Raimon de Castelnou

The large decorated or historiated initial from the start of Raimon's poems in chansonnier C has been cut out. On the right is the lesser decorated initial of the poem De servir a bon senhor. Raimon de Castelnou was an Occitan writer and troubadour of the second half of the 13th century. He wrote five cansos (love songs) and one treatise on Catholic doctrine and ethics. There is a sirventes attributed to him in some manuscripts, but its attribution is disputed.

Raimon's treatise, the Doctrinal, contains 400 lines divided into 14 rhymed laisses. In it, Raimon describes himself as a poor knight who gave up "worthless singing" under the influence of some good clergymen.

Works The cansos are all found in chansonnier C. Although each is attributed to R. de Castelnou, the table of contents mistakenly gives his name as Ymbert de Castelnou. Ar a ben dos ans passatz Aras, puc ai luec e sazo De servir a bon senhor Entr'ir'et alegrier m'estau Ges, si tot es tan suau The sirventes is attributed to Raimon in chansonniers C, R and a1; to Peire explicitly in Db and M and implicitly in T; to Daipol (perhaps Guilhem d'Autpol) in f; and is anonymous in Y. Mon chantar voill retrair'al cominal Doctrinal, the incipit of which is E.nom de Dieu lo Paire e de la Trinitat

Editions Giannetti, Andrea, ed. Raimon de Castelnou: Canzoni e dottrinale. Biblioteca di filologia romanza, 33. Bari: Adriatica, 1988.