Sirventés

The sirventés is a poetic composition typical of Occitan or troubadour literature, from the formal point of view similar to that of the song (Occitan cançon ), but with a very different theme.

Formally, it usually consists of between 5 and 7 coblas and a tornada (just like the cansó). As for the content, it is a poem of circumstances, generally satirical, which in principle can deal with any theme (moral, political, literary criticism), except love. According to his case, Martín de Riquer divided the servientes into four categories:

a) Morales: directed against the decadence of chivalric customs, the corruption of the clergy, etc. It was cultivated by Marcabrú, Peire de Boussignac and Peire Cardenal.

b) Political: rivalries between feudal lords, criticism of institutions such as the monarchy, the Inquisition or the Pope. The theme of the Crusades also appears frequently in them. Its maximum representative is Bertran de Born.

c) Literary works: criticism of the works of other troubadours. It was cultivated by Peire d'Auvergne and the Monk of Montaudon. Within these there is a variant, the servantes-ensenhamen , in which the troubadour addresses the minstrel to explain what repertoire he must know.

d) Personal: they are basically insults towards the personal enemies of the troubadours. It was cultivated by, among others, Bertran de Born and Guilhem de Bergadá.

In Galician-Portuguese lyric, the cantiga de escarnho y de mal dizer has a function similar to sirventés. Also the saying of Castilian poetry from the XV century has been related to the serventés Provencal.

The Serventesian of the Castilian metric has its origin in the Provençal Servantes, since the combination ABAB was widely used in troubadour literature.