English translation [LP]

I. I do not wish to delay further in composing a sirventes on this tune which pleases me, or wait for a long time; and I know for sure that it will have a hostile reception, since I am composing a sirventes about the hypocritical, ignorant men of Rome, which heads the corruption that ruins everything good.
II. Rome, I am not surprised if the people stray, for you have pitched the world into torment and war, and because of you merit and compassion are dead and buried; deceitful Rome, you are the leader of all evils and their crown and root; the good king of England was betrayed by you.
III. Crooked Rome, greed beguiles you: you shear too much wool from your sheep. May the Holy Spirit who received human flesh hear my prayers and break your beaks! Rome, I am not joining in your dance, for you are false and treacherous towards us and the Greeks.
IV. Rome, you gnaw at the flesh and bones of foolish men and lead the blind with you into the abyss; you transgress God’s commandments, so massive is your greed, pardoning sins for money. Rome, you bear a great burden of evil on your back.
V. Rome, be well aware that your vile barter and your folly have lost us Damietta. You act evilly, Rome. God crush and ruin you, for you act hypocritically for the sake of money: base-born, pact-breaking Rome!
VI. Rome, I well and truly know that with the trick of false pardon you deliver the nobility of France to torment, far from Paradise; and, Rome, you have killed the good king Louis, for with false preaching you drew him away from Paris.
VII. Rome, you do little harm to the Saracens, but you send Greeks and Latins to the slaughter. Down in the pit of the abyss, Rome, you make your home, in perdition. God never make me take part, Rome, in the pardon or the pilgrimage you made to Avignon.
VIII. Rome, you have killed many people without cause, and I hate the twisting path you follow, Rome, because you close the door to salvation. Anyone who follows in your footsteps has a bad helmsman, in both summer and winter, because the Devil bears him off to the fire of Hell.
IX. Rome, it is easy to see what evil should be said of you, since you make martyrs of Christians so that you can jeer at them. But in what book do you find it written, Rome, that Christians should be killed? God, who is the true and daily bread, grant that I see what I desire befall the Romans.
X. Rome, it is plainly obvious that you are too zealous in the corrupt indulgences you created against Toulouse. Like a man with rabies, Rome, you gnaw too much at your hands (you rave wildly? you attack the Church’s own members?), stirring up discord. But if the valiant count lives another two years, France will be sorry for your wiles.
XI. Rome, your wickedness is so great that you disregard God and his saints, so wickedly do you behave, false and crooked Rome, for in you the joy of this world hides away, diminishes and dies. And you commit great injustice towards Count Raymond.
XII. Rome, God assist him and give power and strength to the Count who fleeces and flays the French and walks all over them when they come to blows; and this is a great pleasure for me. Rome, may God remember your great wrongdoing, if it please Him; and deliver the Count from you and from death.
XIII. Rome, I am much comforted by the fact that very soon you will come to a bad end, if the upright emperor rightly fulfils his destiny and does what he ought to do. Rome, I tell you truly, we shall see your power in ruins. Rome, may the true Saviour let me see this soon.
XIV. Rome, for money you carry out many base deeds, many unpleasant actions, many crimes. So much do you want to rule the world that you have absolutely no fear of God and His prohibitions; instead I see you doing ten times more evil than I could possibly relate.
XV. Rome, you have your hooks so firmly latched on to what you can hold that it has little chance of escape. If you do not soon lose power, the world will have fallen into an evil trap, and be dead and vanquished, and worth will be in ruins. Rome, these are the good works your pope performs!
XVI. Rome, He who is light of the world, and true life and true salvation, grant you an evil fate, since you perform so many notorious, wicked deeds which make the world cry out [in anguish]. Rome, disloyal, root of all evil, without fail you will burn in the fires of Hell if you do not change your ways.
XVII. Rome, you can be blamed for the cardinals on account of their well-known criminal sins, for they think of nothing but how to sell God and His friends, and it is useless to rebuke them. Rome, it is disgusting to hear and listen to your preaching!
XVIII. Rome, I am angry because your power is on the rise, and because on your account great damage confronts us all, for you are the refuge and head of deceit and shame and dishonour; and your priests are false hypocrites, Rome, and anyone who has anything to do with them is acting extremely foolishly.
XIX. Rome, the pope acts wickedly when he fights with the emperor over the right to the crown and declares him a heretic and grants absolution to his enemies, for such absolution, out of step with reason, Rome, is not virtuous; rather, anyone who defends him is disgraceful.
XX. Rome, may the Glorious One who suffered mortal pain for us upon the cross give you a poor reward, for you always want to carry a full purse, Rome of evil ways: you have your whole heart set on treasure, so greed is leading you into the undying fire.
XXI. Rome, from the bile you keep in your throat comes the liquor which causes the wicked man to die and to choke from the heart’s sweetness. So the wise man trembles when he recognises and sees the deadly venom and where it comes from: Rome, your breast is full of it, and it oozes from your heart.
XXII. Rome, people have long heard tell that you have an empty head because you often shave it: so I think and believe you will need, Rome, to produce some brains, as you and Cîteaux wear a shameful hat (have a shameful reputation) for having caused a most cruel massacre at Béziers.
XXIII. Rome, with a cunning lure you set your trap, and eat many an evil mouthful, whoever suffers for it. You have the face of a lamb with an innocent look, [but] inside [you are] a ravening wolf, a crowned serpent sired by a viper, which is why the Devil looks after you like one of his close friends.

Text: Gianfelice Peron, Rialto 6.xii.2015.

Notes: This invective against the Church of Rome was composed in 1227-1229, either in Toulouse or Italy, and provoked a stinging response from the otherwise unknown trobairitz Gormonda (BdT 217.1). It was still being sung in Toulouse in 1274, when inquisitors asked a certain Bernart Raimon Baranhon whether he owned a book entitled ‘Roma trichairitz’ (cf. v. 18). He replied in the negative but said he had heard ‘quandam cantilenam, sive coplas pluries, quas fecit quidam ioculator qui vocabatur Figueira, quarum una incipit, sicut ipse credit, sic: D’un sirventes far en est so que m’agensa no·m vuolh plus tarzar ni far longa bistenssa; e sai ses doptar, qu’ ieu n’aurai malvolenssa’ (see Alfred Jeanroy, La Poésie lyrique des troubadours, 2 voll., Toulouse and Paris, 1934, vol. II, p. 225 and Peron’s notes). – Lines 111-114: Peron understands the implications to be more serious: ‘your wickedness is so great that you cause God and his saints to be disregarded’. Either interpretation is possible. – Lines 232-235: translated idiomatically. The subject of the 3rd person singular te (234) is the act in 235: compare Levy’s gloss, ‘Der Umstand, dass ihr euch oft scheeren lasst, lässt euch den Kopf mangelhaft sein’.

[LP, lb]

BdT    Guillem Figueira    217.2

Songs referring to the crusades