CARENZA, Na

Na Carenza was an Occitan trobairitz active probably in the early thirteenth century. Nothing certain is known about her identity or life. The honorific Na means “Lady” in Old Occitan and is not part of her personal name.
Carenza is associated with the tenso or poetic debate Na Carenza al bel cors avinen, preserved in a single medieval source, the Milan chansonnier, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS R 71 Sup. In the poem, one or possibly two younger women ask Carenza whether they should marry or remain virgins, expressing particular concern about pregnancy and the burdens of married life. Carenza responds in the final stanzas, apparently recommending a form of spiritual rather than earthly marriage, although the precise meaning remains disputed.
Scholars disagree about the number of participants. Some interpret the poem as an exchange among three women, Alais, Yselda and Carenza, while others understand “Alaisina Yselda” as the name of a single interlocutor. The work survives as a poetic text; no securely attributable medieval melody has been preserved. Modern recordings therefore use reconstructed or newly composed musical settings.