Châtelain de Couci

(ca. 1168–1203)

   One of the most popular of the late 12th-century TROUVÈRES is known only as the Châtelain de Couci, that is, the governor of the castle of Couci. He has been identified by historians as Guy de Thourette, or Guy IV de Couci,who was one of the most powerful barons in France, a well-known crusader, and châtelain from 1186 until his death in 1203.

   Guy is known to have taken part in the Third Crusade, and may have been at Acre in 1191. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade, but died and was buried at sea in May or June of 1203. His death is recorded in The Conquest of Constantinople by his fellow crusader Geoffroi de VILLEHARDOUIN, the marshall of Champagne.

   The Châtelain de Couci follows closely in the tradition of vernacular love poetry handed down from the Provençal TROUBADOURS. Much of what he writes is conventional, though he is admired for his skillful use of rhyme schemes, and is most admired for his depiction of the pain experienced by the mournful lover who must leave his lady. In his bestknown poem, beginning “A vous, amant,”Couci depicts the lover who must leave his lady to go on a crusade, and expresses the agonizing feeling of being torn between loyalty to God and his beloved:

   Love, pity! If ever God did something base,

   He has, like a brute, broken true love in two:

   I cannot put this love away from me,

   And yet I must leave my lady.

   (Goldin 1973, 351, ll. 29–32)

   The châtelain’s reputation made him the subject of a sensationalized fictional romance of the late 13th century, composed by an otherwise unknown author named Jakemes. In the Roman du Châtelain de Coucy et la dame de Fayel, the hero (here called Renaud) loves the Lady de Fayel and wins her love in return through his service and his poetry. The Lady’s jealous husband tricks Renaud into going on a crusade,where he is killed by a poisoned arrow. In accordance with Renaud’s wishes, his heart is sent back to his lady, along with a love letter and the strands of her blonde hair she had given him as a love token. But when the jealous husband intercepts the package with its incriminating letter, he takes his revenge by cooking the heart and serving it to his wife as a meal.When the Lady Fayel discovers what she has done, she collapses in a dead faint. Renaud includes six poems in his romance. Four of these are certainly the châtelain’s genuine work, while the other two are of doubtful author-ship. Altogether some 33 extant poems are attributed to Guy, though most of these are probably not his. Most critics accept about 15 poems as genuine.

   Bibliography

   ■ Goldin, Frederick, ed. and trans. Lyrics of the Troubadours and Trouverès: An Anthology and a History. Garden City, New York: Anchor, 1973.

   ■ Lerond, Alain, ed. Chansons attribuées au Chastenlain de Couci. Vol. 7, Publications de la Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines de Rennes. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1964.

   ■ van der Werf, Hendrik. The Chansons of the Troubadours and Trouvères: A Study of the Melodies and Their Relation to the Poems. Utrecht: A. Oosthoek, 1972.