 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|||||
|
 |
 |
Biography of Thibaut, IVName: Thibaut, IVBirth Date: May 30, 1201 Death Date: July 7, 1253 Place of Birth: Troyes, Champagne, France Nationality: French Gender: Male Occupations: count, king, poet Thibaut, IV Thibaut IV (1201-1253), Count of Champagne and Brie, and, as Thibaut I, King of Navarre, was probably the greatest trouvère.Born in Troyes, the capital of Champagne, on May 30, 1201, shortly after the death of his father, Thibaut at birth was Count of Champagne and Brie. Troyes had a long tradition of courtly poetry. Thibaut's grandmother, Marie, the great-granddaughter of the first troubadour, had established a brilliant court there and patronized several of the most famous poets of the 1170s, among them Chrestien de Troyes, the creator of the romances about Lancelot, Parsifal, and others.At the death of her husband, Thibaut's mother asked for royal protection, in exchange for which Thibaut was obliged to serve several years at court and later to accompany the successive French kings on their military campaigns. Among these was the Albigensian Crusade, a disastrous civil war that crushed the south of France, the home …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…were highly praised by his contemporaries and quoted in France, Germany, and Italy until the 14th century.The poems cover a wide variety of subjects, though 60 percent follow tradition and are lyrics devoted to courtly love. Fifteen poems are in the form of real or pretended debates (jeu-parti or tenso) on love and knightly honor. Thibaut's works in this genre were particularly appreciated; for them he sometimes used already existing melodies. Other poems are works dealing with the Crusades, one being a letter to his lady love sent from Palestine, pastourelles and descriptions of shepherds' love, and religious songs, including several dedicated to Mary, the religious symbol of courtly love. Further Reading Some information on Thibaut is in Sir Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades (3 vols., 1951-1954). For background see Gustave Reese, Music in the Middle Ages (1940), and Denis Stevens and Alec Robertson, eds., The Pelican History of Music, vol. 1 (1960). |