Jordan Bonel de Confolens

Jordan Bonel de Confolens (also "Confolent" or "Cofolen"; [There is some confusion regarding the identification of a certain Jordan (de) Bonel and another Jordan de Confolens. Alfred Jeanroy rejected it.] fl. late 12th century) was a troubadour from western Aquitaine about whom very little is definitively known except that he was associated with the court of Alfonso II of Aragon.Aubrey, 222.] His "vida" states that he was from Saintonge and he appears to have been contemporary with Bertran de Born.Aubrey, 10. His "vida" is less than completely reliable because it suffers some of the serious erros found in a "razo" for one of Bertran de Born's works.] His suriving corpus probably consists of three "cansos", wherein only one is attributed to him, though its melody survives: :"S'ira d'amor tengués amic gaudent,:"non fora cel que mièlhs amès de me;:"car pena e dòl e dams e marriment:"ai sofertat longament; e'l conven:"qu'ieu aja'l mal e ma domna lo ben.:"E pos aissí li plai amb me de vire,:"qu'ar sap e crei que non l'ausi redire,:"vuèlh tot sofrir s'ela'l vòl et Amors::"gardatz s'ieu sui dels fenhents amadors!" [ [http://ujan.free.fr/poelim/bonel.htm Jordan Bonel de Confolent ] ] The melody has similar to those of Arnaut de Maruelh, but is rather conservative when compared with his more illustrious contemporaries. It is in AAB form with musical rhymes at the cadences.

One of Jordan's "cansos" is said to refer to the Holy Land by Linda Paterson, though neither she nor Kurt Lewent classifies it as a "crusading song". [Paterson, appendix I, 97.] The poem actually refers to Edessa as representing the far reaches of the earth. The same song celebrates Guiborc de Montausier, the "viscountess" of Chalais ("Chales" or "Chaletz")::"A Chales vai, chansos, a midons dire,:"A Na Guiborc cui beutatz saup eslire:"E pretz e jois e largues' e valors,:"Qe a leis mi clam de sos mals noiridors". [Kastner, 410.]

References

*Aubrey, Elizabeth. "The Music of the Troubadours". Indiana University Press, 1996. ISBN 0 253 21389 4.
*Kastner, L. E. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-7937%28193210%2927%3A4%3C398%3ANOTPOB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L "Notes on the Poems of Bertran de Born."] "The Modern Language Review", Vol. 27, No. 4. (Oct., 1932), pp. 398–419.
*Paterson, Linda M. "Occitan Literature and the Holy Land." "The World of Eleanor of Aquitaine: Literature and Society in Southern France between the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries", edd. Marcus Bull and Catherine Léglu. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2005. ISBN 1 84383 114 7.

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