CERVERÍ DE GIRONA
(fl. ca. 1259–82). Listed alternatively by medieval scribes as Guillem de Cervera, the
Catalan troubadour Cerverí de Girona was a prolific craftsman given to experimentation
with genre and rhyme. His work comprises 114 lyric pieces, five narrative poems, and a
long moralizing satire called the Proverbis.
Elizabeth W.Poe
[See also: TROUBADOUR POETRY]
Cerverí de Girona. Obras completas, ed. Martin de Riquer. Barcelona: Instituto Español de
Estudios Mediterráneos, 1947.
CERVOLE, ARNAUD DE
(ca. 1320–66). Soldier of fortune. Arnaud de Cervole, the younger son of a minor lord
from Périgord, acquired the title of archpriest of Velines (Dordogne) and is generally
known as “the Archpriest.” A prominent military commander in the mid-14th century, he
gained notoriety as a captain of routiers (freelance soldiers) in the decade after 1356.
Apparently a protégé of King John II’s cousin Charles of Spain (constable of France,
1351–54), Cervole served as royal lieutenant between the Loire and Dardogne rivers
during most of 1351. He began to act independently after the constable’s murder but soon
received a royal pardon and the lordship of Châteauneufsur-Charente. He fought for the
king in 1355 and 1356.
The defeat and capture of John II at Poitiers in September 1356 brought an end to
regular payment of troops, as England and France sought to negotiate a treaty.
Unemployed soldiers, as companies of routiers, began to support themselves by pillage
and extortion, and Cervole quickly became one of their most prominent captains. In 1357,
his troops descended the Rhône and caused havoc in Provence for more than a year.
Between 1358 and 1361, the Archpriest campaigned in Berry and Nivernais before
turning his attention to Burgundy. Although he quickly turned to brigandage when not
employed, Cervole was always ready to accept royal employment, and he fought for the
crown at the unsuccessful Battle of Brignais (1362) and the successful one at Cocherel in
Normandy (1364). As part of a royal project to send the routiers eastward on crusade in
1365, Cervole led a force into the empire, where his troops ravaged Alsace and
threatened nearby districts. He was threatening Savoy in the spring of 1366 when he was
killed by one of his own men on May 25.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
[See also: BRIGNAIS]
Cherest, Aimé. L’Archiprêtre: épisodes de la guerre de cent ans au XIVe siècle. Paris: Claudin,
1879.
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