French translation [RA/GG]

I. Quand je me propose de chanter, je gémis et je pleure de ce que je vois arriver, car peu s’en faut que je ne meure de douleur lorsqu’en mon cœur je songe et réfléchis à la perte et au grand dommage qu’ont subis courtoisie et divertissement : si vous vous mêlez de service d’amour ou si vous vous donnez de l’allégresse, on dira que vous êtes fou prouvé, à moins que vous ne renonciez à toute joie.
II. Le monde s’est réduit à bien peu de valeur, à en parler franchement, et les clercs sont assurément les pires, eux qui devraient être le soutien des vertus, et ils ont pour habitude de préférer les combats à la paix, tant leur plaisent la méchanceté et le péché. Aussi je voudrais faire le voyage d’outre-mer lors de la première traversée, car la plus grande partie de ce que je vois me déplaît.
III. Ils sont traîtres envers eux-mêmes, pour la plupart, les puissants, c’est pourquoi je les hais : ils ont des yeux et ne voient pas et ne sont capables d’accomplir rien qui puisse plaire ; tant les aveuglent la cupidité, la tromperie et la méchanceté pure qu’ils ont détruit la noblesse et, à cause d’eux, perdent leur éclat mérite, valeur et loyauté.
IV. Je voudrais bien que nous ayons un seigneur qui ait assez de pouvoir et de jugement pour enlever aux gens vils leur puissance sans plus leur laisser tenir de terre, et donner l’héritage à qui aurait de la valeur et du mérite, car c’est ainsi que commença le monde, et ne pas regarder au lignage, et je voudrais que l’on change les seigneurs mauvais comme on fait pour les prieurs et les abbés.
V. Maintenant, je prie le bon empereur qui s’est croisé pour servir Dieu de se mettre en marche avec force et vigueur vers le pays où Dieu voulut mourir et où il mit son corps en gage; c’est pour nous qu’il a été élevé sur la croix et tout homme est sans espoir de salut, qui manque de fermeté en voyant comment, pour nous, il a été cloué et battu et blessé.
VI. Tous nous devrions avoir peur, puisque nous ne savons pas mieux le remercier de ce qu’il souffrit pour l’amour de nous : il reçut la mort pour tuer la mort, tant il voulut notre hommage; aussi est né sous une bonne étoile tout homme qui prendra la croix pour le servir et accomplira son pèlerinage car depuis qu’il a été dépouillé, la chrétienté n’a jamais retrouvé l’honneur.
VII. Empereur, si vous songez bien à la façon dont Dieu exauce vos désirs, vous aurez pour lui beaucoup d’amour; car il veut, et c’est la vérité, sachez-le, que vous recouvriez son héritage.
VIII. Sirventès, passez le Mont-Cenis et dites à Othon del Carret que je vous envoie en messager pour l’inviter à aller où Jésus naquit ; ensuite son beau mérite sera couronné.
 

English translation [LP]

I. When I think to sing I lament and weep for what I see happening, and almost die of grief when I reflect and ponder in my heart on the loss and huge damage suffered by courtliness and good company; for if you involve yourself in service or make yourself happy, people say you are a proven fool unless you abandon all joy.
II. To speak frankly, the world has been reduced to little worth, and definitely worst of all are the clergy, who ought to uphold the virtues but generally prefer war to peace, they are so in love with wickedness and sin. So I would like to make the voyage to Outremer on the first crossing since most of what I see displeases me.
III. Most of the wicked men of power are traitors towards themselves, which is why I hate them: they have eyes and cannot see, and are incapable of achieving anything pleasing: greed, deceit and sheer wickedness blind them so much that they have destroyed nobility and as a result merit, worth and loyalty lose their brightness.
IV. I do wish we had a lord of such power and judgment to take wealth away from base men and not let them hold land, and grant the inheritance to someone who was good and praiseworthy, for this is how the world began, and not pay heed to lineage, and the wicked rich should be changed, as priors and abbots are.
V. Now I beg the good emperor, who has taken the cross in order to serve God, to set out with force and vigour towards the land where God chose to die, and pledged His body for our sake; He was raised on the cross, and anyone who sees how He was nailed and beaten and wounded for our sake and has not a firm heart in this affair is a man without hope of salvation.
VI. All of us should fear since we are unable to thank Him better for what He suffered for love of us: He received death to kill death, so much did He desire our homage. So anyone who serves Him on crusade and fulfils His pilgrimage was born under a lucky star, because since the time He was disinherited Christendom has had no honour.
VII. Emperor, if you duly reflect on how God is doing your will you will show true love towards Him; for he wishes you to recover his inheritance, and you can be sure this is the truth.
VIII. Sirventes, pass Mont-Cénis and tell Othon del Carret that I am sending you as a messenger to tell him to go to where Jesus was born; then his good reputation will be crowned.

Italian translation [lb]

I. Quando penso di cantare, gemo e piango per quello che vedo accadere, e poco manca che muoia di dolore quando nel mio cuore penso e rifletto alla perdita e al grande danno che hanno subito la cortesia e la buona compagnia; se v’implicate nel servizio d’amore o se vivete nell’allegria diranno che siete un pazzo completo, a meno che non rinunciate ad ogni gioia.
II. Il mondo s’è ridotto a poco valore, per dirlo francamente, e i chierici sono certamente i peggiori, loro che dovrebbero essere il sostegno delle virtù, e (invece) hanno l’abitudine di preferire la guerra alla pace, tanto piace loro l’iniquità e il peccato. Per questo vorrei fare il viaggio oltremare in occasione della prima traversata, perché la maggior parte di ciò che vedo non mi piace.
III. La maggior parte dei potenti sono traditori di loro stessi, per questo li odio: hanno occhi e non vedono e non sono capaci di compiere nulla che sia gradito; a tal punto li accecano la cupidigia, l’inganno e la pura malvagità che hanno distrutto la nobiltà e, a causa loro, il merito, il valore e la lealtà perdono il loro splendore.
IV. Vorrei proprio che avessimo un signore che avesse abbastanza potere e discernimento da togliere alle persone vili la loro ricchezza e non permettere loro di possedere terra, e dare l’eredità a chi ha valore e merito, perché è così che è cominciato il mondo, senza guardare al lignaggio, e vorrei che si cambiassero i cattivi signori come si fa con i priori e gli abati.
V. Ora prego il buon imperatore che s’è crociato per servire Dio di mettersi in marcia con forza e vigore verso il paese dove Dio è voluto morire e dove ha offerto il suo corpo come pegno; per noi è stato elevato sulla croce ed è senza speranza di salvezza chiunque manchi di fermezza vedendo come, per noi, è stato inchiodato e percosso e ferito.
VI. Tutti noi dovremmo avere paura, perché non sappiamo ringraziarlo meglio per ciò che ha patito per amor nostro: ha ricevuto la morte per uccidere la morte, tanto ha voluto il nostro omaggio; perciò è nato sotto una buona stella chiunque prenderà la croce per servirlo e compirà il suo pellegrinaggio, perché da quando è stata spogliata la cristianità non ha più ritrovato l’onore.
VII. Imperatore, se guardate bene al modo in cui Dio esaudisce i vostri desideri, avrete per lui molto amore; perché Egli vuole – ed è la verità, sappiatelo – che voi recuperiate la sua eredità.
VIII. Sirventese, passate il Moncenisio e dite a Ottone del Carretto che vi mando come messaggero per invitarlo ad andare dove Gesù nacque; allora il suo buon merito sarà coronato.

Text: Arveiller-Gouiran 1987. – Rialto 16.ix.2013.

Mss.: C 229r, M 238v, R 52v, T 183v, c 18r, and containing stanza IV only, P 62r, Q 50v, Sg 95r.

Critical editions: Emil Levy, Guilhem Figueira, ein provenzalischer Troubadour, Berlin 1880, p. 71 (mss. MTc); Rudolph Zenker, Die Gedichte des Folquet von Romans, Halle 1896, p. 59 (excluding mss. PQ); Adolf Kolsen, Zwei provenzalische Sirventese nebst einer Anzahl Einzelstrophen, Halle 1919, p. 14 (st. IV only); Raymond Arveiller and Gérard Gouiran, L’œuvre poétique de Falquet de Romans, troubadour, Aix-en-Provence 1987, p. 88 (French translation).

Other editions: François-Juste-Marie Raynouard, Choix des poésies originales des troubadours, 6 voll., Paris 1816-1821, vol. IV, p. 128 (stanzas I, V, VII, VIII); Carl August Friedrich Mahn, Die Werke des Troubadours in provenzalischer Sprache, 4 voll., Berlin 1846-1853, vol. III, p. 106; Vincenzo de Bartholomaeis, Poesie provenzali storiche relative all’Italia, 2 voll., Roma 1931, vol. II, p. 86 (text Zenker, Italian translation); Gerardo Larghi, Rialto 18.xii.2009 [www.rialto.unina.it/FqRom/156.11(Larghi).htm].

Versification: a8 b8 a8 b8 c6’ d8 d8 c6’ d8 d8 (Frank 424:4), -or, -ir, -atge, -atz; six coblas unissonans and two five-line tornadas. This is one of 11 pieces with identical versification and rhyme-endings, apparently deriving ultimately from BdT 242.51, a canso of Giraut de Borneil.

Notes: The sirventes was composed after Frederick II Hohenstaufen was crowned emperor on 22 November 1220 and before he set out for the Holy Land on 28 June 1228 (vv. 41-42), and most probably between March 1227 and June 1228. – The material contained in the different mss. is as follows:

As Arveiller-Gouiran suggest (p. 97, note), there appear to be two main versions of the song. The (P)Tc version is the basis for their edition, containing the second tornada (stanza VIII) and reading si com fai prior (-s P) et (e P) abaz (Ansi com peior abatç T) in v. 40 (stanza IV). The majority version of that line instead gives si cum fan Lombart poestatz, a historically interesting reference providing further information on dating. – The majority version (CMRQSg) is the basis for Larghi’s edition on Rialto which, questionably, includes stanza VI and the second tornada, both of which are absent from that side of the tradition. Arveiller-Gouiran explain the postulated double edition as follows: «en effet, si la comparaison avec les Lombards était intéressante pour un public occitan, elle n’offrait assurément rien de neuf au public d’Italie du Nord. De plus, la comparaison de PTc paraît plus exacte: si les podestatz ne sont élus, en principe, que pour un an, il n’en va pas de même pour les prieurs et les abbés, qui, comme Falquet souhaitait qu’on fît pour les malvatz rics, peuvent être déposés en cas d’indignité». (For the yearly change of podestà see David Abulafia, Frederick II: a Medieval Emperor, London 1988, p. 156). Accepting the double version hypothesis Larghi («Poesia, politica e podestà in Provenza», Comunicazione e propaganda nei secoli XII e XIII. Atti del convegno internazionale (Messina, 24-26 maggio 2007), ed. R. Castano, F. Latella and T. Sorrenti, Rome 2007, pp. 397-411, on p. 408) suggests that the song was first diffused in Provence and then modified and transmitted to Liguria to Othon del Carret, podestà in Genoa from 1194. While this is plausible, it is not out of the question that Falquet first composed the (P)Tc version with the intention of sending it to Italy in response to news from there, and then (perhaps virtually simultaneously) adapted it to a local Provençal audience. – The second tornada clearly shows that the (P)Tc version was composed in Provence, and if one accepts Arveiller-Gouiran’s argument that the reference to the Lombards in v. 40 of the majority version would be of interest in Provence but not in Italy, then it seems confirmed that the majority version must also have been composed in Provence. – Larghi argues on the basis of the song’s political content, and particularly of v. 40 in the majority reading, that the piece was conceived in 1225-1226, immediately after the spread of measures taken by the Emperor to limit the autonomy of the Provençal communes (see his more detailed discussion in his «Poesia», especially his conclusions on p. 408). If De Bartholomaeis is correct in stating that Falquet returned to Provence in March 1226 («Poesia», p. 90) then this would exclude 1225. However, the evidence for this is not apparent: the only reference he cites is Zenker, p. 71, which bears no relation to this sirventes or date; in fact on p. 30 Zenker states that after 1220 or perhaps 1221 Falquet was no longer in Italy but in France. De Bartholomaeis’s claim has sown some confusion. Larghi (commentary to his version of BdT 156.2 on Rialto) says BdT 156.11 proves Falquet was back in Provence in 1226; Arveiller-Gouiran, p. 85 (and compare pp. 6 and 59) date the piece to between March 1226 and 28 June 1228, but in the discussion of BdT 156.12 (p. 99) have their doubts (De Bartholomaeis «précise, peut-être imprudemment, le terminus a quo, mars 1226, date du retour de Falquet en Provence»). – I suspect that the identification of March 1226 as a time when Falquet was clearly back in Provence is a mistake originating with De Bartholomaeis. The significant event of that month from the Emperor’s point of view was a meeting in Mantua of representatives from Milan, Brescia, Mantua, Padua, Treviso and Bologna to discuss Frederick’s proclamation of the Diet of Cremona, which the Emperor had called for Easter 1226 primarily to discuss his forthcoming crusade. At Mantua the cities acted immediately to re-form the rebellious Lombard League. In late March, through the conciliation of Pope Honorius III, the cities accepted terms. Abulafia (pp. 154-164) explains these events in terms of Honorius’s policy of conciliation and co-operation, especially with the new Emperor, which the Pope saw as the road to peace in Europe and the best hope for the crusade. With Honorius’s death in 1227 «there ended a golden era in papal-imperial collaboration» (p. 162). The new pope, Gregory IX, immediately adopted an antagonistic approach to Frederick which led to the Emperor’s excommunication in September 1227, when Frederick set out for the East but had to turn back because of illness. The outbreak of papal-imperial hostilities dates from this time, and it is the evocation of these hostilities in vv. 13-17 of the present piece, combined with the evidence that it was composed in Provence, that shows that Falquet was back there in late 1227 rather than the red herring of March 1226. I would therefore date the piece to between mid-March 1227 (the death of Honorius and accession of Gregory IX) and Frederick’s departure for the Holy Land on 28 June 1228. – Abulafia (pp. 162-163) observes that the new situation under Gregory IX saw a generation of aggressive propagandists emerging from the University of Naples which Frederick had founded in 1224. It must be wondered to what extent Falquet’s pieces in support of Frederick’s crusade, particularly BdT 156.11 and BdT 156.12, are part of a propaganda drive directed by the Emperor himself. – Lines 13-16: the allusion here is likely to target Pope Gregory IX, who unlike his predecessor Honorius III had adopted a confrontational attitude towards the Emperor (see Abulafia, Frederick II, pp. 164-167). – Lines 18-19: Arveiller-Gouiran (p. 96) understand al primer passage to refer to the Fourth Crusade (which had been suggested by De Bartholomaeis, Poesie, II, p. 87, «il primo passaggio è forse non la prima crociata, secondo che qualche critico ha opinato, bensì la crociata precedente, cioè la quarta), and translate «je voudrais avoir fait le voyage d’outremer lors de la première traversée». Larghi, however, is surely right to follow Gianfelice Peron, «Temi e motivi politico-religiosi della poesia trobadorica in Italia prima metà del Duecento», Storia e cultura a Padova nell’età di sant’Antonio. Convegno internazionale di studi, 1-4 ottobre 1981 Padova-Monselice, Padova 1985, pp. 255-299, on p. 278, who argues that if we take esser passatz as a passive present infinitive with the sense of ‘to be transported, to be taken overseas’ (for passar ‘to transport’ see LR, IV, 442 and SW, VI, 119-120, 17), rather than as the facilior active past infinitive, the reference would indicate the forthcoming rather a past crusade. Peron notes that the formula is analogous to those such as in primo passagio meaning «alla prossima crociata» in contemporary documents concerning crusading recruitment, which he cites in n. 57. Moreover it is implausible that in the 1220s Falquet would be saying he wished he had been on the Fourth Crusade and at the sack of Constantinople as part of an expedition which never even reached «the land where God chose to die». – Line 43: this line may allude to the fact that Frederick had set out from Brindisi in September 1227 but had had to turn back because of genuine illness – a reason ignored by Gregory IX who excommunicated him without even admitting into his presence the ambassadors who had arrived to explain the delay. Falquet appears to look forward to the Emperor’s departure once (now that?) he has recovered his health. – Lines 64-65: Larghi, hom dira vos etz coronatz / de pretz sobre totz e renhatz, = «people will say you are crowned with worth and reign over all».

[LP, lb]

BdT     Falquet de Romans

Songs referring to the crusades