Guerau III de Cabrera facts for kids

Guerau III de Cabrera (died 1160 or 1161), also known as Guiraut de Cabreira, was a important nobleman from Catalonia and a talented troubadour. Troubadours were poets and musicians who composed and performed songs, often about love and chivalry, in the Middle Ages. Guerau was a viscount (a type of noble ruler) of Àger and Cabrera starting in 1145. His father was Ponç II de Cabrera.

Who Was Guerau III de Cabrera?

Guerau III de Cabrera lived in the 12th century. He was known for his skills as a poet and musician. As a viscount, he managed lands and people in his region. He was part of a noble family that held power in Catalonia.

Guerau's Famous Poem: The Ensenhamen

Guerau is most famous today for a special poem called an ensenhamen. This was a long poem written to teach someone. Guerau wrote his ensenhamen for his jongleur named Cabra. A jongleur was a traveling performer who sang, played music, and told stories.

What is an Ensenhamen?

An ensenhamen is like a detailed instruction manual in poem form. Guerau's poem was meant to tell Cabra all the things a good jongleur should know. Cabra's name, which means "goat," was probably linked to Guerau's family name, Cabrera, which also relates to goats. This was common for heralds, who were like official messengers and often took symbols from their lord's family crest. Guerau's family crest had a goat on it.

What the Poem Was About

Guerau's ensenhamen is 216 lines long. It's a bit like a long, messy list of all the names, songs, and stories that Cabra, the jongleur, should have known but didn't. The poem shows how much Guerau himself knew. It also gives us a peek into what kind of writings were available in Catalonia in the 12th century and what a typical jongleur's performance might include.

Cabra's Performance Problems

The poem starts with 24 lines where Guerau criticizes Cabra. He says Cabra is not good at playing the viol (a stringed instrument) and even worse at singing. Guerau complains that Cabra cannot finish a song with a proper "Breton cadence," which was a specific musical ending.

Guerau also wrote:

Finally, Guerau lists many types of songs that Cabra didn't know how to perform. These included sirventesc, balaresc, estribot, retroencha, and contenson. This shows that even in Guerau's time, there were already many different kinds of songs and poems. For people who study history, these lines are very helpful to understand what made a good jongleur back then.

See also

In Spanish: Giraldo III de Cabrera for kids