João Vasques de Talaveira
Trovador medieval

Biographical Note:

Troubadour, probably castillian, active in the final decades of the 13th century. Judging from his last name, João Vasques would be natural of Talavera de la Reina, close to Toledo, and would possibly belong to a gentry lineage. The only reliable document we have concerning him is that of a payment he received for being part of a group of infanções (knights) that accompanied Sancho IV of Castilla in his trip to Baiona, in 12861. However, his obvious relations with alphonsine troubadours and minstrels (or even his references to the famous soldadeira Maria Balteira), and also the exchange with Pedro Amigo de Sevilha concerning the controversial question of the imperial throne, an exchange demonstrably written shortly before the departure of Alfonso X to Beaucaire, in 1274, show us that well before he had equally frequented the troubadourean circle of the Wise king.

References

1 Oliveira, António Resende de (1994), Depois do espectáculo trovadoresco. A estrutura dos cancioneiros peninsulares e as recolhas dos séculos XIII e XIV, Lisboa, Edições Colibri, p. 374 (citando Gaibrois Ballesteros).