Blacasset

Who was Blacasset?

Blacasset, Blacassetz, Blacssetz, or Blachessetz was a Provençal troubadour of the noble family of the Blacas, lords of Aulps, in the Empire. He was probably a son of the troubadour Blacatz, as his vida alleges, though this has come into doubt. He was also distantly related to Charles I of Naples and Raymond Berengar IV of Provence. According to his vida, he was like his father in merit, good deeds, and munificence, and also reputed to be a good lover.

"Blacasset" is a diminutive of his father's name. A document of 1238 mentions three sons of the elder Blacatz, two of which were named Blacacius. Blacasset was not a professional troubadour, but, like his father, an amateur. Eleven of his works survive, three sirventes, four cansos, and four coblas, including one single-stanza canso with a melody in F major, Ben volgra quem venques merces. This song was appended to a manuscript of the chansonnier du roi of Theobald I of Navarre in the early fourteenth-century. Among his other works are:

⁕A Lunel lutz una luna luzens, a tenso with Guilhem de Montanhagol in the trobar clus style about a lady, Guiza de Lunel