credited with an innovative picture of courtly love blended with Christian morality,[6] and indeed he refers to noel dig de maestria ("a new saying of mastery"), though this is probably not an indication of any conscious reformation.[8]

Guilhem's political sirventes concern Toulousain and Spanish politics.[2] Writing in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade which devastated Languedoc, Guilhem was an opponent of the Papal Inquisition, though not of the Church itself.[2] He encouraged the gentle correction of the Cathars, but not their violent suppression by means of war.[3]

Guilhem was grieved in a planh written by his brother-in-law Pons Santolh.[3]

  1. ^ Other spellings include Guilhèm de Montanhagòl (Occitan, modern, classical norm) and Guillem (Catalan), and for his surname Montaignagol or the corrupted Montaigacot.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Gaunt and Kay, appendix.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Paden, "Guilhem de Montanhagol".
  4. ^ a b c d Egan, 57.
  5. ^ a b Riquer.
  6. ^ a b c Topsfield, 127.
  7. ^ Boase, 33, credits Montanhagol with inventing the term dolce stil novo.
  8. ^ Spiers, "Vita Nuova and Dolce Stil Nuovo", 39.