Peire de la Mula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peire (or Pietro) de la Mula (fl. c. 1200) was an Italian troubadour. He wrote two couplets and one sirventes that survive.

According to his vida, he was a joglars and tobaire who stayed for a long time in Montferrat, Cortemiglia (Cortemilla), and the Piedmont, at the court of miser N'Ot del Carret, "mister Lord Otto of Carretto" (Ottone del Carretto, fl. 1190–1233, but only had Cortemiglia until 1209).^[1] Peire's surname could be a misreading of de Lamula (da Lama), for there are many places named Lamula that have come to light. On the other hand, it could be a corruption of Amola, a town in Frignano. There did exist in the High Middle Ages a locale called Mulum southeast of Mantua and which may be the basis for a "Mula" family name which is explicitly lacking in other sources. There was also a poet named only "Mola" who exchanged some verses with Guilhem Raimon. Mola may be a corruption of Mula and may attest to the poet's Emilian origins.

Peire's surviving pair of couplets, Ia de razon no.m cal metr'en pantais, can be dated on the basis of a reference to Androin(e), that is, Andronicus I Comnenus, to before 1185, when Andronicus died. It was written against the young and rich. Peire's only full sirventes, Dels joglars servir mi laisse, is a sirventes joglaresc, that is, it is an insult to jongleurs, whom Peire says are "breeding like leverets". Jongleurs are in the business for money, but troubadours, in Peire's view, are honorable. Peire imitated the metre of Er quant s'emba.l foill del fraisse of Raimbaut d'Aurenga with this piece. Peire's other couplet, Una leig vei d'escuoill, was also an attack on jongleurs, who, at his time, were bringing their insolence to the pros (powerful) of Italy. Peire refers in this work to Breton (Bretz) and Norman (Normans) jongleurs.

Peire was influenced metrically and rythmically by Giraut de Bornelh.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Sources