Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun
Raimon Vidal de Bezaudu(n) (Catalan: "Ramon Vidal de Besalú") (flourished early 13th century) was a Catalan troubadour from Besalù. He is notable for authoring the first tract in a Romance language (Occitan) on the subject of grammar and poetry, the "Razós de trobar" (c. 1210), a title which translates as "Reasons (or Guidelines) of troubadour composition". He began his career as a joglar and he spent his formative years at the court of Hug de Mataplana, which he often recalls fondly in his poems and songs. In the "Razós", Raimon distinguishes the "parladura francesa" (French) from  the "cella de Lemosin" (Occitan). He also discusses the art of the listener ("li auzidor") and his responsibility to understand the troubadour works. Raimon's insistence that the audience understand what is sung and that they keep silent during its singing has been regarded as seminal in the history of classical music. To him, listeners have a responsibility to enquire about what they do not understand (which is "one of the wisest things in the world") and to be true to the quality of the work, praising greatness and condemning poor form. Vidal also took pains to argue for the  superiority of "lemosí" (or "Lemozi", i.e., Occitan) over other vernaculars, prompting the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri to write a "De Vulgari Eloquentia" justifying the use of the Tuscan vernacular as opposed to the Occitan. The "Razós" ends with an Occitan-Italian glossary. Late in the 13th century, Terramagnino of Pisa wrote a condensed verse form of the "Razós". Jofre de Foixà wrote an expanded version, the "Regles de trobar", for James II of Sicily. In addition to the aforementioned tract, there are preserved several fragments of song lyrics and three narrative "romans". Among his most famous is "So fo e·l  temps qu'om era gais", which is fawning in its treatment of Raimon de Miraval, an earlier troubadour. In the "nova", Raimon presents two ladies as fighting over one knight. The "nova" or "ensenhamen" called "Abril issi'e mays intrava", which also refers to Miraval (and to the three sons of Henry II of England: "Enricx", "Richartz", and "Jofrés"), is an assessment of contemporary literature and one of the best descriptions of the joglar that we possess. Finally, the "Castiagilós" is much like a fable, which narrates the story of a jealous husband who is eventually convinced that his suspicions are baseless . Vidal wrote at the height of the troubadours' popularity and as he himself said: "all people wish to listen to troubadour songs and to compose ("trobar") them, including Christians, Saracens, Jews, emperors, princes, kings, dukes, counts, viscounts, vavassours, knights, clerics, townsmen, and villeins." "Tota gens Crestiana, Juzeus e Sarazís, emperador, princeps, rei, duc, conte, vesconte, contor, valvasor e tuit autre cavailler e clergues borgés e vilanz."