The name was later spelt
Talleyrand!
Troubador Verse
Love would have lovers chivalrous,
Good with weapons, eager to serve,
Noble in language, generous,
Knowing how to act and observe
Both outdoors and within,
According to the powers they're given.
Such as are pleasant company, then,
Refined and courteous men.
She that in bed such love does win,
Is cleansed forever of her sin.
Noble Countess, you are the best
That's seen or ever will be seen,
Men say, compared with all the rest
The noblest lady on earth, I mean,
High-born Beatrice,
Fine lady in acts and worthiness,
Fountain from which flows all goodness,
And beauty all peerless,
Your rich fame is in such excess
Of all others you appear mistress.
One of high lineage,
In whom is every beauty,
I love, am loved by her deeply;
And she grants me courage,
So I'll not superseded be
By some other, presumptuously.
Barons, go pawn freely
All your castles, towns and cities,
Before ever you halt your armies.
Papiol, go swiftly
To Yea-and-Nay and gaily;
Say they're too long at peace.
Notes: Yea-and-Nay is Richard I of England, younger brother of the Young English King, Henry.
Papiol is Bertran de Born's court minstrel, jongleur or joglar.
Ai! Lemozis, francha terra cortesa,
Ah, Limousin! Country free and courtly,
I'm glad of this honour you receive,
Since joy and worth, repose and gaiety,
Courtesy, gallantry and sweet ease
Are come to us, may they never leave;
To serve her well we must quickly see
In what ways we might court this lady.
Gifts and tasks and ornaments freely
Aid love, as water fish in the sea,
Or as instruction, prowess, bravery,
Do courts, wars, tourneys, and weaponry;
Who claims both brave and skilled to be,
Does ill if he promises to deceive,
Since Lady Guiscarda's here directly.
Note: Guiscarda was the wife of the Viscount of Comborn, and from Bourgogne. His friendship with her caused a rift between Bertran and Madonna Maent (Maeut de Montaignac, the wife of Talairan, brother of Count Elias V of Perigord 1166-1205.
The name was later spelt Talleyrand! )
Giraut de Bornelh (c. 1138 - 1215)
Giraut or Guiraut, also Borneil or Borneyll, was born to a lower class family in the Limousin, probably in Bourney, near Excideuil. Connected with the castle of the Viscount of Limoges, his skill earned him the nickname of Master of the Troubadours. He may have accompanied Richard I and Aimar V ofLimoges on the Third Crusade. He certainly made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but perhaps before the Crusade. His most famous poem is this alba, Reis glorios.
Reis glorios, verais lums e clartatz,
Glorious king, true light and clarity,
Almighty God, Lord, in your charity,
Be a true help now to my friend!
For I've not seen him since day's end,
And soon it will be dawn.
Sweet friend, do you wake or are you sleeping?
Sleep no more, now, you must be waking!
For in the east I see a star rise
Day-bringer, star familiar to my eyes,
And soon it will be dawn.
Sweet friend, I sing now and I call to you!
Sleep no more: I hear the bird sing too
That goes to seek day in the greenery,
I fear you may be harmed by jealousy,
And soon it will be dawn.
Sweet friend, for me now go to the window
And gaze on the stars from earth below
And see how I am your true messenger!
If you will not, it is you will suffer,
And soon it will be dawn.
