A portrait of Marcabru, one of the earliest known troubadours, next to his vida in a 13th-century chansonnier.
A vida was a short biography of a troubadour, but they don't tend to be very reliable. They were written much later on, and usually draw on the troubadours' lyrics, most of which were fictional. Marcabru is a case in point – his two vidas give completely different accounts of his life.












