Little is known about Peirol's early life except that he was born at Peirol castle and was in service to the Dauphin of Auvergne at Clermont until 1202. It is not clear if he traveled on the third crusade but he did make an allusion to returning from Jerusalem on the fifth crusade. Of his thirty four poems that are extant, seventeen of them include the music including "Per dan que d'amor m'aveigna" which was later imitated. This was the only work of Peirol's that received such praise. He composed predominantly in "vers" and "sonets" and may have intended to use the terms synonymously. Interestingly the "vers" were often through-composed and melismatic while the "sonets" were succinct and more syllabic. Peirol's most famous work was "Quant amors trobet partit" which unfolds as an argument between the topics of taking the cross to the crusades or serving the woman in his life. It may have been written at the time of the third crusade. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi