English translation [LP]

I. I customarily serve with (and serve up) sirventes here in the highlands where they have been appreciated; through them I have condemned many base intentions by exposing false deeds (and fools) to ridicule and making men turn towards worth; and if I thereby please the worthy, that is sufficent profit for me, as I always wish to be loved by a worthy man, whoever else may hate me.
II. The world makes those born into it persist in cruel deeds, for when they have lived for a little while each one acts like a vile murderer, a criminal and a liar; and there are not two in a thousand thousand who wish to achieve what an aimiable man should do by means of rightful gifts.
III. But when his life is ebbing away he imagines he can act truly virtuously when he says that all his goods should be given away for his funeral, for otherwise he cannot enjoy giving, he is so greedy and eager to garner wealth until death goes to harvest him.
IV. God should thank the barons for being deaf and dumb towards him, for they have less desire to possess the place where we were ransomed than to seize other people’s land; but I do not believe that King Anfos was like this; instead he wanted to attack Turks in order to ease the lot of Christians.
V. I see evil openly spreading everywhere, for it has so corrupted the world that there is little left; and if anyone dared to say so, everyone – black, white, brown or red – has been so gnawing away [sc. at the world] that when I contemplate them I am struck down by grief.
VI. There’s not one in a thousand jongleurs who can keep a tune, yet they want to compete at mumbling love-songs.

Italian translation [SV]

I. Solevo offrire sirventesi quassù dove erano apprezzati, coi quali ho biasimato pubblicamente molte vili intenzioni, per mettere in ridicolo le cattive azioni e perché ci si volga al valore, e se per questo piaccio ai prodi, mi fa molto piacere, perché da sempre desidero che il galantuomo mi ami, anche se tutti gli altri mi odiano.
II. Il mondo fa sì che quelli che vi sono nati si ostininino a compiere azioni crudeli, tanto che ognuno, appena ha vissuto qualche tempo, si comporta da persona crudele uccidendo, commettendo ingiustizie e mentendo; e in mille migliaia non ce n’è due che con giusta generosità arriveranno dove arriverà l’uomo mite.
III. E quando la vita sta per mancargli, crede di fare azione virtuosa dicendo che tutti i suoi averi siano dati per la sepoltura, che altrimenti non può piacergli il donare, tanto è avido e desideroso di accumulare gli averi finché la morte non vada a portarselo via.
IV. Dio deve ringraziare i baroni perché verso di lui sono sordi e muti, perché il luogo dove siamo stati redenti non vogliono possedere più che impossessarsi delle terre altrui; e non credo che il re don Alfonso fosse tale, anzi ha voluto assalire i Musulmani per favorire i Cristiani.
V. Vedo diffondersi, e tutti lo sanno, da ogni parte la malvagità, che ha tanto corrotto il mondo che molto non ne manca; e se uno osava dichiararlo, tutti insieme, neri, bianchi, bruni e rossi se lo sono mangiato tanto che quando li osservo il dolore mi ferisce.
VI. Tra mille giullari non ne trovo uno che rispetti le melodie, anzi per divertimento gareggiano a balbettare canzoni.

Text: Vatteroni 2013 (XVIII). – Rialto 17.x.2013.

Mss.: Db 235v (Pere cardenal), T 104v, M 219r (pere cardenal), C 278v (peire cardenal), R 69v (.p.cardenal), I 171v (Peire cardinal), K 157r (Peire cardinal), d 333v (Peire cardinal).

Critical editions: René Lavaud, Poésies complètes du troubadour Peire Cardenal (1180-1278), Toulouse 1957, p. 308 (LI); Sergio Vatteroni, «Le poesie di Peire Cardenal III», Studi mediolatini e volgari, 40, 1994, pp. 119-202, on p. 134; Sergio Vatteroni, Il trovatore Peire Cardenal, 2 voll., Modena 2013, vol. I, p. 325.

Other editions: François-Juste-Marie Raynouard, Lexique roman ou dictionnaire de la langue des troubadours, comparée avec les autres langues de l’Europe latine, 6 voll., Paris 1836-1844, vol. I, p. 455; Carl August Friedrich Mahn, Die Werke der Troubadours in provenzalischer Sprache, 4 voll., Berlin 1846-1853, vol. II, p. 223.

Versification: a7 b7 b7 a7 a7 c7 c3 a5 a7 (Frank 497:1, wrongly giving 4 as the syllabic count of v. 7), -ir, -ut, -os. Five coblas unissonans and one four-line tornada.

Notes: The sirventes postdates the death of Alfonso VIII of Castile in 1214 (see v. 33) and is likely to have been composed in c. 1228, just before the crusade of Frederick II; the barons in v. 28 may refer to Frederick’s German and Italian subjects who changed sides to support Pope Gregory IX after he excommunicated the Emperor (see Vatteroni 2013, pp. 322-323). – Line 1: in this densely-crafted song there proliferate extensive alliteration, equivocal rhymes, rich rhymes and wordplay. Here servir echoes sirventes while having the possible meanings of ‘to serve, pay service’, ‘to serve up’ (as at table), and ‘to offer as a gift’: see PD. Vatteroni «Solevo offrire sirventesi», Lavaud «“faire service” (et présent)». – Line 2, sai sus: Vatteroni «quassù»; Lavaud «dans le haut pays», sc. «sans doute le Velay, ou tel autre pays plus élevé et aussi plus septentrional que le Languedoc et la Provence». – Lines 15-18: the troubadour is playing on dos = ‘two’ and ‘gifts’ and dous ‘sweet, gentle’. – Line 20: Lavaud «il croit faire un vrai miracle», which is also possible. – Line 33: Alfonso VIII of Castile, who died in 1214, who defeated the Saracen army at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 (see vv. 33-36). – Line 42: as Vatteroni observes, the line probably refers to «monks of all kinds»; there were probably no «red» monks, but ros was chosen partly for the equivocal rhyme with ros in 43 and partly as a comic extrapolation. For the others see Vatteroni’s note. – Line 43: I take ros (from roire) to be used absolutely. – Line 46: the translation of garsos is tricky (Lavaud ‘garçons’,Vatteroni ‘giullari’). The nuance is pejorative and low status (see Linda Paterson, The World of the Troubadours, Cambridge, 1993, p. 56: «A term for a servant then, but one readily used as a term of abuse»; see also Vatteroni’s note on p. 142). It stands here in contrast to the ideas of service and sirventes introduced in stanza I.

[LP, lb]

BdT    Peire Cardenal

Songs referring to the crusades