𝐴𝑖𝑢𝑡𝑎 𝐷𝑒’ 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎 𝑙𝑢

The Alba (sunrise) was a very popular poetic genre in the 12th and 13th centuries, in which two lovers, after a night of love, are in torment for the arrival of dawn, the daylight is the moment in which they must separate rapidly if they do not want to be discovered by the “Gilos”, her husband. It has to be remembered that in the past marriages did not take place for love and, according to the laws of Courtly Love, it was accepted for a woman to have only one lover, chosen for true and sincere love, in addition to her husband. Often in these compositions the verses were sung by a fourth figure, called “sentry“. It could be a male or a female and had the task of watching over the two lovers and waking them up quickly in case of problems or at sunrise if they weren’t awake. The most famous alba that has come complete with music is that of Giraut de Borneill, a troubadour born in Aquitaine, called by his contemporaries “master of the troubadours“. The geographical borders in the 12th and