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11:06 Oct 4, 2010
French to English translations [PRO] Genealogy
French term or phrase:donzel
"Et haut et puissant seigneur Monseigneur Raymond Arnaud de Castaigner, chevalier ***donzel*** de Lauzerte seigneur d’Aucastels, Moncuq, la Valette, Sauveterre, Mondenar, Montesquiou-Durfort, la Montjoye, Campagnac, la Mothe-Durfort et autres places."
In any case, our Ray was surely no kid --he was the invested Lord of multiple fiefs. Just not (yet) Lauzerte, which may not have had a "Lord," only a donzel, perhaps because it was a "bastide" or new town/fortified village only created in 1241.
These New Towns created by special charters had their "liberties" specifically spelled out by the Overlord of the place (in this case, the Count of Toulouse), who may have then given part of his power away in fief to another local noble. I still don't like this idea of "donzel" being a special species of "Lord," however.
Possibly a "special title" to replace something like chatelain, after 1229 at any rate, given that "Après le traité de Meaux en 1229, le roi de France fit abattre les murs de la ville et le château, dont il ne reste que le donjon"? http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montcuq
And yes, the q is pronounced. I wonder in which way David Garnett had it.
Since this guy is haut et puissant seigneur it seems strange that he is but a donzel in the "young nobleman awaiting dubbing" sense, so I rather assume that as a title the qualification de donzel, as this document calls it, is an anomaly, something very specific to the region or, indeed, a handful of towns.
[ad. It. donzello ‘a damosell, a batchelor; also a page, a squire, a waiter, a serving man’ (Florio) = Pr. donzel, Sp. doncel, OF. donzel, doncel, dancel young man:{em}late L. dom(i)nicell-us, dim. of dominus lord, master: cf. DAMOISEAU.]
A young gentleman not yet knighted, a squire, a page.
both because "squire" might be misinterpreted (as the chevalier's servant) and because this guy Ray is clearly not (yet) the "seigneur" of Lauzerete --though he *is* Lord of the other places. This is curious --why not Lord of L. as well? Some kind of problem with the inheritance, perhaps? He appears to be a sort of young "Lord-in-waiting." I've never, ever come across the term in 12th-13th c. documents, either in Latin or (Old/modern) French --perhaps it is of somewhat localized, regional usage (and was not used in the Chartrain/Orleanais/Ile-de-France, where I have done my work).
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +6