Pau de Bellviure

Who is Pau de Bellviure?

Pau de Bellviure was a Catalan poet of the fourteenth and/or fifteenth centuries. To the Catalan and Spanish writers of the Renaissance he was a model of courtly love who had attained gran fama. Pere Torroella lists him among the "doctors" of poetry. According to Ausiàs March, his love for his lady turned him mad and he broke his neck and died, a martyr to love.

"Pau de Bellviure" may be a surname, in which case his given name is unknown. In some manuscripts he is called Benviure, the name of a famous lineage. The castle of Benviure was later absorbed by Eramprunyà, an estate of the March family. In his Prohemio a carta, the Marqués de Santillana begins survey of the history of Catalan verse with Guilhem de Berguedan and "Pao de Benbibre". There is mention of a Paül, son of Pere de Benviure, secretary to John I of Aragon, who died in 1417 without descendents, but this is probably not the poet. According to Guerau de Maçanet, Pau was a member of the noble Rocabertí or Cabrera families.

Only one complete poem, Dompna gentil, vos m'enculpats a tort, survives despite Pau's subsequent fame. It is a discreet maldit in which he attacks his lady for her infidelity.