cause of the counts of Toulouse, whose lands were invaded by the crusaders. In his
religious poems, he expresses an orthodox belief in Catholic doctrine.
William D.Paden
[See also: ESTRABOT; TROUBADOUR POETRY]
Peire Cardenal. Poésies complètes du troubadour Peire Cardenal, ed. René Lavaud. Toulouse:
Privat, 1957.
Marshall, John Henry. “Imitation of Metrical Form in Peire Cardenal.” Romance Philology
32(1978):18–48.
Riquer, Martin de, ed. Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos. 3 vols. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975,
Vol. 3, pp. 1478–518.
Wilhelm, James J. Seven Troubadours: The Creators of Modern Verse. University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1970, pp. 173–95.
PEIRE D’ALVERNHE
(fl. ca. 1150–70). Praised by his biographer as the best troubadour before Giraut de
Bornelh and later hailed by Dante (De vulgari eloquentia 1.10) as one of the antiquiores
doctores of Romance lyric expression, Peire d’Alvernhe saw himself as ushering in a new
kind of poetry, or vers entiers. A practitioner of the obscure style, Peire was one of the
first to use the term clus in a technical sense. His legacy consists of twenty songs,
including a prayer, a crusade song, a tenso with Bernart de Ventadorn, and a satirical
poem about his contemporaries, Cantarai d’aquestz trobadors.
Elizabeth W.Poe
[See also: TROUBADOUR POETRY]
Peire d’Alvernhe. Peire d’Alvernha: liriche: testo, traduzione e note, ed. Alberto Del Monte. Turin:
Loescher-Chiantore, 1955.
PEIRE VIDAL
(fl. ca. 1187–1205). Son of a furrier in Toulouse, the troubadour Peire Vidal led a
colorful life. According to the vidas, he had his tongue cut out by the husband of his first
lady, was banned from Marseille by the husband of a second on account of a stolen kiss,
and was chased and mauled by dogs, as he, disguised as a wolf, tried to enter the castle of
a third. The biographer reports that Peire married a Cypriot princess, which made him
think that he had a legitimate claim to the Byzantine empire. Though undoubtedly based
more on poetic metaphor than on fact, such stories convey the spirit of this often
whimsical troubadour, who was constantly on the move, spending time in places as far
away as Spain, Italy, Hungary, and Malta. Peire’s surviving work consists of
approximately fifty cansos and sirventes, for twelve of which melodies have been
preserved. His protectors included Barral de Baux, with whom he exchanged the senhal
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