Albertet de Sestaro

Who was Albertet de Sestaro?

Albertet de Sestaro, sometimes called Albertet de Terascon, was a Provençal jongleur and troubadour from the Gapençais. Of his total oeuvre, twenty three poems survive. "Albertet" or "Albertetz" is the Occitan diminutive of Albert. Unqualified it usually refers to Albertet de Sestaro, but there was an Albertet Cailla.

According to his vida he was the son of a noble jongleur named Asar, one of whose pieces may survive. Albertet was reputed for his voice and for the innovative melodies of his short cansós, but not for his lyrics. Fellow troubadour Uc de Lescura praised Albertet's votz a ben dir. He was a welcomed performer and conversationalist in court society. Much of his life was spent at Orange, where he grew wealthy before moving to Lombardy, where he remained from 1210 to 1221. In Italy he frequented the courts of Savoy, Montferrat, Malaspina, Genoa, and the Este in Ferrara. At the Este court he probably came into contact with Guillem Augier Novella, Aimeric de Pegulhan, and Aimeric de Belenoi. He also travelled west of Provence as far as Montferrand, where he met Dalfí d'Alvernha, Gaucelm Faidit, and Peirol, and by some accounts he even took refuge in Spain at some point.