Pistoleta

Pistoleta (Occitan: [pistuˈlɛtɔ]; fl. 1185–1228) was a Provençal troubadour. His name (actually a nickname) means "little letter (epistle)" in Occitan. He left behind eleven songs, comprising nine cansos and two tensos. Some of his pieces are assigned to an otherwise unknown Jordan de Born in the table of contents of chansonnier C, a fourteenth-century Occitan manuscript.

According to his vida, he was a cantaire (singer) of Arnaut de Maruoill, which probably implies that he was a jongleur who sang Arnaut's songs or perhaps acted as a messenger to bring his songs from one place to another both orally and in writing. He may have carried Arnaut's love songs to the "Countess of Burlatz" (comtessa de Burlats); this would explain his nickname. If the vida be correct about Pistoleta's early career, then he was probably a jongleur from about 1195 or perhaps as early as 1185 and only began his own composing career around 1205.

Five of Pistoleta's songs contain references to the King of Aragon, usually presumed to be Peter II. At some point he became a vassal of Peter's, as he writes in Ai! tan sospir mi venon noit e dia of the reis d'Arragon, de cui ai fait siengnor ("king of Aragon, whom I have made [my] lord"). From this it can be deduced that he spent some time at Peter's court, but he also addressed the king in at least one poem, Anc mais nulhs hom no fon apoderatz, from far away. He is also said to have had relations with Ebles V of Ventadorn, Thomas I of Savoy, and Blacas III of Aulps. In his youth he may have travelled into Limousin and Languedoc and met Maria de Ventadorn, Ebles' wife. He composed a tenso with the latter, which has been dated to late 1228, making it his last known work and the only known work by Maria.

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