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87-622: The Cambridge Songs ( Carmina Cantabrigiensia ) are a collection of Goliardic medieval Latin poems found on ten leaves (ff. 432–41) of the Codex Cantabrigiensis ( C , MS Gg. 5.35), now in Cambridge University Library . The songs as they survive are copies made shortly before or after the Norman Conquest (1066). They may have been collected by an English scholar while travelling on

174-592: A burgher of Béziers. Joan Esteve and Bernart both composed in support of the French in the Aragonese Crusade . The Béziers poets are a shining example of the transformation of Occitania in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, but also of the ability of troubadours to survive it. Troubadours, at least after their style became established, usually followed some set of "rules", like those of

261-649: A courtly entertainer (as opposed to popular or low-class one) and a troubadour was a poet and composer. Despite the distinctions noted, many troubadours were also known as jongleurs, either before they began composing or alongside. Aimeric de Belenoi , Aimeric de Sarlat , Albertet Cailla , Arnaut de Mareuil , Elias de Barjols , Elias Fonsalada , Falquet de Romans , Guillem Magret , Guiraut de Calanso , Nicoletto da Torino , Peire Raimon de Tolosa , Peire Rogier , Peire de Valeira , Peirol , Pistoleta , Perdigon , Salh d'Escola , Uc de la Bacalaria , Uc Brunet , and Uc de Saint Circ were jongleur-troubadours. A vida

348-461: A distinction was definitely being made between an inventor of original verse and the performers of others'. The latter were called joglars in both Occitan and Catalan, from the Latin ioculatores , giving rise also to the French jongleur , Castilian juglar , and English juggler , which has come to refer to a more specific breed of performer. The medieval jongleur/joglar is really a minstrel . At

435-485: A kind of traveling entertainer, the goliards composed many of their poems to be sung. These poems, or lyrics, focus on two overarching themes: depictions of the lusty lifestyle of the vagrant and satirical criticisms of society and the church. Expressing their lusty lifestyle, the goliards wrote about the physicality of love, in contrast to the chivalric focus of the troubadours . They wrote drinking songs and reveled in riotous living. Their satirical poems directed at

522-530: A lifestyle. One of the largest and most famous collections of goliardic poetry is the Carmina Burana , translated as "Songs from Beuern". It includes about 300 poems written mostly in Latin; "few are in Old French, Provencal and Middle German." The satires were meant to mock and lampoon the church. For example, at St. Remy , the goliards went to mass in procession, with each trailing a herring on

609-409: A lot as their male counterparts, with the general exceptions of their poetic style and their provenance. They wrote predominantly cansos and tensos ; only one sirventes by a named woman, Gormonda de Monpeslier , survives (though two anonymous ones are attributed to women). One salut d'amor , by a woman ( Azalais d'Altier ) to a woman ( Clara d'Anduza ) is also extant and one anonymous planh

696-419: A major focus. Many felt no particular affinity for religious office, and often could not secure an office even if they desired one because of an overabundance of those educated in theology. Consequently, over-educated, under-motivated clerics often adopted not the life of an ordered monk, but one mainly intent on the pursuit of carnal pleasures. The goliards, as scholars, often wrote their poetry in Latin. As

783-537: A missing folio that contained twenty-seven more was discovered in Frankfurt and returned to the University Library in 1982. All these songs were copied in the same hand. Seven songs in a different hand, but occurring in the same Codex (after the first forty-nine) have since been identified as probably part of the collection. The total number of Cambridge Songs is now considered to be eighty-three. Some of

870-439: A poem appears to be about on its surface is rarely what is intended by the poet or understood by audiences "in the know". The clus style was invented early by Marcabru but only favoured by a few masters thereafter. The trobar ric style is not as opaque as the clus , rather it employs a rich vocabulary, using many words, rare words, invented words, and unusual, colourful wordings. Modern scholars recognise several "schools" in

957-648: A poem" by regular phonetic change . This reconstructed form is based on the Latin root tropus , meaning a trope . In turn, the Latin word derives ultimately from Greek τρόπος ( trópos ), meaning "turn, manner". Intervocal Latin [p] shifted regularly to [b] in Occitan (cf. Latin sapere → Occitan saber , French savoir "to know"). The Latin suffix -ātor , -ātōris explains the Occitan suffix, according to its declension and accentuation : Gallo-Romance * tropātor → Occitan trobaire (subject case) and * tropātōre → Occitan trobador (oblique case). There

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1044-439: A potential Andalusian origin for his works. The scholars attempted to translate the lines in question, though the medievalist Istvan Frank contended that the lines were not Arabic at all, but instead the result of the rewriting of the original by a later scribe. Scholars like Ramón Menéndez Pidal stated that the troubadour tradition was created by William, who had been influenced by Moorish music and poetry while fighting with

1131-537: A pre-existing Latin corpus must merely be lost to us. That many troubadours received their grammatical training in Latin through the Church (from clerici , clerics) and that many were trained musically by the Church is well-attested. The musical school of Saint Martial's at Limoges has been singled out in this regard. "Para-liturgical" tropes were in use there in the era preceding the troubadours' appearance. This theory or set of related theories has gained ground in

1218-512: A quarter century earlier, or Guilleuma de Rosers , who composed a tenso with Lanfranc Cigala , known between 1235 and 1257. There exist brief prose biographies— vidas —for eight trobairitz: Almucs de Castelnau (actually a razo ), Azalais de Porcairagues , the Comtessa de Dia, Castelloza, Iseut de Capio (also a razo ), Lombarda, Maria de Ventadorn , and Tibors de Sarenom. Three main styles of Occitan lyric poetry have been identified:

1305-495: A single poet; an alba or canso could be written with religious significance, addressed to God or the Virgin; and a sirventes may be nothing more than a political attack. The maldit and the comiat were often connected as a maldit-comiat and they could be used to attack and renounce a figure other than a lady or a lover, like a commanding officer (when combined, in a way, with the sirventes ). Peire Bremon Ricas Novas uses

1392-443: A string along the ground. The game was to step on the herring in front and keep your own herring from being trod upon. In some districts, goliards staged a celebration of the ass , in which a donkey dressed in a silly costume was led to the chancel rail where a cantor chanted a song of praise. When he paused, the audience would respond: "He Haw, Sire Ass, He haw!". The University of Paris complained: Priests and clerks... dance in

1479-421: A trope", the trope being a poem where the words are used with a meaning different from their common signification, i.e. metaphor and metonymy . This poem was originally inserted in a serial of modulations ending a liturgic song. Then the trope became an autonomous piece organized in stanza form. The influence of late 11th-century poets of the "Loire school", such as Marbod of Rennes and Hildebert of Lavardin ,

1566-477: A variety of ways, lived, and travelled in many different places, and were actors in many types of social context. The troubadours were not wandering entertainers. Typically, they stayed in one place for a lengthy period of time under the patronage of a wealthy nobleman or woman. Many did travel extensively, however, sojourning at one court and then another. The earliest known troubadour, the Duke of Aquitaine, came from

1653-399: Is trobadors , found in a 12th-century Occitan text by Cercamon . The French word itself is borrowed from the Occitan trobador . It is the oblique case of the nominative trobaire "composer", related to trobar "to compose, to discuss, to invent" ( Wace , Brut , editions I. Arnold, 3342). Trobar may come, in turn, from the hypothetical Late Latin * tropāre "to compose, to invent

1740-565: Is a brief prose biography, written in Occitan , of a troubadour. The word vida means "life" in Occitan. In the chansonniers , the manuscript collections of medieval troubadour poetry, the works of a particular author are often accompanied by a short prose biography. The vidas are important early works of vernacular prose nonfiction. Nevertheless, it appears that many of them derive their facts from literal readings of their objects' poems, which leaves their historical reliability in doubt. Most of

1827-616: Is an alternative theory to explain the meaning of trobar as "to compose, to discuss, to invent". It has the support of some historians , specialists of literature, and musicologists to justify the troubadours' origins in Arabic Andalusian musical practices. According to them, the Arabic word ṭaraba "music" (from the triliteral root ṭ–r–b ط ر ب "provoke emotion, excitement, agitation; make music, entertain by singing" as in طرب أندلسي , ṭarab ʾandalusī ) could partly be

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1914-448: Is clear, for example from the poetry of Bertran de Born , that jongleurs were performers who did not usually compose. They often performed the troubadours' songs: singing, playing instruments, dancing, and even doing acrobatics. In the late 13th century Guiraut Riquier bemoaned the inexactness of his contemporaries and wrote a letter to Alfonso X of Castile , a noted patron of literature and learning of all kinds, for clarification on

2001-429: Is described as the son of a noble jongleur, presumably a petty noble lineage. Later troubadours especially could belong to lower classes, ranging from the middle class of merchants and "burgers" (persons of urban standing) to tradesmen and others who worked with their hands. Salh d'Escola and Elias de Barjols were described as the sons of merchants and Elias Fonsalada was the son of a burger and jongleur. Perdigon

2088-514: Is just peripheral. Käte Axhausen has "exploited" this theory and A. J. Denomy has linked it with the Arabist (through Avicenna ) and the Cathar (through John Scotus Eriugena ). The earliest troubadour whose work survives is Guilhèm de Peitieus, better known as Duke William IX of Aquitaine (1071–1126). Peter Dronke, author of The Medieval Lyric , however, believes that "[his] songs represent not

2175-423: Is seen as evidence. This theory has been developed away from sociological towards psychological explanation. This theory may relate to spring folk rituals. According to María Rosa Menocal , Alfred Jeanroy first suggested that folklore and oral tradition gave rise to troubadour poetry in 1883. According to F. M. Warren, it was Gaston Paris , Jeanroy's reviewer, in 1891 who first located troubadour origins in

2262-409: Is stressed in this connexion by Brinkmann. This theory is one of the more intellectualising. The "ennobling effects of love" in specific have been identified as neoplatonic . It is viewed either as a strength or weakness that this theory requires a second theory about how the neoplatonism was transmitted to the troubadours; perhaps it can be coupled with one of the other origins stories or perhaps it

2349-451: Is usually assigned a female authorship. They wrote almost entirely within the trobar leu style; only two poems, one by Lombarda and another Alais, Yselda, and Carenza , are usually considered to belong to the more demanding trobar clus . None of the trobairitz were prolific, or if they were their work has not survived. Only two have left us more than one piece: the Comtessa de Dia, with four, and Castelloza , with three or four. One of

2436-579: Is worth anything. When referring to themselves seriously, troubadours almost invariably use the word chantaire ("singer"). The early study of the troubadours focused intensely on their origins. No academic consensus was ever achieved in the area. Today, one can distinguish at least eleven competing theories (the adjectives used below are a blend from the Grove Dictionary of Music and Roger Boase's The Origins and Meaning of Courtly Love ): The sixteenth century Italian historian Giammaria Barbieri

2523-454: The Leys d'amors (compiled between 1328 and 1337). Initially all troubadour verses were called simply vers , yet this soon came to be reserved for only love songs and was later replaced by canso , though the term lived on as an antique expression for the troubadours' early works and was even employed with a more technically meaning by the last generation of troubadours (mid-14th century), when it

2610-530: The trobar leu (light), trobar ric (rich), and trobar clus (closed, hermetic ). The first was by far the most common: the wording is straightforward and relatively simple compared to the ric and literary devices are less common than in the clus . This style was the most accessible and it was immensely popular. The most famous poet of the trobar leu was Bernart de Ventadorn . The trobar clus regularly escapes modern scholarly interpretation. Words are commonly used metaphorically and symbolically and what

2697-491: The Cluniac Reform ) and Guido Errante. Mario Casella and Leo Spitzer have added " Augustinian " influence to it. The survival of pre-Christian sexual mores and warrior codes from matriarchal societies, be they Celtic , Germanic , or Pictish , among the aristocracy of Europe can account for the idea (fusion) of "courtly love". The existence of pre-Christian matriarchy has usually been treated with scepticism as has

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2784-563: The Imperial court , and the scraps of Plato then available to scholars have all been cited as classical influences on troubadour poetry. According to this thesis, troubadour poetry is a reflection of Cathar religious doctrine. While the theory is supported by the traditional and near-universal account of the decline of the troubadours coinciding with the suppression of Catharism during the Albigensian Crusade (first half of

2871-584: The Minnesang in Germany, trovadorismo in Galicia and Portugal , and that of the trouvères in northern France. Dante Alighieri in his De vulgari eloquentia defined the troubadour lyric as fictio rethorica musicaque poita : rhetorical , musical, and poetical fiction. After the "classical" period around the turn of the 13th century and a mid-century resurgence, the art of the troubadours declined in

2958-540: The Reconquista . However, George T. Beech states that there is only one documented battle that William fought in the Iberian Peninsula, and it occurred towards the end of his life. Beech adds that while the sources of William's inspirations are uncertain, he and his father did have individuals within their extended family with Iberian origins, and he may have been friendly with some Europeans who could speak

3045-494: The etymon of the verb trobar . Another Arabic root had already been proposed before: ḍ–r–b ( ض ر ب ) "strike", by extension "play a musical instrument". In archaic and classical troubadour poetry, the word is only used in a mocking sense, having more or less the meaning of "somebody who makes things up". Cercamon writes: Peire d'Alvernha also begins his famous mockery of contemporary authors cantarai d'aquest trobadors , after which he proceeds to explain why none of them

3132-739: The podestà -troubadours to follow Rambertino, four were from Genoa: the Guelphs Luca Grimaldi , who also served in Florence, Milan, and Ventimiglia , and Luchetto Gattilusio , who served in Milan, Cremona , and Bologna, and the Ghibellines Perceval Doria , who served in Arles , Avignon , Asti , and Parma , and Simon Doria , sometime podestà of Savona and Albenga . Among the non-Genoese podestà -troubadours

3219-485: The vidas were composed in Italy in the 1220s, many by Uc de Saint Circ . A razo (from Occitan for "reason") was a similar short piece of Occitan prose detailing the circumstances of a particular composition. A razo normally introduced the poem it explained; it might, however, share some of the characteristics of a vida . The razos suffer from the same problems as the vidas in terms of reliability. Many are likewise

3306-632: The 13th century), support for it has come in waves. The explicitly Catholic meaning of many early troubadour works also works against the theory. The troubadour lyric may be a development of the Christian liturgy and hymnody . The influence of the Song of Songs has even been suggested. There is no preceding Latin poetry resembling that of the troubadours. On those grounds, no theory of the latter's origins in classical or post-classical Latin can be constructed, but that has not deterred some, who believe that

3393-484: The 14th century and around the time of the Black Death (1348) and since died out. The texts of troubadour songs deal mainly with themes of chivalry and courtly love . Most were metaphysical , intellectual, and formulaic. Many were humorous or vulgar satires . Works can be grouped into three styles: the trobar leu (light), trobar ric (rich), and trobar clus (closed). Likewise there were many genres ,

3480-453: The 20th century. It is more a methodological approach to the question than a theory; it asks not from where the content or form of the lyric came but rather in what situation or circumstances did it arise. Under Marxist influence, Erich Köhler , Marc Bloch , and Georges Duby have suggested that the "essential hegemony" in the castle of the lord's wife during his absence was a driving force. The use of feudal terminology in troubadour poems

3567-601: The Arabic language. Regardless of William's personal involvement in the tradition's creation, Magda Bogin states that Arab poetry was likely one of several influences on European "courtly love poetry", citing Ibn Hazm 's " The Ring of the Dove " as an example of a similar Arab tradition. Methods of transmission from Arab Iberia to the rest of Europe did exist, such as the Toledo School of Translators , though it only began translating major romances from Arabic into Latin in

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3654-665: The Goliard or Goliards who composed them came from the north or middle Rhineland , probably the area between Trier , Cologne , and Xanten . It has been suggested that some of the songs originated in France or Italy . While most of the Cambridge Songs survive only in the Cambridge manuscript, a few are duplicated in a manuscript, W , from Wolfenbüttel . The Cambridge Songs were long thought to be forty-nine in number, but

3741-455: The Latin gula, gluttony. It may also originate from a mythical "Bishop Golias", a medieval Latin form of the name Goliath , the giant who fought King David in the Bible —thus suggestive of the monstrous nature of the goliard or, notes historian Christopher de Hamel , as "those people beyond the edge of society". Another source may be gailliard, a "gay fellow". Many scholars believe

3828-538: The beginnings of a tradition but summits of achievement in that tradition." His name has been preserved because he was the Duke of Aquitaine , but his work plays with already established structures; Eble II of Ventadorn is often credited as a predecessor, though none of his work survives. Orderic Vitalis referred to William composing songs about his experiences on his return from the Crusade of 1101 (c. 1102). This may be

3915-603: The bystanders in infamous performances, with indecent gestures and with scurrilous and unchaste words. The goliards used sacred sources such as texts from the Roman Catholic Mass and Latin hymns and played upon them to secular and satirical purposes in their poems (such as in the Drinkers Mass ). The jargon of scholastic philosophy also is frequently featured in their poems, either for satirical purposes, or because these concepts were familiar parts of

4002-426: The choir dressed as women... they sing wanton songs. They eat black pudding at the altar itself, while the celebrant is saying Mass. They play dice on the altar. They cense with stinking smoke from the soles of old shoes. They run and leap throughout the church, without a blush of their own shame. Finally they drive about the town and its theatres in shabby carriages and carts, and rouse the laughter of their fellows and

4089-417: The church were inspired by their daily worlds, including mounting corruption in monasteries and escalating tensions among religious leaders. As a result of their rebellious writings against the church, the goliards were eventually denied the privileges of the clergy. Their strained relationship with the church, along with their vagabond lifestyle, also contributed to many poems describing the complaints of such

4176-564: The continent sometime after the last datable song (1039), and brought back with him to the church of Saint Augustine at Canterbury , where they were copied and where the Codex was long kept. The original manuscript was possibly lost in a fire that struck Saint Augustine's in 1168. The dialect of the few vernacular portions found in some of the songs is in the North Rheno-Franconian dialect of Old High German , suggesting that

4263-463: The earliest reference to troubadour lyrics. Orderic also provides us (1135) with what may be the first description of a troubadour performance: an eyewitness account of William of Aquitaine. Picauensis uero dux ... miserias captiuitatis suae ... coram regibus et magnatis atque Christianis coetibus multotiens retulit rythmicis uersibus cum facetis modulationibus . (X.21) Then the Poitevin duke ...

4350-573: The festive dances of women hearkening the spring in the Loire Valley . This theory has since been widely discredited, but the discovery of the jarchas raises the question of the extent of literature (oral or written) in the 11th century and earlier. Hans Spanke analysed the intertextual connexion between vernacular and medieval Latin (such as Goliardic ) songs. This theory is supported by Reto Bezzola, Peter Dronke, and musicologist Jacques Chailley . According to them, trobar means "inventing

4437-557: The first female composers of secular music in the Western tradition. The word trobairitz was first used in the 13th-century Romance of Flamenca and its derivation is the same as that of trobaire but in feminine form. There were also female counterparts to the joglars : the joglaresas . The number of trobairitz varies between sources: there were twenty or twenty-one named trobairitz, plus an additional poet known only as Domna H. There are several anonymous texts ascribed to women;

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4524-423: The following troubadours note their clerical status: Aimeric de Belenoi , Folquet de Marselha (who became a bishop), Gui d'Ussel , Guillem Ramon de Gironella , Jofre de Foixà (who became an abbot), Peire de Bussignac , Peire Rogier , Raimon de Cornet , Uc Brunet , and Uc de Saint Circ . The Occitan words trobador and trobaire are relatively rare compared with the verb trobar (compose, invent), which

4611-420: The goliards were the authors of vast parts of this satirical and worldly poetry that originated in the twelfth and early thirteenth century has been criticized in recent revisionist work on the grounds that most traceable goliardic poets were an integral part of church hierarchy and often worked as teachers in the secular clergy. It also claims that they had no communality nor a single provable point of contact with

4698-467: The greatest composer of melodies to ever live, and Bertran de Born , the master of the sirventes , or political song, which became increasingly popular in this period. The classical period came to be seen by later generations, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries and outside of Occitania, as representing the high point of lyric poetry and models to be emulated. The language of the classic poets, its grammar and vocabulary, their style and themes, were

4785-487: The height of troubadour poetry (the "classical period"), troubadours are often found attacking jongleurs and at least two small genres arose around the theme: the ensenhamen joglaresc and the sirventes joglaresc . These terms are debated, however, since the adjective joglaresc seems to imply "in the manner of the jongleurs ". Inevitably, however, pieces of these genres are verbal attacks at jongleurs , in general and in specific, with named individuals being called out. It

4872-537: The high nobility. He was followed immediately by two poets of unknown origins, known only by their sobriquets, Cercamon and Marcabru , and by a member of the princely class, Jaufre Rudel . Many troubadours are described in their vidas as poor knights. It was one of the most common descriptors of status. Berenguier de Palazol , Gausbert Amiel , Guilhem Ademar , Guiraudo lo Ros , Marcabru , Peire de Maensac , Peirol , Raimon de Miraval , Rigaut de Berbezilh , and Uc de Pena are all so described. Albertet de Sestaro

4959-628: The historical goliards. Instead, the revisionist thesis posits that the cathedral schools of northern France were the decisive historical context of goliardic poetry. Thus, it argues that "goliardic poets" on the one hand and "goliards" on the other hand need to be strictly distinguished. This fringe view runs contrary to the conclusions drawn from established and widely accepted historical and philological research. Troubadour A troubadour ( English: / ˈ t r uː b ə d ʊər , - d ɔːr / , French: [tʁubaduʁ] ; Occitan : trobador [tɾuβaˈðu] )

5046-555: The ideal to which poets of the troubadour revival in Toulouse (creation of the Consistori del Gay Saber in 1323) and their Catalan and Castilian contemporaries aspired. During the classical period the "rules" of poetic composition had first become standardised and written down, first by Raimon Vidal and then by Uc Faidit . The 450 or so troubadours known to historians came from a variety of backgrounds. They made their living in

5133-517: The imperial court." All the songs in the Cambridge codex (ff.432–44) are sometimes catalogued as "Lyrics in honour of the emperors of Germany in the first half of the XI century". Those songs from Nenia de mortuo Heinrico II imperatore to Gratulatio regine a morbo recreate directly praise the rulers of the Salian dynasty . Goliard The derivation of the word is uncertain. It may come from

5220-643: The known trobairitz, Gaudairença , wrote a song entitled Coblas e dansas , which has not survived; no other piece of hers has either. The trobairitz came almost to a woman from Occitania . There are representatives from the Auvergne , Provence , Languedoc , the Dauphiné , Toulousain , and the Limousin . One trobairitz, Ysabella , may have been born in Périgord , Northern Italy, Greece , or Palestine . All

5307-810: The miseries of his captivity ... before kings, magnates, and Christian assemblies many times related with rhythmic verses and witty measures. The first half of the 12th century saw relatively few recorded troubadours. Only in the last decades of the century did troubadour activity explode. Almost half of all troubadour works that survive are from the period 1180–1220. In total, moreover, there are over 2,500 troubadour lyrics available to be studied as linguistic artifacts (Akehurst, 23). The troubadour tradition seems to have begun in western Aquitaine ( Poitou and Saintonge ) and Gascony , from there spreading over into eastern Aquitaine ( Limousin and Auvergne ) and Provence . At its height it had become popular in Languedoc and

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5394-513: The most popular being the canso , but sirventes and tensos were especially popular in the post-classical period. The English word troubadour was borrowed from the French word first recorded in 1575 in a historical context to mean "langue d'oc poet at the court in the 12th and 13th century" ( Jean de Nostredame , Les vies des plus célèbres et anciens Poètes provençaux , p. 14 in Gdf. Compl.). The first use and earliest form of troubador

5481-452: The need of younger sons to develop means of support. The medieval social convention of primogeniture meant that the eldest son inherited title and estate. This practice of bestowing the rights of inheritance upon the eldest son forced younger sons to seek other means by which to support themselves. Often, these younger sons went, or were sent, to the universities and monasteries of the day, where theology and preparation for clergy careers were

5568-545: The persistence of underlying paganism in high medieval Europe, though the Celts and Germanic tribes were certainly less patriarchal than the Greco-Romans. The classical Latin theory emphasises parallels between Ovid , especially his Amores and Ars amatoria , and the lyric of courtly love. The aetas ovidiana that predominated in the 11th century in and around Orléans , the quasi- Ciceronian ideology that held sway in

5655-401: The proper reference of the terms trobador and joglar . According to Riquier, every vocation deserved a name of its own and the sloppy usage of joglar assured that it covered a multitude of activities, some, no doubt, with which Riquier did not wish to be associated. In the end Riquier argued—and Alfonso X seems to agree, though his "response" was probably penned by Riquier—that a joglar was

5742-498: The ranks of troubadours belong to this period. During this period the lyric art of the troubadours reached the height of its popularity and the number of surviving poems is greatest from this period. During this period the canso , or love song, became distinguishable as a genre. The master of the canso and the troubadour who epitomises the classical period is Bernart de Ventadorn . He was highly regarded by his contemporaries, as were Giraut de Bornelh , reputed by his biographer to be

5829-464: The reforming Robert of Arbrissel on "matronage" to achieve his ends can explain the troubadour attitude towards women. Chronologically, however, this hypothesis is hard to sustain, as the forces believed to have given rise to the phenomenon arrived later than it, but the influence of Bernardine and Marian theology can be retained without the origins theory. This theory was advanced early by Eduard Wechssler and further by Dmitri Scheludko (who emphasises

5916-447: The regions of Rouergue , Toulouse , and Quercy (c. 1200). Finally, in the early 13th century it began to spread into first Italy and then Catalonia , whence to the rest of modern Spain and then Portugal. This development has been called the rayonnement des troubadours ( pronounced [ʁɛjɔnəmɑ̃ de tʁubaduːʁ] ). The classical period of troubadour activity lasted from about 1170 until about 1213. The most famous names among

6003-648: The second half of the thirteenth century, with objectionable sexual content removed in deference to the Catholic Church . According to the Bernardine-Marianist (or Christian) theory, it was the theology espoused by Bernard of Clairvaux and the increasingly important Mariology that most strongly influenced the development of the troubadour genre. Specifically, the emphasis on religious and spiritual love, disinterestedness, mysticism, and devotion to Mary explained "courtly love". The emphasis of

6090-420: The term goliard is derived from a letter between Bernard of Clairvaux and Pope Innocent II in which Bernard referred to Pierre Abélard as Goliath, thus creating a connection between Goliath and the student adherents of Abélard. By the 14th century, the word goliard became synonymous with minstrel , and no longer referred to a particular group of clergy. The goliardic class is believed to have arisen from

6177-515: The term mieja chanso (half song) and Cerverí de Girona uses a similar phrase, miga canço , both to refer to a short canso and not a mixture of genres as sometimes supposed. Cerverí's mig (or meig ) vers e miga canço was a vers in the new sense (a moralising song) that was also highly critical and thus combined the canso and the sirventes . Among the more than one hundred works of Cerverí de Girona are many songs with unique labels, which may correspond more to "titles" than "genres", but that

6264-540: The total number of trobairitz texts varies from twenty-two (Schultz-Gora), twenty-five ( Bec ), thirty-six (Bruckner, Shepard, and White), and forty-six (Rieger). Only one melody composed by a trobairitz (the Comtessa de Dia ) survives. Out of a total of about 450 troubadours and 2,500 troubadour works, the trobairitz and their corpus form a minor but interesting and informative portion. They are, therefore, quite well studied. The trobairitz were in most respects as varied

6351-503: The trobairitz whose families we know were high-born ladies; only one, Lombarda, was probably of the merchant class. All the trobairitz known by name lived around the same time: the late 12th and the early 13th century (c. 1170 – c. 1260). The earliest was probably Tibors de Sarenom , who was active in the 1150s (the date of her known composition is uncertain). The latest was either Garsenda of Forcalquier , who died in 1242, though her period of poetic patronage and composition probably occurred

6438-423: The troubadour tradition. Among the earliest is a school of followers of Marcabru, sometimes called the "Marcabrunian school": Bernart Marti , Bernart de Venzac , Gavaudan , and Peire d'Alvernhe . These poets favoured the trobar clus or ric or a hybrid of the two. They were often moralising in tone and critical of contemporary courtly society. Another early school, whose style seems to have fallen out of favour,

6525-463: The urban middle class and no courtesans: Miralhas was possibly a potter and Bernart was a mayestre (teacher). All wrote in Occitan but were supporters of the French king Louis IX and the French aristocracy against the native Occitan nobility. They have been described as " Gallicised ". Raimon Gaucelm supported the Eighth Crusade and even wrote a planh , the only known one of its kind, to

6612-526: The verses are neumed and it is assumed that the entire collection was to be sung. Four of the original forty-nine are called modi (melodies, namely sequences ). The purpose of the collection has also eluded scholars. It was probably either a book of instruction on Latin verse, a songbook for wandering minstrels (the clerici vagabundi : vagabond clerics), or an anthology for private enjoyment. Classicist Keith Sidwell maintains that their purpose could have been "the repertoire of an entertainer who catered for

6699-561: The work of Uc de Saint Circ. A phenomenon arose in Italy, recognised around the turn of the 20th century by Giulio Bertoni, of men serving in several cities as podestàs on behalf of either the Guelph or Ghibelline party and writing political verse in Occitan rhyme. These figures generally came from the urban middle class. They aspired to high culture and though, unlike the nobility, they were not patrons of literature, they were its disseminators and its readers. The first podestà -troubadour

6786-500: The writers' working vocabulary. Their satires were almost uniformly directed against the church, attacking even the pope. The word "goliard" outlived the original meaning. It was absorbed into the French and English literature of the 14th century, generally meaning jongleur or wandering minstrel, and no longer related to the original clerical association. It is thus used in Piers Plowman , and by Chaucer . This belief that

6873-479: Was Alberico da Romano , a nobleman of high rank who governed Vicenza and Treviso as variously a Ghibelline and a Guelph. He was a patron as well as a composer of Occitan lyric. Mention should be made of the Provençal troubadour Isnart d'Entrevenas , who was podestà of Arles in 1220, though he does not fit the phenomenon Giulio Bertoni first identified in Italy. The trobairitz were the female troubadours,

6960-510: Was Rambertino Buvalelli , possibly the first troubadour native to the Italian Peninsula, who was podestà of Genoa between 1218 and 1221. Rambertino, a Guelph, served at one time or another as podestà of Brescia , Milan , Parma , Mantua , and Verona . It was probably during his three-year tenure there that he introduced Occitan lyric poetry to the city, which was later to develop a flourishing Occitan literary culture. Among

7047-634: Was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word troubadour is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a trobairitz . The troubadour school or tradition began in the late 11th century in Occitania , but it subsequently spread to the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas . Under the influence of the troubadours, related movements sprang up throughout Europe:

7134-509: Was perhaps the first to suggest Arabian (also Arabist or Hispano-Arabic ) influences on the music of the troubadours. Later scholars like J.B. Trend have asserted that the poetry of troubadours is connected to Arabic poetry written in the Iberian Peninsula, while others have attempted to find direct evidence of this influence. In examining the works of William IX of Aquitaine , Évariste Lévi-Provençal and other scholars found three lines that they believed were in some form of Arabic, indicating

7221-432: Was the "Gascon school" of Cercamon , Peire de Valeira , and Guiraut de Calanso . Cercamon was said by his biographer to have composed in the "old style" ( la uzansa antiga ) and Guiraut's songs were d'aquella saison ("of that time"). This style of poetry seems to be attached to early troubadours from Gascony and was characterised by references to nature: leaves, flowers, birds, and their songs. This Gascon "literary fad"

7308-474: Was the son of a "poor fisherman" and Elias Cairel of a blacksmith. Arnaut de Mareuil is specified in his vida as coming from a poor family, but whether this family was poor by noble standards or materially is not apparent. Many troubadours also possessed a clerical education. For some this was their springboard to composition, since their clerical education equipped them with an understanding of musical and poetic forms as well as vocal training. The vidas of

7395-421: Was thought to derive from the Latin word verus (truth) and was thus used to describe moralising or didactic pieces. The early troubadours developed many genres and these only proliferated as rules of composition came to be put in writing. The known genres are: All these genres were highly fluid. A cross between a sirventes and a canso was a meg-sirventes (half- sirventes ). A tenso could be "invented" by

7482-570: Was unpopular in Provence in the early 13th century, harming the reputation of the poets associated with it. In the late 13th century a school arose at Béziers , once the centre of pre-Albigensian Languedoc and of the Trencavel lordships, in the 1260s–80s. Four poets epitomise this "school": Bernart d'Auriac , Joan Esteve , Joan Miralhas , and Raimon Gaucelm . The latter three were natives of Béziers and all four lived there. All were members of

7569-415: Was usually applied to the writing of poetry. It signified that a poem was original to an author ( trobador ) and was not merely sung or played by one. The term was used mostly for poetry only and in more careful works, like the vidas , is not generally applied to the composition of music or to singing, though the troubadour's poetry itself is not so careful. Sometime in the middle of the 12th century, however,

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