Bieiris de Romans

Na Bieiris de Romans^[a] (English: Lady Beatrice of Romans; fl. c. 13th century) was a trobairitz of the first half of the thirteenth century. She was likely from Romans near Montélimar.^[2] Other than her name, which includes her place of birth, nothing is known of the details of her life, which has led to a significant gap in knowledge for scholarship analyzing her work. She left behind one canso, "Na Maria, pretz e fina valors" ("Lady Maria, in your merit and distinction"), addressed to another woman named Mary. The poem is written in the typical troubadour style of courtly love, has been the source of scholarly debate, with some interpreting it as an expression of lesbian desire, while others speculate that author could have been a mis-identified man, a woman writing as a man, or expressing platonic or spiritual devotion.

"Na Maria, pretz fina e valors" (Lady Maria, in your merit and distinction) is found in a fourteenth-century chansonnier.^[3]

Oskar Schultz-Gora [de], Alfred Jeanroy, François Zufferey, Gianfranco Folena and Elizabeth W. Poe have all argued that "Na Maria" was actually written by a man.^[4] Though initially believing Bieris to be a woman,^[5] Schultz-Gora changed his position,^[b] arguing that "Na Bieris" was actually a corruption of Alberico da Romano,^[1] a claim repeated by Jeanroy and Poe.^[7][8] Zufferey attributed the work to Gui d'Ussel, whose poems are located on the pages both before and after "Na Maria."^[9] Conversely, Jean-Baptiste de Lacurne de Sainte-Palaye, one of the earliest scholars of the poem, accepted that the author was a woman, but that she was simply working on behalf of a man.^[10][4] Similarly, Tilde Sankovitch argued that Bieiris may have been writing from the masculine point of view, fully immersing herself in the masculinity of the genre.^[11]

Bieiris' lesbianism, too, has its defenders: Pierre Bec, Magda Bogin, Renat Nelli, John Boswell, Frédérique Le Nan and Judith Bennett all assert that "Na Maria" can be read as an expression of lesbian affection.^[12]

Angelica Rieger has forcefully defended Bieiris' authorship but denied her lesbianism, saying that modern readers are imposing their biases onto the text.^[13] She has sought to show that Bieiris is in fact employing the language of affection popular among noblewomen of the period.^[14] Rieger supports her claims by comparing Bieiris' courtly language to that of Azalais de Porcairagues and Carenza.^[15] Alison Ganze expands on Rieger's assertion that Bieiris was indeed writing to another woman, but that the canso is consistent with expressions of political loyalty in the feudal system.^[15]

The last stanza of her canso reads as follows:

• Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn; Shepard, Laurie; and White, Sarah. Songs of the Women Troubadours. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-8153-0817-5.
• Bryson, Michael; Movsesian, Arpi (2017). "The Troubadours and Fin'amor: Love, Choice, and the Individual". Love and its Critics: From the Song of Songs to Shakespeare and Milton’s Eden. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers. pp. 121–194. ISBN 978-1-78374-348-3. JSTOR j.ctt1sq5vd6. LCCN 2019452599.
• Dronke, Peter. Women Writers of the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
• O'Sullivan, Daniel E. (2013). "Na Maria: Shaping Marian Devotion in Old Occitan Song". In O'Sullivan, Daniel E.; Shepard, Laurie (eds.). Shaping Courtliness in Medieval France: Essays in Honor of Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner. Gallica. Vol. 28. Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 183–200. doi:10.7722/j.ctt24hfpt.17. ISBN 978-1-84384-335-1. JSTOR j.ctt24hfpt.17.

• Original manuscript available at Gallica