Poet, Musician, Knight. A leading Provençal troubadour of the Middle Ages. His best known song, "Kalenda Maya" ("The First of May", c. 1190), is an early example of an estampie, one of the oldest preserved dance forms. He also created the popular "torneyamen" genre, a musical debate between three or more troubadors held at competitions. Vaqueiras hailed from Vacqueyras near Orange, France, and spent most of his life in Italy as court poet and trusted friend of Boniface I of Montferrat. He participated in Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI's invasion of Sicily (1194), during which he was knighted for saving Boniface's life at the Battle of Messina. After his patron was chosen to lead the Fourth Crusade in 1201, the troubadour accompanied him to the Siege of Constantinople and the capture of Thessalonica. On September 4, 1207, Boniface was killed in Greece in an ambush by Bulgarian insurgents; Vaqueiras is assumed to have died with him, since all records of him cease after that. (For one thing he wrote no lament over Boniface's death, which would have been his responsibility). Some 35 poems in five languages by Vaqueiras are extant, eight with their melodies. It is uncertain if he composed the music or adapted his verse to existing tunes. In the first surviving torneyamen, "Senher n'Aymar, chauzes de tres baros", he and troubadours Perdigon and Ademar de Peiteus "debate" each other with insulting banter, Perdigon telling Vaqueiras, "Astride your horse, you look more like a minstrel than a knight". He also wrote the so-called "Epic Letter" that detailed Boniface's exploits and is a primary biographical source of the Italian ruler.
Poet, Musician, Knight. A leading Provençal troubadour of the Middle Ages. His best known song, "Kalenda Maya" ("The First of May", c. 1190), is an early example of an estampie, one of the oldest preserved dance forms. He also created the popular "torneyamen" genre, a musical debate between three or more troubadors held at competitions. Vaqueiras hailed from Vacqueyras near Orange, France, and spent most of his life in Italy as court poet and trusted friend of Boniface I of Montferrat. He participated in Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI's invasion of Sicily (1194), during which he was knighted for saving Boniface's life at the Battle of Messina. After his patron was chosen to lead the Fourth Crusade in 1201, the troubadour accompanied him to the Siege of Constantinople and the capture of Thessalonica. On September 4, 1207, Boniface was killed in Greece in an ambush by Bulgarian insurgents; Vaqueiras is assumed to have died with him, since all records of him cease after that. (For one thing he wrote no lament over Boniface's death, which would have been his responsibility). Some 35 poems in five languages by Vaqueiras are extant, eight with their melodies. It is uncertain if he composed the music or adapted his verse to existing tunes. In the first surviving torneyamen, "Senher n'Aymar, chauzes de tres baros", he and troubadours Perdigon and Ademar de Peiteus "debate" each other with insulting banter, Perdigon telling Vaqueiras, "Astride your horse, you look more like a minstrel than a knight". He also wrote the so-called "Epic Letter" that detailed Boniface's exploits and is a primary biographical source of the Italian ruler.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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