Rigaut de Berbezilh

Rigaut de Berbezilh (also Berbezill or Barbesiu; , ) was a troubadour (fl. 1140–1163 ) of the petty nobility of Saintonge. He was a great influence on the Sicilian School and is quoted in the Roman de la Rose. About fifteen of his poems survive, including one planh and nine or ten cansos. He was described as capable and handsome, but saup mielhs trobar qu’entendre ni que dire: “he knew better how to compose poetry than to listen to it or recite it.” He referred to her as Miellz-de-Domna, a senhal meaning “Best of Ladies”, in at least four of his works. Though he sang songs about Miellz-de-Domna for a long time, it was not believed that he had a sexual relationship with her. When she died he went to Spain and, according to two manuscripts of his vida, spent the rest of his life at the court of Diego López II de Haro, a famed patron of troubadours. History It is generally accepted that Rigaut was indeed from a family who had been deputies of the lord of the castle of Barbezieux. His family was probably distantly related to that of Jaufre Rudel through the Counts of Angoulême. He himself was probably the younger of two sons, but he married into an Angoumois family of rank. His entire