Planh

A genre of the troubadours, the or (; "lament") is a funeral lament for "a great personage, a protector, a friend or relative, or a lady."Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker, "Topoi", in F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, eds., A Handbook of the Troubadours (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), pp. 421–440. Its main elements are expression of grief, praise of the deceased (eulogy) and prayer for his or her soul.Patricia Harris Stäblein, "New Views on an Old Problem: The Dynamics of Death in the ", Romance Philology 35, 1 (1981): 223–234. It is descended from the medieval Latin .William D. Paden, "Planh/Complainte", in W. W. Kibler and G. A. Zinn, eds., Medieval France: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland, 1995), pp. 1400–1401.

The is similar to the in that both were typically contrafacta. They made use of existing melodies, often imitating the original song even down to the rhymes. The most famous of all, however, Gaucelm Faidit's lament on the death of King Richard the Lionheart in 1199, was set to original music.John Stevens, "Planctus", Grove Music Online (2001). Retrieved 21 August 2019.

Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker identifies three types of : "the moralizing ", in which the expression of grief is a point of departure for social criticism; "the true lament", in which personal grief is central; and "the courtly ", in which the impact of the death on the court is emphasised. Alfred Jeanroy considered that the common denunciation of the evils of the present age was a feature that distinguished the from the .Stephen Manning, "Chaucer's Good Fair White: Woman and Symbol", Comparative Literature 10, 2 (1958): 97–105. In the conventions of the genre, the subject's death is announced by the simple words ("is dead"). By the 13th century, the placement of these words within the poem was fixed: it occurred in the seventh or eighth line of the first stanza. It is perhaps an indication of the sincerity of their grief that the troubadours rarely praised the successors of their patrons in the .

There are at least forty-four surviving .Élisabeth Schulze-Busacker, 'La Complainte des morts dans la littérature occitane' in Claude Sutto (ed.), Le Sentiment de la mort au moyen âge: Études présentées au Cinquième colloque de l'Institut d'études médiévales de l'Université de Montréal (Montréal: Aurore, 1979), 230–48. The earliest is that by Cercamon on the death of Duke William X of Aquitaine in 1137. The latest is an anonymous lament on the death of King Robert of Naples in 1343. The was regarded by contemporaries as a distinct genre and is mentioned in the (1290s) and the (1341).

Chronological table of The following table lists 45 .

ComposerPCThe song's number in Alfred Pillet and Henry Carstens, Bibliographie der Troubadours (1933).Incipit (i.e. title)DateMournedCercamon112,2aLo plaing comens iradamen1137William X of AquitaineGiraut de Borneil242,65S'anc jorn aqui joi e solaz1173Raimbaut d'AurengaGuillem de Berguedà210,9Cousiros chan e planh e plor1180Pons de MataplanaBertran de Born ?80,26Si tuit li dol el plor el marrimen1183Henry the Young KingBertran de Born80,41Mon chan fenisc el dol et ab maltraire1183Henry the Young KingBertran de Born80,6aA totz dic qe ja mais non voil1186Geoffrey of BrittanyRaimbaut de Vaqueiras392,4aAr pren camgat per tostemps de xantarc. 1190anonymous ladyGuilhem de Saint-Leidier234,15aLo plus iraz remaing d'autres chatiusc. 1190BadocFolquet de Marselha155,20Si com cel qu'es tan greujat1192Barral of MarseilleGaucelm Faidit167,22Fortz causa es que tot lo major dan1199Richard the Lion-HeartedGiraut de Borneil242,56Planh e sospir e plor e chan1199Aimar V of LimogesPons de Capduelh375,7De totz caitius sui eu aicel que plus????Azalais, wife of Ozil de MercœurGuillem Augier Novella205,2Cascus plor e planh son damnatge1209Raymond Roger TrencavelLanfranc Cigala282,7Eu non chan ges pes talan de chantar1210sBerlendaGiraut de Calanso243,6Bels senher Deus, quo pot esser sofritz1211Ferdinand, infante of CastileGavaudan174,3Crezens fis verais et entiers1212his anonymous ladyAimeric de Peguilhan10,30Ja no cugei quem pogues oblidar1212Azzo VI of Este and Boniface of VeronaAimeric de Peguilhan10,48S'eu chantei alegres ni jauzens1212Azzo VI of Este and Boniface of VeronaDaude de Pradas124,4Be deu esser solatz marritz1220–30Uc BrunetAimeric de Peguilhan10,10Ara par be que Valors se desfai1220Guglielmo MalaspinaAimeric de Peguilhan10,22De tot en tot es ar de mi partitz????bona comtessa BiatritzSordel437,24Planher vol En Blacatz en aquest leugier so1237BlacatzBertran d'Alamanon76,12Mout m'es greu d'En Sordel quar l'es faillitz sos sens1237BlacatzPeire Bremon Ricas Novas330,14Pus partit an lo cor En Sordel e'n Bertrans1237BlacatzAimeric de Belenoi9,1Ailas, per que viu lonjamen ni dura1242Nuño SánchezAimeric de Peguilhan ?10,1=330,1aAb marrimen angoissos et ab plor1245Raymond Berengar IV of ProvenceRigaut de Berbezilh attr.421,5aEn chantan (ieu) plaing e sospir1245Raymond Berengar IV of ProvenceBonifaci Calvo102,12S'ieu ai perdut, no s'en podon jauzir1250–65his anonymous ladyBertran Carbonel82,15S'ieu anc nulh tems chantei alegramen1252–65P. G. (prob. Peire Guilhem de Tolosa)Pons Santolh380,1Marritz com hom malsabens ab frachura1260Guilhem de MontanhagolRaimon Gaucelm401,7Cascus planh lo sieu damnatge1262Guiraut d'Alanhan, burgess of BéziersAnonymous461,234Totas honors e tug fag benestan1266Manfred of SicilyBertolome Zorzi74,16Sil mons fondes a meravilha gran1268Conradin and Frederick I of BadenPaulet de Marselha319,7Razos no nes que hom deja cantar1268Barral of BauxAnonymous461,107En chantan m'aven a retraire1269Gregorio di MontelongoGuilhem d'Autpol ?206,2Fortz tristors es e salvatj'a retraire1270Louis IX of FranceGuiraut Riquier248,63Ples de tristor, marritz e doloiros1270Amalric IV of NarbonneJoan Esteve266,1Aissi quol malanans1270Amalric IV of NarbonneMahieu de Quercy299,1Tan sui marritz que nom puesc alegrar1276James the ConquerorCerverí de Girona434a,62Si per tristor per dol ni per cossire1276James the ConquerorCerverí de Girona434,7eJoys ni solatz, pascors, abrils ni mais1276Raimon de CardonaJoan Esteve266,10Planhen ploran ab desplazer1289Guilhem de LodevaRaimon Menudet405,1Ab grans dolors et ab grans merrimens????Daude de BossaguasRaimon de Cornet -Aras quan vey de bos homes fraytura1324Amanieu VII of AlbretAnonymous461,133bGlorios Dieus, don totz bens ha creysensa1343Robert the Peace-Maker

References

Further reading Jeanroy, Alfred. . Toulouse: Privat, 1934.