Rui Gomes, o Freire
Trovador medieval


Nationality: Galega?

Biographical Note:

Portuguese or galicien troubadour, active in the first decades of the 13th century, that is, in the initial stage of the Galician-Portuguese poetry. The designation “o Freire” (the Friar) that accompanies his name in the attributive item of his compositions certainly shows that he belonged to a military order. By analyzing the placement of those two songs in the Italian aphographs, which points to the said chronology, Resende de Oliveira suggests1 that he may be one Rodrigo Gomes, friar, that bears witness, in 1215, to a donation by princess Mafalda, daughter of Sancho I (and who will marry Henrique I of Castile that same year) to that very Order. José António Souto Cabo2 also advances that it is as a member of the retinue of the master of Calatrava, Gonçalo Anes da Nóvoa (brother of the troubadour Osoiro Anes) that Rui Gomes signs this document, which seems to indicate that he was a member of this order and also a Galician. We do not have, however, any other information regarding this author.


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.

2 Oliveira, António Resende de (2001), O trovador galego-português e o seu mundo, Lisboa, Editorial Notícias, 115.

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Cantigas (alphabetical order):


Oimais nom sei eu, mia senhor
Cantiga de Amor

Pois eu d'atal ventura, mia senhor
Cantiga de Amor