date_of_birth peire de corbiac
The High Middle Ages or High Medieval Period was the period of European history around the 11th , 12th , and 13th centuries ( c . ___MASK85___  ___MASK67___ ). The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages , which by convention end around 1500 . A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages ( ___MASK51___  ___MASK82___ ). Since the word " troubadour " is etymologically masculine , a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz . Peire de Corbiac or Corbian was a Gascon cleric and troubadour of the thirteenth century . His most famous works are a religious piece , the Prière à la Vierge ( prayer to the Virgin ) , and his `` treasures '' , Lo tezaurs ( c . 1225 ) . Peire was born at Corbiac near Bordeaux to a poor family . He was educated at Orléans in the Scholastic tradition . His nephew was the troubadour Aimeric de Belenoi , whose vida refers to him as maestre ( master , teacher ) and Peire elsewhere calls himself maistre . Certainly Peire ' s Tezaur is didactic in nature : his purpose in writing was to convince the wise that though he was poor in material terms he was richer still . Composed in 840 alexandrines , the Tezaur is an encyclopaedic compilation of all that the troubadour knew . The work displays a great breadth of knowledge . He expends 547 lines narrating the chief events of the Old and New Testaments , then discusses the seven liberal arts , medicine , surgery , necromancy , mythology , the lives of the ancient Greeks and Romans , and those of the contemporary French and English . Peire was familiar with the work of Venerable Bede , of John de Holywood , and of Chrétien de Troyes . He also provides the modern historian with several pieces of crucial information not found elsewhere . He refers to dancing the Sanctus , Agnus , and the Cunctipotens , showing that the liturgy was performed . The Tezaur also contains the first mention of contrapointamens , a century before its appearance in Latin as contrapunctus , today ' s counterpoint . The Tezaur had a lasting influence in the Late Middle Ages . The Jew Emanuele da Roma wrote the Ninth Meabbereth , a Hebrew poem based on the Tesoretto of Brunetto Latini , itself based on the Tezaur of Peire . Peire was a religious man , as the dedicatory first verse of his Tezaur attests : it contains a dedication to Jesus and Mary and a statement of Trinitarian faith . His prayer to the Virgin , therefore , is unsurprising : Domna , rosa ses espina , sobre totas flors olens , verga seca frug fazens , terra que ses labor grana , estela , del solelh maire , noirissa del vostre paire , el mon nulha no . us semelha ni londana ni vezina . Domna , verge pura e fina , ans que fos l ' enfantamens , et apres tot eissamens , receup en vos carn humana Jesu Crist , nostre salvaire , si com ses trencamen faire intra . l bels rais , quan solelha , per la fenestra veirina . Domna , estela marina de las autras plus luzens , la mars nos combat e . l vens ; mostra nos via certana ; car si . ns vols a bon port traire non tem nau ni governaire ni tempest que . ns destorbelha ni . l sobern de la marina . Lady , rose without thorn , sweet above all flowers , dry rod bearing fruit , earth bringing forth fruit without toil , star , mother of the sun , nurse of thine own Father , in the world no woman is like to thee , neither far nor near . Lady , virgin pure and fair before the birth was and afterwards the same , received human flesh in thee Jesus Christ our Saviour , just as without causing flaw , the fair ray enters when the sun shines through the window - pane . Lady , star of the sea , brighter than the other stars , the sea and the wind buffet us ; show thou us the right way : for if thou wilt bring us to a fair haven , ship nor helmsman fears not tempest nor tide lest it trouble us . Old Occitan ( Modern Occitan : " occitan ancian "), also called Old Provençal , was the earliest form of the Occitano - Romance languages , as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries . Old Occitan generally includes Early and Old Occitan . Middle Occitan is sometimes included in Old Occitan , sometimes in Modern Occitan . As the term " occitanus " appeared around the year ___MASK67___ , Old Occitan is referred to as " Romance " ( Occitan : " romans ") or " Provençal " ( Occitan : " proensals ") in medieval texts . The trobairises ( singular : trobairitz ) were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries , active from around ___MASK40___ to approximately ___MASK4___ . The word " trobairitz " was first used in the 13th - century romance " Flamenca ". It comes from the Provençal word " trobar ", the literal meaning of which is " to find ", and the technical meaning of which is " to compose ". The word " trobairitz " is used very rarely in medieval Occitan , as it does not occur in lyrical poetry , grammatical treatises , or in the biographies of the " trobairitz " or troubadours . " Trobairitz " composed , wrote verses , and performed for the Occitan noble courts . They are exceptional in musical history as the first known female composers of Western secular music ; all earlier known female composers wrote sacred music . The " trobairitz " were part of courtly society , as opposed to their lower class counterparts the " joglaressas ". Although troubadours sometimes came from humble origins  Bernart de Ventadorn may have been the son of a castle ' s baker  the " trobairitz " were nobly born . The most important " trobairitz " are Alamanda de Castelnau , Azalais de Porcairagues , Maria de Ventadorn , Tibors , Castelloza , Garsenda de Proença , Gormonda de Monpeslier , and the Comtessa de Diá .