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[[File:BnF ms. 12473 fol. 57 - Pons de Chapteuil (1).jpg|thumb|Pons portrayed as a crusader: a knight with a cross on his shield.]]
'''Pons de Capduelh'''{{efn|His [[toponymic surname]] is also spelled '''Capduell''', '''Capdveyll''', '''Capdveill''', '''Capduoill''', '''Capdoill''' or '''Capdolh''' in medieval documents. His first may appear as '''Pontz'''.}} ([[floruit|fl.]] 1160–1220<ref name=Chambers>Chambers 1978, 140.</ref> or 1190–1237<ref name=Aubrey>Aubrey 1996, 19–20.</ref>) was a [[troubadour]] from the [[Auvergne (region)|Auvergne]], probably from [[Chapteuil]]. His songs were known for their great gaiety. He was a popular poet and 27 of his songs are preserved, some in as many as 15 manuscripts.<ref name=Chambers/> Four of his ''[[Canso (song)|cansos]]'' survive with musical notation.<ref name=Aubrey/>
==Biography==
===''Vida'' and ''razo''===
There survives a ''[[Vida (Occitan literary form)|vida]]'', or short biography, of Pons written by a contemporary and fellow troubadour, [[Uc de Saint Circ]].<ref>Poe (1989), 44.</ref> According to Uc, Pons and  troubadour [[Guillem de Saint Leidier]] were both from the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay|diocese of Le Puy]], and while Guillem was "generous with money" (''larcs donaire d'aver''), Pons was very stingy (''fort escars d'aver'').<ref>Poe (1989), 41.</ref> He reportedly loved Azalais, daughter of [[Bernard VII of Anduze]] and wife of Oisil de Mercoeur (or Mercuor). (Bernard of Anduze was a patron of many troubadours.) The ''vida'' states that "[Pons] loved [Azalais] dearly and praised her and made many good songs about her; and as long as he lived, he loved no other, and when the lady died, he took the cross and went over the sea and died there."<ref>Lucas (1958), 123.</ref> According to the ''[[Razo (Occitan literary form)|razo]]''{{efn|A short explanation of a song.}} that follows the ''vida'' in some manuscripts, Pons, to test Azalais's love for him, began loving another woman, Audiart, wife of Roselin, lord of [[Marseille]]. The rift between them was only healed by the intervention of [[Maria de Ventadorn]] and the [[Viscounty of Aubusson|viscountess of Aubusson]].<ref name=Lucas124>Lucas (1958), 124.</ref> After Azalais's death in 1237, Pons wrote a ''[[planh]]'' (lament) for her, "De totz caitius sui eu aicel que plus".<ref name=Chambers/> Some scholars argue that this ''planh'' was in fact written for Alazais de Boissazo, who died before 1220, and others have erroneously equated Azalais with the lady known only as Sail-de-Claustra in the poems of [[Peirol]].<ref name=Lucas124/>
Pons was exiled from his homeland in the middle of the 1210s and travelled "through [[Provence]]" (''per Proensa'') in order to join the [[Fifth Crusade]] around 1220. According to the untrustworthy [[Jean de Nostredame]], he died after participating in the conquest of [[Jerusalem]], in 1227.<ref name=Chambers/> Older scholars, such as Friedrich Christian Diez and Max von Napolski, believed that Pons died on the [[Third Crusade]] in 1189, but this is conclusively disproven.<ref name=Lucas124/>
===Documentary evidence===
The parents of Pons are unknown, but he was of the family of the lords of [[Fay-le-Clos|Fay]] and had six children identifiable in the records.<ref name=Chambers/> Pons is probably to be identified with the "Pontius de Capitolio" who appears in documents between 1189 and 1220. Before 1196, Pontius married a woman named Jarentone who brought him the castle of [[Vertaizon]], a fief of the [[bishop of Clermont]], as a dowry.<ref name=Aubrey/> In 1199, Pons imprisoned Bishop [[Robert (bishop of Clermont)|Robert of Clermont]]. In 1205, responding to an inquiry begun by [[Pope Innocent III]], King [[Philip II of France|Philip II]] forced Jarentone to hand over Vertaizon to the bishop.<ref name=Lucas124/> In 1211, Pons and Jarentone, with their three sons, three daughters and three sons-in-law, sold Vertaizon to the bishop for 7,650 [[Mark (currency)|marks]], of which 7,000 were to be retained by the bishop as compensation for his unlawful imprisonment.<ref name=Lucas124/> Pons's sons were Jourdain, Pierre de Fay and Jarenton.
Pons was probably acquainted with the [[trobairitz]] [[Clara d'Anduza]] and the troubadours [[Dalfi d'Alvernha]], [[Folquet de Marselha]] (whom he praised in a song), and Peirol.<ref name=Chambers/> [[Gui de Cavaillon]] and [[Ricau de Tarascon]] invoke Pons and Audiart as judges of their ''[[tenso]]'', composed after 1210, and [[Elias de Barjols]] also mentions Pons.<ref name=Lucas124/> Pons is also mentioned by [[Gervase of Tilbury]] in his ''[[Otia Imperialia]]'', where he is explained to have been the lord of the [[werewolf]] Raimbaud de Pouget, whose disinheritance by Pons led to his transformation and subsequent violent rampage.<ref>{{Citation |last=Gervase of Tilbury |title=Otia Imperialia: Recreation for an Emperor |date=1707 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00259366 |work=Oxford Medieval Texts: Gervase of Tilbury: Otia Imperialia: Recreation for an Emperor |access-date=2023-12-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}, 813-815.</ref>
Of all Pons's works, with the possible exception of the ''planh'', only his two [[crusade song]]s can be dated with confidence to around 1213.<ref name=Aubrey/> "So qu'om plus vol e plus es voluntos" was written after the [[battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]] (16 July 1212) and before the [[battle of Muret]] (12 September 1213), since it was dedicated to [[Peter II of Aragon]], who died there. The crusade song "En honor del pair'en cui es", which has the form of a ''[[sirventes]]'', refers to war of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] (probably [[Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto IV]]) and [[John of England|the King of England]] against Philip II and the "King of Apulia" (probably [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]). This is probably the [[War of Bouvines]].<ref name=Lucas125>Lucas (1958), 125.</ref>
Pons's songs "{{lang|pro|S'eu fis ni dis nuilla sazo}}" and "{{lang|pro|Tuich dison q'el temps de pascor}}" are speculatively dated to around 1210.
==List of surviving works==
;''Cansos''
* {{lang|pro|Aissi m'es pres cum celui que cercan}}
* {{lang|pro|Astrucs es cel cui amors te jojos}}{{efn|In one manuscript, ascribed to [[Peire de Mensac]].}}
* {{lang|pro|Ben es fols cel que reigna}}{{efn|In one manuscript, ascribed to [[Albertet de Sestaro]].}}
* {{lang|pro|Ben sai que per sobrevoler}}{{efn|In one manuscript, {{lang|pro|...sobrevaler}}.}}
* {{lang|pro|Coras que.m tengues jauzen}}
* {{lang|pro|Ges per la coindeta sason}}
* {{lang|pro|Humils e francs e fis soplei ves vos}}{{efn|In one manuscript, ascribed to [[Bernart de Ventadorn]].}}
* {{lang|pro|Ja non er hom tan pros}}{{efn|In one manuscript, ascribed to [[Arnaut de Maroill]].}}
* {{lang|pro|L'adregz solatz e l'aveinens compaigna}}{{efn|In other manuscripts, ascribed to [[Peire Rogiers de Mirapeysh]] and [[Aimeric de Peguillan]].}}
* {{lang|pro|L'amoros pensamenz}}
* {{lang|pro|Lejals amics cui amors te jojos}} (with music)
* {{lang|pro|Ma domna.m ditz qu'eu fatz orgoill}}
* {{lang|pro|Meills qu'om no pot dir ni pensar}}
* {{lang|pro|Per joi d'amor e de fis amadors}}
* {{lang|pro|Qui per nesci cuidar}}
* {{lang|pro|S'eu fis ni dis nuilla sazo}}{{efn|In one manuscript, {{lang|pro|S'anc fis ni...}}.}}
* {{lang|pro|Si com celui qu'a pro de valedors}}{{efn|In some manuscripts, ascribed to [[Arnaut de Maroill]] and [[Bernart Amoros]].}}
* {{lang|pro|Si totz los gaugz e.ls bes}}{{efn|In one manuscript, ascribed to [[Peire d'Alvernhe]].}}
* {{lang|pro|Tan m'a donat fin cor e ferm voler}}
* {{lang|pro|Tant mi destrein uns desconortz qi.m ve}}
* {{lang|pro|Tuich dison q'el temps de pascor}}
* {{lang|pro|Us gais conortz me fai gajamen far}} (with music)
;Crusade songs
* {{lang|pro|Ar nos sia capdelhs e garentia}} {{efn|In one manuscript, {{lang|pro|Er nos sia...}} }}
* {{lang|pro|En honor del pair'en cui es}}
* {{lang|pro|So qu'om plus vol e plus es voluntos}}
;''Descorts''
* {{lang|pro|Un gai descort tramet leis cui dezir}}{{efn|Survives in several fragments in different manuscripts.}}
;''Planhs''
* {{lang|pro|De totz caitius sui eu aicel que plus}}
==Footnotes==
;Notes
{{notelist|2}}
;Citations
{{Reflist|2}}
==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*Aubrey, Elizabeth. ''The Music of the Troubadours''. Indiana University Press, 1996. <small>{{ISBN|0-253-21389-4}}</small>
*Chambers, Frank M. Review of "Le troubadour Pons, seigneur de Chapteuil et de Vertaizon: son temps, sa vie, son oeuvre" by Jean Perrel. ''Romance Philology'' '''32''', 1 (1978): 140.
*Lucas, H. H. "Pons de Capduoill and Azalais de Mercuor: A Study of the ''Planh''". ''Nottingham Mediaeval Studies'' '''2''' (1958): 119–13.
*Poe, Elizabeth Wilson. "Old Provençal ''Escars''/''Escas'': "Poor"? Reconsidering the Reputation of Pons de Capdoill". ''Tenso'' '''4''', 2 (1989): 37–58.
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*Fabre, Claude. ''Le Troubadour Pons de Chapteuil, quelques remarques sur sa vie et sur l'esprit de ses poèmes''. Le Puy-en-Velay: Peyriller, Rouchon et Gamon, 1908.
*Napolski, Max von. ''Leben und Werke des Trobadors Pons de Capduoill''. Halle: Niemeyer, 1879.
*Perrel, Jean. "Le troubadour Pons, seigneur de Chapteuil et de Vertaizon, son temps, sa vie, son oeuvre". ''Revue d'Auvergne'' '''90''', 2–3 (1976): 89–199.
*Thomas, Antoine. "L'identité du troubadour Pons de Chapteuil". ''Annales du Midi'' '''5''' (1893): 374–79.
{{refend}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:12th-century French troubadours]]
[[Category:Christians of the Fifth Crusade]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:13th-century deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century French troubadours]]