Planh
A genre of the troubadours, the planh or plaing is a funeral lament for "a great personage, a protector, a friend or relative, or a lady." Its main elements are expression of grief, praise of the deceased and prayer for his or her soul. It is descended from the medieval Latin planctus.
The planh is similar to the sirventes in that both were typically contrafacta. They made use of existing melodies, often imitating the original song even down to the rhymes. The most famous planh of all, however, Gaucelm Faidit's lament on the death of King Richard the Lionheart in 1199, was set to original music.
Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker identifies three types of planh: "the moralizing planh", in which the expression of grief is a point of departure for social criticism; "the true lament", in which personal grief is central; and "the courtly planh", in which the impact of the death on the court is emphasised. Alfred Jeanroy considered that the common denunciation of the evils of the present age was a feature that distinguished the planh from the planctus. In the conventions of the genre, the subject's death is announced by the simple words es mortz. By the 13th century, the placement of these words within the poem was fixed: it occurred in the seventh or eighth line of the first stanza. It is perhaps an indication of the sincerity of their grief that the troubadours rarely praised the successors of their patrons in the planh.
There are forty-four surviving planhz. The earliest planh is that by Cercamon on the death of Duke William X of Aquitaine in 1137. The latest is an anonymous lament on the death of King Robert of Naples in 1343. The planh was regarded by contemporaries as a distinct genre and is mentioned in the Doctrina de compondre dictatz and the Leys d'amors.
Chronological table of ''planhz''
The following table lists 42 planhz.| Composer | Incipit | Date | Mourned |
| Cercamon | ' | 1137 | William X of Aquitaine |
| Giraut de Borneil | ' | 1173 | Raimbaut d'Aurenga |
| Guillem de Berguedà | Cousiros chan e planh e plor | 1180 | Pons de Mataplana |
| Bertran de Born ? | ' | 1183 | Henry the Young King |
| Bertran de Born | ' | 1183 | Henry the Young King |
| Folquet de Marselha | ' | 1192 | Barral I dels Baus |
| Gaucelm Faidit | ' | 1199 | Richard the Lion-Hearted |
| Giraut de Borneil | ' | 1199 | Aimar V of Limoges |
| Pons de Capduelh | De totz caitius sui eu aicel que plus | ???? | Azalais, wife of Ozil de Mercœur |
| Guillem Augier Novella | Cascus plor e planh son damnatge | 1209 | Raymond Roger Trencavel |
| Lanfranc Cigala | ' | 1210s | Berlenda |
| Giraut de Calanso | ' | 1211 | Ferdinand, infante of Castile |
| Gavaudan | Crezens fis verais et entiers | 1212 | his anonymous lady |
| Aimeric de Peguilhan | Ja no cugei quem pogues oblidar | 1212 | Azzo VI of Este and Boniface of Verona |
| Aimeric de Peguilhan | S'eu chantei alegres ni jauzens | 1212 | Azzo VI of Este and Boniface of Verona |
| Daude de Pradas | ' | 1220-30 | Uc Brunet |
| Aimeric de Peguilhan | Ara par be que Valors se desfai | 1220 | Guglielmo Malaspina |
| Aimeric de Peguilhan | De tot en tot es ar de mi partitz | ???? | bona comtessa Biatritz |
| Sordel | ' | 1237 | Blacatz |
| Bertran d'Alamanon | ' | 1237 | Blacatz |
| Peire Bremon Ricas Novas | ' | 1237 | Blacatz |
| Aimeric de Belenoi | ' | 1242 | Nuño Sánchez |
| Aimeric de Peguilhan ? | Ab marrimen angoissos et ab plor | 1245 | Raymond Berengar IV of Provence |
| Rigaut de Berbezilh attr. | En chantan plaing e sospir | 1245 | Raymond Berengar IV of Provence |
| Bonifaci Calvo | S'ieu ai perdut, no s'en podon jauzir | 1250-65 | his anonymous lady |
| Bertran Carbonel | S'ieu anc nulh tems chantei alegramen | 1252-65 | P. G. |
| Pons Santolh | Marritz com hom malsabens ab frachura | 1260 | Guilhem de Montanhagol |
| Raimon Gaucelm | Cascus planh lo sieu damnatge | 1262 | Guiraut d'Alanhan, burgess of Béziers |
| Anonymous | Totas honors e tug fag benestan | 1266 | Manfred of Sicily |
| Bertolome Zorzi | Sil mons fondes a meravilha gran | 1268 | Conradin and Frederick I of Baden |
| Paulet de Marselha | 1268 | Barral II dels Baus | |
| Anonymous | En chantan m'aven a retraire | 1269 | Gregorio de Montelungo |
| Guilhem d'Autpol ? | Fortz tristors es e salvatj'a retraire | 1270 | Louis IX of France |
| Guiraut Riquier | Ples de tristor, marritz e doloiros | 1270 | Amalric IV of Narbonne |
| Joan Esteve | Aissi quol malanans | 1270 | Amalric IV of Narbonne |
| Mahieu de Quercy | Tan sui marritz que nom puesc alegrar | 1276 | James the Conqueror |
| Cerverí de Girona | Si per tristor per dol ni per cossire | 1276 | James the Conqueror |
| Cerverí de Girona | Joys ni solatz, pascors, abrils ni mais | 1276 | Raimon de Cardona |
| Joan Esteve | Planhen ploran ab desplazer | 1289 | Guilhem de Lodeva |
| Raimon Menudet | Ab grans dolors et ab grans merrimens | ???? | Daude de Bossaguas |
| Raimon de Cornet | Aras quan vey de bos homes fraytura | 1324 | Amanieu VII of Albret |
| Anonymous | Glorios Dieus, don totz bens ha creysensa | 1343 | Robert the Peace-Maker |