Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun facts for kids
Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun (also known as Ramon Vidal de Besalú) was a Catalan troubadour who lived in the early 1200s. He came from a place called Besalú. He is famous for writing the very first book about grammar and poetry in a Romance language, which was Occitan. This book was called Razós de trobar, meaning "Rules for Troubadour Writing."
Raimon started his career as a joglar, which was like a traveling entertainer or performer. He spent his younger years at the court of Hug de Mataplana, a place he often remembered fondly in his poems and songs.
Contents
Understanding Troubadour Art
In his book, the Razós, Raimon talked about different languages. He explained the difference between "parladura francesa" (French) and "cella de Lemosin" (Occitan).
The Listener's Role
Raimon also wrote about the importance of the audience, or "li auzidor." He believed listeners had a big job: they needed to understand the troubadour songs. He insisted that people should listen quietly and pay attention. If they didn't understand something, he thought it was wise for them to ask questions. He also felt that listeners should be honest about the quality of the work, praising good songs and pointing out weak ones.
Occitan Language Importance
Vidal strongly believed that Occitan (which he called lemosí or Lemozi) was better than other local languages. This idea even made the famous Italian poet Dante Alighieri write his own book, De Vulgari Eloquentia (meaning "On the Common Language"), to argue that the Tuscan language (from Italy) was just as good as Occitan. Raimon's Razós book even ended with a small dictionary of Occitan and Italian words.
Raimon's Other Works
Besides his famous book, Raimon Vidal also wrote several song lyrics and three longer stories called romans.
Famous Stories
- So fo e·l temps qu'om era gais: This story praises an older troubadour named Raimon de Miraval. In this tale, Raimon tells a story about two ladies who are fighting over one knight.
- Abril issi'e mays intrava: This story, also known as an ensenhamen, talks about Miraval again. It also mentions the three sons of King Henry II of England: Henry the Young King, Richard I (who later became Richard the Lionheart), and Geoffrey of Brittany. This work gives us one of the best descriptions of what a joglar (entertainer) was like back then.
- Castiagilós: This story is like a fable. It tells about a husband who is very jealous. In the end, he realizes that his suspicions were wrong.
Troubadours' Popularity
Raimon Vidal wrote his works when troubadours were very popular. He himself said that almost everyone wanted to listen to troubadour songs and even try to write them. This included:
"all people wish to listen to troubadour songs and to compose (trobar) them, including Christians, Saracens, Jews, emperors, princes, kings, dukes, counts, viscounts, vavassours, knights, clerics, townsmen, and villeins."
This shows how widely loved and important troubadour music was in his time.
See also
In Spanish: Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun para niños
