Marcabru facts for kids

Marcabru was one of the very first troubadours, who were poets and musicians from the Middle Ages. He lived around the years 1130 to 1150. We don't have much certain information about him. What we know comes from two old biographies, called vidas, which were written based on hints in his own poems.

One short biography says Marcabru was from Gascony, a region in what is now France. It also says his mother was a poor woman named Marcabrunela. This story seems to come from one of his poems.

Another longer biography tells a different tale. It says Marcabru was left at a rich man's house when he was a baby. No one knew where he came from. He was raised by a man named Aldric del Vilar and learned how to write poetry from Cercamon. At first, people called him Pan-perdut, which means "Lost Bread." Later, he became known as Marcabru. This biography claims he became very famous. However, it also says that some powerful lords in Gascony, who he had criticized a lot, eventually killed him. Modern experts aren't sure if this story is completely true, especially the part about him learning from Cercamon.

His Amazing Poems and Music

Marcabru wrote about 44 poems that we know of. His poems were often complex and sometimes hard to understand. He was known for being very critical of the behavior of lords and ladies of his time. For example, one of his poems tells the story of a shepherdess who rejects a man's advances because they are from different social classes.

Marcabru might have also invented a type of poem called the tenso. This was a debate poem where two poets would argue about a topic, like the meaning of love or how people's manners were changing. He had one such debate with another poet named Uc Catola very early on, around 1133.

Marcabru had a big impact on later poets. He was famous for using a style called trobar clus, which means "closed" or "obscure" poetry. This style was often difficult to understand and full of hidden meanings.

Travels and Influence

Marcabru had some important supporters, including William X of Aquitaine and probably Alfonso VII of León, who were powerful rulers. He may have traveled to Spain in the 1130s with Alfonso Jordan, who was the Count of Toulouse.

In the 1140s, Marcabru became a strong supporter of the Reconquista. This was a long period when Christian kingdoms in Spain fought to take back land from Muslim rulers. In one of his most famous poems, which starts with the Latin words Pax in nomine Domini! (Peace in the name of the Lord!), he called Spain a lavador, or "washer." He meant that knights could go there to fight and cleanse their souls by fighting against those he called "infidels."

We are lucky because four original melodies for Marcabru's poems still exist today. These were simple, single-line tunes. There are also three other melodies that might have been adapted from his work.

Images for kids

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  A small picture of Marcabru next to his biography in a book from the 1200s.

See also

In Spanish: Marcabrú para niños