razo

   Like the VIDAS, razos were preserved mainly in 13th-century Italian manuscripts of TROUBADOUR poetry.While the vidas provided short biographies of individual troubadours and were included in lyric anthologies as an introduction to each author, the razos (from the Provençal word for “reason” or “explanation”) would relate the circumstances under which specific lyrics were composed. Razos tend to be a bit longer than vidas, though none exceeds 2,500 words. Fewer razos than vidas are extant; razos exist for only about two dozen troubadours. But evidence suggests that the razos were probably originally composed prior to the more numerous vidas.

   It is likely that the extant razos were originally recited by JONGLEURS prior to the performance of individual songs. The stylistic similarities among most written razos and vidas are indicative of a single author. Some scholars believe that the jongleur Uc de Saint-Circ (mentioned in some manuscripts) collected razos from other jongleurs in the mid-13th century, and wrote them down in the form included in the manuscripts.

   Biographical information in the razos is factually suspect. It seems clear that most of the razos are fictionalized stories drawn from the poems they introduce. Often they describe lovers’ quarrels, reflecting the attitude of the typical CANSOS or love poems. Some, as Elizabeth Poe has pointed out, are so outlandish as to suggest a deliberately humorous effect. Poe mentions a canso by Peire VIDAL, written for a lady named Loba. Punning on the name, Peire compares his treatment at this lady’s hands to that of a wolf beaten by shepherds. In the razo for this poem,Uc describes Peire as trying to sneak into his lady’s castle dressed in a wolf skin, and being chased by dogs and shepherds. One of the most important legacies of the razos is their influence on DANTE. Inspired by the examples of the troubadour anthologies, he structured his first important poetic work, the VITA NUOVA, to include authentic razos introducing each poem, where he gives his own version of how the poems came to be written. Dante saw the razos for what they were: the first form of “literary criticism” of European vernacular poetry.

   Bibliography

   ■ Martinez, Ronald. “Italy.” In A Handbook of the Troubadours, edited by F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, 279–294. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

   ■ Poe, Elizabeth W. “The Vidas and Razos.” In A Handbook of the Troubadours, edited by F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, 185–197. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.