Albertet, “En amor trob tantz de mals seignoratges” (BdT 16.13)

The article provides a commentary and a new critical edition of Albertet’s poem “En amor trob tantz de mals seignoratges”, in which the troubadour praises some of the most courtly ladies of his time. The poem can be linked to the genre of the collective eulogy, where the enumerated ladies are praised essentially for political reasons, since the commendation is clearly addressed to the men hidden behind them: famous specimena of this genre are the ‘tournoiements des dames’ by Huon d’Oisy and Richard de Semilli and Raimbaut de Vaqueiras’ “Carros” (BdT 392.32). Albertet’s song starts with a misogynic tone, since the poet declares that celebrating or loving ladies is worthless, given their immoral behaviour, and with a polemic against the strict rules of courtly love. This misogyny, as is further discovered, is a rhetorical device to praise women as well as a tool to renew the genre of the love song from a thematic point of view.