Lorenç Mallol
Lorenç Mallol, also spelled Laurenç or Llorenç, was a Catalan poet who flourished around 1350. He is regarded as the first Petrarchan influence in Catalonia and one of the last troubadours. Only two of his poems survive, and they are written in Old Occitan.
His first surviving poem is a complex, figurative piece titled Sobre·l pus alt de tots los cims d'un arbre. It was dedicated to the Consistori del Gay Saber in Toulouse. The poem uses a mystical allegory with Jesus represented as a white bird and Jews described in harsh terms; the tree stands for the true cross. The poem has two closing stanzas addressed to different addressees: one to Mon Rich Thesaur, a code name for the Virgin Mary, and the other to the seven lords of the Toulouse guild. A medieval scholar explains that this was actually written for the Toulouse Consistori, not the Barcelona one (founded in 1393), since it predates the Barcelona foundation. The Marian reference fits the Toulouse Consistori, and the work is usually seen as a religious sirventes. It is not clear whether it won a prize at the courtly poetry contests or when it was composed.
Lorenç’s other known poem is esconder (escondit), titled Moltes de vetz, dompna, m suy presentatz. It tells how jealous men claimed he boasted his beloved loved him, violating the secrecy of love. Lorenç denies the charge, in a way influenced by Petrarch. The famous line that begins the main part of the poem in Occitan is Si·u diguí may. In the closing stanza he uses the same code name Mon Rich Thesaur, this time addressing an anonymous lady rather than the Virgin Mary. He also seems influenced by Bertran de Born, who wrote the only other escondig known to a troubadour. This poem shows a blend of Renaissance Petrarchism with traditional troubadour style. It is not considered groundbreaking; he did not adopt Petrarch’s most innovative techniques. Still, Lorenç is one of the few Catalan poets of his time who found value in Petrarch and Italian writers and adapted them into the old troubadour framework.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:51 (CET).