Johan Basset

Who is Johan Basset?

Ffra Johan Basset was a Catalan author of twenty verses and a prose Letovari. His work is preserved in the Cançoner Vega-Aguiló. He was probably active in the early years of the reign of Alfonso V. His religious title, fra, has led to speculation that he was a knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Johan preached at Cervera during Lent in 1424. It is recorded that he was a member of the "Order of Santa Anna". This is probably a reference to the convent of Santa Anna at Barcelona, which was originally a house of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre under the guidance of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Cohabitating at Santa Anna was a group of Brothers of Penitence and some Augustinian canons of Santa Eulàlia del Camp. In 1420 the friars and canons passed into the Casa del Sant Sepulcre de Santa Anna.

Johan was a competent and original poet; his poetry diverse in form and style, his themes both religious and amorous. Besides his religious and amorous poetry, Basset wrote three unique pieces: a planh, a piece entitled Vers lauda, and another called Vers clus. Basset's Letovari is a manual for curing the love-sick, dedicated to Guerau de Massanet.