| Comtessa de Dia | |
| Native Name: | Béatrix de Viennois |
| Native Name Lang: | pro |
| Birth Date: | c. 1140 |
| Death Date: | c. |
| Birth Place: | Die, Provence |
| Death Place: | Provence |
| Origin: | Provence |
| Occupation: | Trobairitz |
The Comtessa de Dia (Countess of Die),[1] possibly named Beatritz or Isoarda (fl. c. 1175 or c. 1212), was a trobairitz (female troubadour).
She is only known as the comtessa de Dia in contemporary documents, but was most likely the daughter of Count Isoard II of Diá (a town northeast of Montelimar now known as Die in southern France). According to her vida, she was married to William of Poitiers, but was in love with and sang about Raimbaut of Orange (1146-1173).[2] Bruckner, Shepard, and White cite Angela Rieger's analysis of the songs, which associates them, through intertextual evidence, with the circle of poets composed of Raimbaut d'Aurenga, Bernart de Ventadorn, and Azalais de Porcairagues.[2] Marcelle Thiébaux, and Claude Marks have associated her not with Raimbaut d'Aurenga but with his nephew or great nephew of the same name.[3] [4] If her songs are addressed to Raimbaut d'Aurenga's nephew Raimbaut IV, the Comtessa de Dia may have been urging the latter to support Raymond V of Toulouse.[4]
It has been hypothesised that the Comtessa de Dia was in fact married to Guillem's son, Ademar de Peiteus, whose wife's name was Philippa de Fay, and that her real lover was Raimbaut de Vaqueiras.[5]
Five of the Comtessa's works survive, including 4 cansos and 1 tenson.[6] Scholars have debated whether or not the Comtessa authored Occitan (post 1500);: Amics, en greu consirier, a tenso typically attributed to Raimbaut d'Aurenga. One reason for this is the similarities between this composition and her own Occitan (post 1500);: Estat ai en greu consirier. A second reason references the words in her vida, Occitan (post 1500);: Et enamoret se d'En Rambaut d' Aurenga, e fez de lui mantas bonas cansos ("And she fell in love with Sir Raimbaut d'Aurenga, and made about him many good cansos").[7]
A tenso between Giraut de Bornelh and Alamanda de Castelnau closely matches the structure of Occitan (post 1500);: A chantar m'er de so qu'ieu non volria ("I must sing a song I'd rather not"). The phrase in it, Occitan (post 1500);: vestida ni nuda ("dressed nor nude") echoes Occitan (post 1500);: en lieig e quand sui vestida ("in bed and when I am dressed") in Occitan (post 1500);: Estat ai en greu cossirier ("I dwell in sorrow"). The tenso may have been composed as a response to these songs.
Her song Occitan (post 1500);: A chantar m'er de so qu'eu no volria in the Occitan language is the only canso by a trobairitz to survive with its music intact.[8] The music to A chantar is found only in Le manuscript di roi, a collection of songs copied around 1270 for Charles of Anjou, the brother of Louis IX.[9]
Her extant poems are:
Typical subject matter used by Comtessa de Dia in her lyrics includes optimism, praise of herself and her love, as well as betrayal. In Occitan (post 1500);: A chantar, Comtessa plays the part of a betrayed lover, and although she has been betrayed, continues to defend and praise herself. In Occitan (post 1500);: Fin ioi me don'alegranssa, however, the Comtessa makes fun of the Occitan (post 1500);: lausengier, a person known for gossiping, comparing those who gossip to a "cloud that obscures the sun."[10] In writing style, Comtessa uses a process known as Occitan (post 1500);: [[coblas singulars]] in Occitan (post 1500);: A chantar, repeating the same rhyme scheme in each strophe, but changing the a rhyme each strophe. Occitan (post 1500);: Ab ioi, on the other hand, uses Occitan (post 1500);: [[coblas doblas]], changing the rhyme sounds every two strophes, with a rhyme scheme of ab' ab' b' aab'. Occitan (post 1500);: A chantar uses some of the motifs of Idyll II of Theocritus.
She is the subject of a series of historical novels by the East German author Irmtraud Morgner.[11]