Mem Rodrigues Tenoiro
Trovador medieval

Biographical Note:

Castillian troubadour (but of a lineage originating in S. Pedro de Tenoiro, in the region of Pontevedra, Galicia1), active in the second half of the 13th century, in the courts of Alfonso X and Sancho IV. According to the genealogy proposed by Carolina Michaëlis2, he would also be descendant, although illegitimate, of Afonso IX of Leon. Of his life, we know that he was benefited in the repartimiento of Jeréz de la Frontera, between 1264 and 1269, settling afterwards in Seville, where he occupies, in 1277, the position of almoxarife. It’s also possible that he may be the Mem Rodrigues, benefited again in the repartimiento of Vejer de la Frontera, in 1288. He is also documented as a vassal to Sancho IV in 1290 and it is possible he died shortly after this date (or in 1295, as Minervini suggests3). In any case, and contrary to what Dona Carolina believed, it is most likely not him, but a homonym, the Mem Rodrigues Tenoiro documented as a vassal to Fernando IV in 1309 and as adelantado mayor de la frontera in 1315. The fact that Mem Rodrigues is one of the authors present in the Ajuda songbook (that doesn’t include later authors) thus suggests.
It should be added that one of his close relatives, Rui Peres Tenoiro (his brother, barring any confusion in the Books of Lineages) was responsible for the death of the troubadour Paio Gomes Charinho, murdered in 1295 in the context of the difficult succession of Sancho IV of Castilla, a crime for which he was convicted and executed that same year.

References

1 Oliveira, António Resende de (2001), O trovador galego-português e o seu mundo, Lisboa, Editorial Notícias, p. 198.

2 Vasconcelos, Carolina Michaëlis de (1990), Cancioneiro da Ajuda, vol. II, Lisboa, Imprensa nacional - Casa da Moeda (reimpressão da edição de Halle, 1904), p. 405.

3 Minervini, Vicenzo (1993), “Men Rodrigues Tenoiro”, in Lanciani, Giulia e Tavani, Giuseppe (org.), Dicionário da Literatura Medieval Galega e Portuguesa , Lisboa, Editorial Caminho.