Rui Martins do Casal
Trovador medieval

Biographical Note:

Portuguese troubadour, active in the final 13th century and early 14th. Original of a gentry lineage established in the region of Vila do Conde, he is documented in that same region between 1288 and 12961. Prior to that, however, he probably travelled to Castile, a possibility arising from the fact that the female voice of his two cantigas de amigo makes reference to the departure of his friend to Granada to fight the Muslims. Although we have no documental proof of this fact, it is then possible that he took part in the campaigns of Alfonso X, probably in the context of the Granada Mudejar rebellion in the 60’s decade of the 13th century. He returns, however, to Portugal, where we find him in the decade of 80, as the aforementioned documents show.
Starting in 1286 also his connections to the monastery of Tarouquela are documented, connections that he will keep until the end of his life, due to his personal liaison with the abbess Aldonça Martins de Resende (documented in the monastery from 1291), of whom he had two daughters, recognized by King Denis in 1300 and 1310. He is equally documented in the court in 1289 and during the next decade, having probably established himself in Santarém. He dies in early 1312, exactly at the monastery of Tarouquela.

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, pp. 433-434.