5 mal e genzic] ma genzic (-1)    7 mal la uic, 14 fa·n] san    15 e plaz me (+1)    16 aur et et a. (+1)    18 e·ls] sobrels (+1)    19 estanta rat (+1)    25 e an] can    30 moraill    31 taraill    32 Bertoni read ‘noil’ ricavato da ‘nos’, which looks right    33 line missing    34 cil p.    37 engles. et espagniol (+4)    39 enquerram    44 anen pren dimercapdan    45 los] lo    48 rei    49 mansrei    54 crezutz    55 en] eu    57 qu with titulus above the ‘u’    67 nas uas with ‘nas’ crossed out by the same scribe    68 tem    69 d. e (inserted above the line) na

English translation [LP]

I. My heart is bitter and angry, for I see trickery on the rise and merit losing protection, so that I am on the point abandoning joy; but to vex and spite anyone who dislikes me feeling great joy, I shall sing, and too bad for anyone who does not want war and pain, through which one recognises a fast friend.
II. So it pleases me that the gracious season makes the branches on the trees scarlet and white; and I love war which deprives the weak of their wealth, and I like it when I see gold and silver, [piled up] like mud on the benches, to be given to the sturdy, brave fighters who enjoy taking body-blows.
III. And I like it when I see the standard in its place, and the brave, daring knights take care that not one of them leaves, and the base, recreant cowards seek ways and means to flee and are afraid when lances and darts are flying and the land around is burning.
IV. I love trumpets, tabors and clangour when men attack with castles (siege-towers) close to the walls, and rocks head unfailingly across the ramparts . . . and the pickaxes have arrived and the hammers with which the valiant men, full of energy, labour to smash the gates.
V. But the English boast that they will come and claim the Empire. In Spain there is a lot of trouble, for the Saracens will not spontaneously give them Granada back this year, and the kings make no demand for it, and hence suffer setbacks and damage, and are heavily blamed as a result.
VI. So merit would be lost, but our splendid king Manfred, who is the light of noble merit, is still shining and is performing exemplary deeds: he has never abstained from giving gifts or been at a loss in the face of war, but has conquered and crushed his enemies and exalted his friends.
VII. And I bind myself firmly to Best-of-love with a heart firm with merit, so that I do not weaken in loving her, but make myself firm in this; and since she has no infirm heart, I increase in joy and decrease in anxiety. [...]
VIII. Lady, I pray God to confirm your noble reputation for you, and sustain your great beauty and the firm heart you have towards me, that it may not diminish.
IX. King Manfred, merit holds you firm and God has confirmed it.

Italian translation [lb]

I. Il mio cuore è amareggiato e furioso, perché vedo crescere l’inganno e il merito perdere protezione, così che sono sul punto di abbandonare la gioia; ma canterò per irritare e indispettire quelli a cui non piace che io abbia una grande gioia, e tanto peggio per chi non vuole la guerra e la sofferenza, attraverso cui si riconosce un vero amico.
II. Così mi piace che la stagione gentile faccia i rami degli alberi scarlatti e bianchi; e mi piace la guerra che priva i deboli della loro ricchezza, e mi piace quando vedo l’oro e l’argento, [ammucchiati] come fango sui tavoli, da dare ai valorosi ben piantati che amano prendere colpi ai fianchi.
III. E mi piace quando vedo lo stendardo al suo posto, e i cavalieri coraggiosi e audaci che controllano che nessuno se ne vada, e i vili, pavidi codardi che cercano mezzi e modi per fuggire e hanno paura quando volano lance e dardi e la terra tutt’intorno brucia.
IV. Amo le trombe, i tamburi e il fragore quando gli uomini sferrano l’attacco con le torri d’assedio presso le mura, e dai bastioni piovono pietre senza tregua . . . e arrivano i picconi e i magli con i quali gli uomini valorosi senza indugio si applicano a sfondare le porte.
V. Ma gli inglesi si vantano che verranno a rivendicare l’impero. In Spagna ci sono molti problemi, perché i Saraceni non renderanno loro spontaneamente Granada quest’anno, e i re non la rivendicano, anzi subiscono rovesci e danno, e per questo sono pesantemente biasimati.
VI. Così il valore sarebbe perso, ma il nostro splendido re Manfredi, che è luce di puro valore, splende ancora e sta compiendo atti esemplari: non ha mai smesso di fare doni né si è spaventato davanti alla guerra, ma anzi ha vinto e schiacciato i suoi nemici ed esaltato i suoi amici.
VII. E io mi lego saldamente a Meglio-d’amore con cuore saldo nel valore, così che non mi stanco di amarla, ma anzi divento più costante; e dal momento che lei non ha un cuore infermo, mi aumenta la gioia e diminuisce l’ansia. [...]
VIII. Signora, prego Dio che mantenga alta la vostra nobile reputazione, e conservi la vostra grande bellezza e la lealtà di cuore che avete nei miei confronti, così che non venga meno.
IX. Re Manfredi, il valore ti tiene saldo e Dio lo ha confermato.

Text: Linda Paterson, Rialto 6.xii.2015.

Ms.: a1 517 (enper ceual doria).

Critical editions: Francesco Torraca, Studj su la lirica italiana del Duecento, Bologna 1902, p. 211; Giulio Bertoni, «Studi e ricerche sui trovatori minori di Genova», Giornale storico ella letteratura italiana, 36, 1900, pp. 1-56 and 459-61, on p. 24; Giulio Bertoni, I trovatori minori di Genova, Dresden 1903, p. 1 (Italian translation), p. 37; Giulio Bertoni, I trovatori d’Italia, Modena 1915, reprinted Rome 1967, p. 307 (Italian translation).

Other editions: Vincenzo De Bartholomaeis, Poesie provenzali storiche relative all’Italia, 2 voll., Roma 1931, vol. II, p. 189 (text Bertoni 1915); Alfredo Cavaliere, Cento liriche provenzali, Bologna 1938, p. 443 (Italian translation); Martín de Riquer, Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos, 3 voll., Barcelona 1975, vol. III, p. 1377 (text Bertoni 1915, Spanish translation); Carlos Alvar, Textos trovadorescos sobre España y Portugal, Madrid 1978, p. 244 (st. V: text Riquer 1975, Spanish translation).

Versification: a7 a3 a7 a7 a7 a7 a7 a7 a7 (Frank 6:10), -ic, -ancs, -art, -alh, -an, -utz, -erm; seven coblas singulars with two tornadas, one of four lines and one of two; derivative rhymes in stanzas VII-IX. The BEdT indicates BdT 27.3 (Frank 6:9), a canso by Arnaut Catalan, with different rhymes and coblas doblas, as the metrical model.

Notes: Perseval Doria composed in both Occitan and Italian, and in his youth he was an important figure supporting Frederick II’s aims in Provence, having the position of podestà of Arles in 1231 and Avignon in 1233 and 1237. After apparently spending 1239-1241 in Genoa he became podestà of Parma in 1243, and seems to have been in Manfred’s service by March 1255, when he was excommunicated along with other associates of the young Hohenstaufen. In October 1258 he was nominated general vicar of the Marca d’Ancona, the duchy of Spoleto and Romagna, and in Manfred’s service he headed a vast army which set out to attack the Guelfs but in 1264 drowned crossing a river called Nera di Narco (see Bertoni 1900, pp. 4-10, and Bertoni 1915, pp. 89-93). His sirventes in praise of Manfred was composed in Italy when Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso X of Castile were vying for the title of King of the Romans. Both had been elected by different bodies in 1257 without their election having been recognised by the Church. War in Italy was in prospect, but while each announced his imminent arrival, neither was actually making a move (see stanza V). Alfonso, despite having gathered a powerful army in which Aragonese and Navarrese were also serving, held back because of the threat of a Muslim incursion into his lands, and the Spanish princes were asking him to stay to defend his territories in Spain and not pursue vague hopes elsewhere (De Bartholomaeis, pp. 189-190). Since Manfred is referred to as king (v. 48) the piece must postdate his coronation as King of Sicily on 11 August 1258. As Stefano Asperti has amply demonstrated in his important article «Miei-sirventes vueilh far dels reis amdos (BdT 80,25)», Cultura neolatina, 58, 1998, pp. 165-323, in 1258 a widely-publicised announcement was made to the effect that Alfonso would be arriving imminently from Spain to wage war against Richard of Cornwall and claim his right to the imperial throne. Asperti cites in extenso the sources for this in Matthew Paris and Rolandino da Padova, as well as many allusions in Occitan and Italian lyrics. Miei-sirventes vueilh far dels reis amdos, wrongly attributed to Bertran de Born, he dates from the spring of 1258, and sees reflecting a period of high political tension and heightened emotions and expectation, to be followed by Perseval Doria’s more sceptical sirventes at the end of 1258 or the beginning of 1259 (in accordance with the dating proposed by Bertoni 1900, p. 10 and De Bartholomaeis, p. 190). Miei-sirventes refers to Alfonso’s recruitment drive for sodadiers, but Asperti (p. 273) explains that he never managed to gather enough support from the Castilian-Leonese nobility, which was one of the factors hindering the pursuit of his claims, and Richard suffered from similar problems of gathering a large enough army. – The single ms. is defective, lacking a line in st. IV and, apparently, three lines at the end of st. VII, with several faults of scansion, and some garbling (44 in particular). Line 37 shows the insertion of an extra four syllables by someone evidently intending to add to the historical commentary (presumably by pointing out that Alfonso X was also seeking the imperial crown). We follow Bertoni 1915’s indications of lacunae and his corrections except in 21 (B e.il pros cavalier), 23 (e.il), 28 (B tanbor), 32 (no) and 35 (qe.il): for the ms. forms see Ruth Harvey and Linda Paterson, The Troubadour Tensos and Partimens: A Critical Edition, 3 voll., Cambridge 2010, vol. I, pp. xxii-xxiii and n. 23; this notwithstanding we follow his correction to reis in 48 to avoid ambiguity. In 18 Bertoni reads cauion, but there is no dot over the third minim. His corrections to tambors (28), om in 45 and Miels in 55 are unnecessary. We read qu’eu in 57 slightly differently from Bertoni but the sense is unaffected. – Line 22: Riquer unaccountably prints c’un, though the MS is clear. – Lines 29-30: previous editors evidently found these lines perplexing: Bertoni 1903 ‘quando si dà la scalata alle mura delle castella’, Bertoni 1915 ‘quando si sale verso i castelli vicino alla cinta’, Cavaliere ‘quando si sale verso i castelli vicino alle mura’, De Bartholomaeis ‘quando si monta su’ castelli, presso alle mura’, Riquer ‘cuando los castillos son atacados cerca del muro’, none of which is satisfactory. The castel here is a type of siege-tower or belfry on wheels, built with several platforms to the same height as the walls of a besieged town (unattested in this sense in the dictionaries). See the Chanson de la croisade contre les Albigeois, ed. Eugène Martin-Chabot, 3 voll., Paris 1931-1961, 162.90-92, E en la bela plassa, entre·ls murs e·ls fossatz, / Bastic castel e gata, gent garnitz e obratz / E de fer e de fust e de cors atempratz (vol. II, p. 148, and n. 2). Compare 203.82-84 (vol. III, pp. 180-181), Vec vos que ve la gata e·l castells e·l careitz; / On mais la menaran, on mielhs la lor tolretz;/ E si ve a la lissa, lor e la gata ardretz, and BdT 392.32, 106-113: per los murs a fendre / fan engenhs e castels, / e calabres tendre, / gossas e manganels, / fuec grezesc acendre, e fan volar cairels; de jos / traucan murs ab bossos (The Poems of the Troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, ed. Joseph Linskill, The Hague 1964, p. 207). – Line 32: neither no·il nor no·is seems possible, ·il having no referent and no reflexive form of faill or falh is attested in the lyric on COM. Bertoni prints no; no·i is closer to the ms. – Lines 37-39: Bertoni observes that these lines allude to the Church’s preference for the claim of Richard of Cornwall. – Line 43: the kings are Alfonso X of Castile and James I of Aragon. – Line 55: for Mieil-d’amor as a senhal see Torraca, p. 213 and Bertoni 1915, p. 542. – Lines 55-70: these lines repeatedly play on words ending in -ferm. – Line 58: Riquer prints n’en, wrongly.

[LP, lb]

BdT    Perseval Doria

Songs referring to the crusades