Peire Cardenal (1180–1278)
Born 1180 CE, died 1278 CE.
Peire Cardenal (or Cardinal) (c. 1180 – c. 1278) was a troubadour (fl. 1204 – 1272) known for his satirical sirventes and his dislike of the clergy. Ninety-six pieces of his remain, a number rarely matched by other poets of the age. Peire Cardenal was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, apparently of a noble family; the family name Cardenal appears in many documents of the region in the 13th and 14th centuries. He was educated as a canon, which education directed him to vernacular lyric poetry and he abandoned his career in the church for "the vanity of this world", according to his vida. Peire began his career at the court of Raymond VI of Toulouse—from whom he sought patronage—and a document of 1204 refers to a Petrus Cardinalis as a scribe of Raymond's chancery. At Raymond's court, however, he appears to have been known as Peire del Puoi or Puei (French: Pierre du Puy). Around 1238 he wrote a partimen beginning Peire del Puei, li trobador with Aimeric de Pegulhan. At Raymond's court also perhaps, probably in 1213, Peire composed a sirventes, Las amairitz, qui encolpar las vol, which may have encouraged Peter II of Aragon to help Toulouse in the Battle of Muret, where Peter died.
Text from the Wikipedia article Peire_Cardenal, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.