Uc, Uco, or Ugo de Pena or Penna was a troubadour of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He left behind three cansos and no music.
His origins are found in Penne-d'Agenais, in the Rouergue.[1] According to his vida his birthplace was a castle called "Messat" or "Monmessat".[1] He was the son of a merchant, who first became a jongleur and then grew renowned for his singing and for his expansive repertoire (of the works of others).[1] He was also reputed for his knowledge of the "great men of those regions", but he was known for his roguish style of living - gambling and frequenting taverns - for which reason, says his biographer, "he was always poor and without equipment."[1] Eventually he travelled east to "Isla é(n) Venaissi" (probably Isle-sur-Sorgue in Provence), where he married.[1]
In one song, Uc refers to the Occitan knight Gouffier de Lastours, who carried a message from Bohemond of Taranto to Godfrey of Bouillon at the critical Battle of Dorylaeum on the First Crusade.[2] This event had probably become an important piece of Occitan crusading lore and is recorded also in the Canso d'Antioca and the Gran Conquista de Ultramar.[2]
Among his other works is Quora que'm desplagués Amors.