- Jofre de Foixà
Jofre de Foixà or Jaufre de Foixa (died c. 1300) was a
troubadour fromFoixà in theEmpordà , the second son of Bernard of Foixà.At a young age Jofre became a
Franciscan and appears in that position when mentioned for the first time atMonzón in 1267. In 1275 he put off the Franciscan habit for the black cowl of theBenedictine s, almost certainly at the monastery ofSant Feliu de Guíxols . When the French under Philip III invadedCatalonia as part of theAragonese Crusade , king Peter III nominated Jofre procurator of the monastery ofSant Pere de Galligants and trusted to him many important missions.In 1293 he was in
Sicily as abbot ofSan Giovanni degli Eremiti inPalermo . There he enjoyed the favour of both James II and Frederick II. The last time Jofre is mentioned is in 1295. While in Sicily, Jofre was commissioned by James to write a tract, "Vers e regles de trobar", concerning the rules of the troubadour art, mainly the grammar of Lemosi. The work, which contained many extracts from other troubadours, was intended to augment the "Razos de trobar" ofRamon Vidal . In his time, Vidal had written that "all people wish to listen to troubadour songs and to compose them, including Christians, Saracens, Jews, emperors, princes, kings, dukes, counts, viscounts, vavassours, clerics, townsmen, and villeins."Page, 644.] By his time, Jofre could praise the "engyn" (understanding) of the laymen for the subtle vernacular grammar.Among the other surviving works of Jofre are three "cansos" and a "cobla". In one of his "cansos" he devotes different stanzas to the different works of his favourite troubadours:
Arnaut de Maruelh (stanzas I and II),Perdigon (III and IV),Folquet de Marseille (V),Gaucelm Faidit (VI). This innovation was taken up byPetrarch , who did the same thing to celebrate the poets of theDolce Stil Novo .VII
Vostres suy tan, don'agradiv'e pros,
qu'on piegz mi faitz, ab amor pus enteyra
humils e francs e fis sopley vas vos.ources
*Page, Christopher. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0306-1078%28199711%2925%3A4%3C638%3ALTTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G "Listening to the Trouvères."] "Early Music", Vol. 25, No. 4, 25th Anniversary Issue; Listening Practice. (Nov., 1997), pp 638–650, 653–656, and 659.
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