# Tenso

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{{short description|Style of troubadour song}}
{{italic title}}
A '''''tenso''''' ({{IPA|pro|tenˈsu, teⁿˈsu|label=Old Occitan:}}; {{langx|fr|tençon}}) is a style of [troubadour](/source/troubadour) song. It takes the form of a debate in which each voice defends a position; common topics relate to love or ethics. Usually, the tenso is written by two different poets, but several examples exist in which one of the parties is imaginary, including God ([Peire de Vic](/source/Peire_de_Vic)), the poet's horse ([Bertran Carbonel](/source/Bertran_Carbonel)) or his cloak ([Gui de Cavalhon](/source/Gui_de_Cavalhon)).<ref name=bec>{{cite book|last=Bec|first=Pierre|title=Burlesque et obscénité chez les troubadours : pour une approche du contre-texte médiéval|year=1984|publisher=Stock|location=Paris|isbn=2-234-01711-4|edition=ed. bilingue}}</ref> 
Closely related, and sometimes overlapping, genres include:

* the ''[partimen](/source/partimen)'', in which more than two voices discuss a subject
* the ''[cobla esparsa](/source/cobla_esparsa)'' or ''[cobla exchange](/source/cobla_exchange)'', a tenso of two stanzas only
* the ''contenson'', where the matter is eventually judged by a third party.

==Notable examples==
*[Marcabru](/source/Marcabru) and [Uc Catola](/source/Uc_Catola): [http://trobar.org/troubadours/marcabru/mcbr6.php ''Amics Marchabrun, car digam''], possibly the earliest known example.
*[Cercamon](/source/Cercamon) and Guilhalmi: [http://trobar.org/troubadours/cercamon/cmn7.php ''Car vei finir a tot dia''], another candidate for the earliest known example.
*[Raimbaut d'Aurenga](/source/Raimbaut_of_Orange) and [Giraut de Bornelh](/source/Giraut_de_Bornelh): [http://trobar.org/troubadours/aurenga/aa31.php ''Ara·m platz, Giraut de Borneill''], where major exponents of the two styles extol [trobar clus](/source/trobar_clus) and [trobar leu](/source/trobar_leu), respectively.
*[Raimbaut de Vaqueiras](/source/Raimbaut_de_Vaqueiras): [http://trobar.org/troubadours/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras_03.php ''Domna tan vos ai preiada''], where an (imaginary) [Genoese](/source/Genoa) lady answers the poet in her [own dialect](/source/Genoese_dialect), is the only early document written in it.
*Peire de Vic: [http://trobar.org/troubadours/montaudon/monge02.php ''L’autrier fui en paradis''], a contrast with God
*[Montan](/source/Montan_(troubadour)): [http://trobar.org/troubadours/misc/montan_tenso.php ''Eu veing vas vos, Seingner, fauda levada''], considered the most obscene of Old Occitan lyrics.
*Carenza and Iselda: [http://www.rialto.unina.it/AlYs/12.1(Paterson).htm ''Na Carenza al bel cors avenens''], about whether a lady should get married, between two trobairitz.

==Legacy==
In [Italian literature](/source/Italian_literature), the tenso was adapted as the ''tenzone''. In [Old French](/source/Old_French), it became the ''tençon''. 

In the [Galician-Portuguese lyric](/source/Galician-Portuguese_lyric), it was called ''tençom''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/palavra.asp?cdpal=375|title=Glossário - Tençom|work=Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas|access-date=August 22, 2022|lang=pt}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Western medieval lyric forms}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Western medieval lyric forms
Category:Occitan literary genres

{{Medieval-music-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tenso](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenso) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenso?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.