Jean de Nesle

Jean de Nesle was born in 1155 - he was a French trouvere who had to bear the nickname Blondel bevause of his blond hair.
He was from Picardie, namely from the small town Nesle (Nigella) and around 20 lovesongs are believed to be written by him. His works are fairly conventional, and several have been recorded in modern times. (The melody of "L'amours dont sui espris" is used in Carmina Burana, for the song "Procurans Odium".)
Jean was a close friend to Richard I. (the Lionheart) - and for some time even his lover.

By 1260, Blondel's name had become attached to a legend in the highly fictionalised Récits d'un Ménestrel de Reims; this claimed that, after Richard I of England was arrested and held for ransom in 1192, he was found by the minstrel Blondel, whom he saw from his window, and to whom he sang a verse of a song they both knew. Later versions of the story related that Blondel went from castle to castle, singing a particular song, and that the imprisoned Richard replied with the second verse - thus identifying where he was imprisoned. Then, Blondel either aided the king's escape or reported his position back to his friends.

It is recorded that King Richard I granted a fief on the island of Guernsey to a vassal named Blondel, but it remains uncertain as to whether this has any connection with the legend, or whether the legend has any connection with the known trouvère.