Troubadour

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"THE word troubadour signifies an inventor, and is worthy of the subject to which it refers, as it expresses the genius of those poets, whose compositions are recorded in the following work." --The Literary History of the Troubadours (1779) by Sainte-Palaye in a translation by Susannah Dobson.

"Reality [of courtly love ] at all times has been worse and more brutal than the refined aestheticism of courtesy would have it be, but also more chaste than it is represented to be by the vulgar genre which is wrongly regarded as realism."--The Autumn of the Middle Ages (1919) by Johan Huizinga

"THE Word romantic has been lately introduced in Germany to designate that kind of poetry which is derived from the songs of the Troubadours; that which owes its birth to the union of chivalry and Christianity."--On Germany (1813) by Madame de Staël

"The Court of Champagne was familiar with the love poetry of the troubadours; and among other works well known to Chretien and his circle were certain free adaptations of classical poetry, which in the love passages were already steeped in the sentiment and casuistry of l'amour courtois." --The History of the English Novel (1924 - 1939) by Ernest Albert Baker

"Wayland Young seems to be an expert on Italian Renaissance poetry, his guiding line through the troubadour tradition is Denis de Rougemont."--Sholem Stein

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A troubadour 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 troubadour 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: 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 the 14th century and around the time of the Black Death (1348) it 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.

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+"THE word [[troubadour]] signifies an [[inventor]], and is worthy of the subject to which it refers, as it expresses the genius of those [[poets]], whose compositions are recorded in the following work." --''[[The Literary History of the Troubadours]]'' (1779) by Sainte-Palaye in a translation by Susannah Dobson.
+<hr>
+"[[Reality]] [of [[courtly love]] ] at all times has been worse and more brutal than the refined [[aestheticism]] of [[courtesy]] would have it be, but also more chaste than it is represented to be by the vulgar genre which is wrongly regarded as [[realism]]."--''[[The Autumn of the Middle Ages]]'' (1919) by Johan Huizinga
+<hr>
 "THE Word ''[[romantic]]'' has been lately introduced in Germany to designate that kind of poetry which is derived from the songs of the [[Troubadour]]s; that which owes its birth to the union of [[chivalry]] and [[Christianity]]."--''[[On Germany]]'' (1813) by Madame de Staël
 <hr>
-"The Court of [[Champagne]] was familiar with the [[love poetry]] of the [[troubadour]]s; and among other works well known to [[Chretien]] and his circle were certain free adaptations of classical poetry, which in the love passages were already steeped in the sentiment and casuistry of l'amour courtois.” --''[[The History of the English Novel]]'' (1924 - 1939) by Ernest Albert Baker
+"The Court of [[Champagne]] was familiar with the [[love poetry]] of the [[troubadour]]s; and among other works well known to [[Chretien]] and his circle were certain free adaptations of classical poetry, which in the love passages were already steeped in the sentiment and casuistry of ''[[l'amour courtois]]''." --''[[The History of the English Novel]]'' (1924 - 1939) by Ernest Albert Baker
+<hr>
+"[[Wayland Young]] seems to be an expert on Italian Renaissance poetry, his guiding line through the troubadour tradition is [[Denis de Rougemont]]."--Sholem Stein
 |}
 {{Template}}
-A '''troubadour''' was a [[composer]] and [[performer]] of [[song]]s during the [[High Middle Ages]] in [[Europe]]. A rough [[anglophone]] equivalent is the [[minstrel]]. The tradition began to flourish during the [[11th century]] and was often imitated in the [[13th century]]. Many troubadours [[travel]]ed for great distances, aiding in the transmission of [[trade]] and [[news]].
+A '''troubadour'''  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 troubadour is usually called a ''[[trobairitz]]''.
-The texts of troubadour songs deal with [[lofty]] themes of [[chivalry]], [[platonic love|platonic]] and [[courtly love]] but some troubadours were also author of [[fabliau]]x and [[conte-en-vers]]. Many songs addressed a [[Unrequited love|married lover]], perhaps due to the prevalence of arranged marriages at the time.
-Although not a troubadour himself, [[Petrarch]]'s ''Canzoniere'' to [[Laura de Noves]] are a good  example of the lofty style.
-The boundaries between the [[Romance (genre)|romance]] and the [[chansons de geste]] of the [[troubadour]]s were somewhat fluid.  In general, the [[ballad]]s were the property of professional performers, while the romance was associated more with amateurs and private readers.  Nevertheless, a professional poet-performer like [[Chrétien de Troyes]] could turn his hand to composing romances.  The distinction between an early verse romance and a chanson de geste is often difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to make.
-== Mediaeval poetry ==
-The impious peacelover, the troubadour, who crafted out of the European [[vernacular]] its first great literary themes. Their courtly romances and ''[[chanson de geste]]'' amused and entertained the [[upper class]]es who were their [[patron]]s. The vernacular court poetry of the ''romans courtois'', or Romances, saw many examples of courtly love. Some of them are set within the cycle of poems celebrating King Arthur's court. This was a literature of leisure, directed to a largely female audience for the first time in European history.
-== Mediaeval music ==
-Alongside these schools of sacred music a vibrant tradition of secular song developed, as exemplified in the music of the [[troubadour]]s, [[trouvère]]s and [[minnesinger|Minnesänger]].  Much of the later secular music of the early [[Renaissance]] evolved from the forms, ideas, and the musical aesthetic of the troubadours, courtly poets and itinerant musicians, whose culture was largely exterminated during the [[Albigensian Crusade]] in the early [[13th century]].
-==Academics and city-dwellers: the Gay Science==
-:''[[Consistori del Gay Saber]], [[Consistori de Barcelona]]''
-==Similar art forms and artists==
-A complementary role was filled at the same period by performers known as ''joglares'' in Occitan, ''jongleurs'' in French ([[minstrel]]s in English). Jongleurs are often addressed in troubadour lyrics. Their profession was that of popular entertainer; as such jongleurs sometimes performed troubadour compositions but more often other genres, notably ''[[Chanson de geste|chansons de geste]]'' (epic narratives).
-The German [[Minnesinger]]s are closely related to, and inspired by, troubadours, but have distinctive features of their own.
-==Origins==
-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''):
-#'''Arabic''' (also '''Arabist''' or '''Hispano-Arabic''')<br>[[Ezra Pound]], in his ''Canto VIII'', famously declared that William of Aquitaine "had brought the song up out of Spain / with the singers and veils..." referring to the troubadour song. In his study, Lévi-Provençal is said to have found four Arabo-Hispanic verses nearly or completely recopied in William's manuscript. According to historic sources, [[William VIII of Aquitaine|William VIII]], the father of William, brought to Poitiers hundreds of Muslim prisoners. Trend admitted that the troubadours derived their sense of form and even the subject matter of their poetry from the Andalusian Muslims. The hypothesis that the troubadour tradition was created, more or less, by William after his experience of [[Moorish]] arts while fighting with the [[Reconquista]] in Spain was also championed by [[Ramón Menéndez Pidal]] in the early twentieth-century, but its origins go back to the  ''[[Cinquecento]]'' and [[Giammaria Barbieri]] (died 1575) and [[Juan Andrés]] (died 1822). Meg Bogin, English translator of the trobairitz, held this hypothesis.
-#'''Bernardine-Marianist''' or '''Christian'''<br>According to this 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 would explain "courtly love". The emphasis of 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 (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 the [[Cluniac Reform]]) and Guido Errante. Mario Casella and Leo Spitzer have added "[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustinian]]" influence to it.
-#'''Celtic''' or '''Chivalric-Matriarchal'''<br>The survival of pre-Christian sexual ''mores'' and warrior codes from [[matriarchal]] societes, be they [[Celt]]ic, [[Germanic peoples|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 the persistence of underlying paganism in high medieval Europe.
-#'''Classical Latin'''<br>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 eleventh century in and around [[Orléans]], the quasi-[[Cicero]]nian ideology that held sway in the [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial court]], and the scraps of [[Plato]] then available to scholars have all been cited as classical influences on troubadour poetry.
-#('''Crypto-''')'''Cathar'''<br>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 the thirteenth century), support for it has come in waves. The explicitly Catholic meaning of many early troubadour works also works against the theory.
-#'''Liturgical'''<br>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 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 [[St. Martial's Abbey, Limoges|Saint Martial's]] at [[Limoges]] has been singled out in this regard. "Para-liturgical" [[trope]]s were in use there in the era preceding the troubadours' appearance.
-#'''Feudal-social''' or '''-sociological'''<br>This theory or set of related theories has gained ground in the twentieth 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/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 is seen as evidence. This theory has been developed away from sociological towards [[psychological]] explanation.
-#'''Folklore''' or '''Spring Folk Ritual'''<br>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 the festive dances of women hearkening the spring in the [[Loire Valley]]. This theory has since been widely discredited, but the discovery of the ''[[jarcha]]s'' raises the question of the extent of literature (oral or written) in the eleventh century and earlier.
-#'''Medieval Latin''' or '''Mediolatin''' ('''Goliardic''')<br>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 J. Chailley. According to them, ''trobar'' means "inventing 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 eleventh-century poets of the "[[Loire school]]", such as [[Marbod of Rennes]] and [[Hildebert of Lavardin]], is stressed in this connexion by Brinkmann.
-#'''Neoplatonic'''<br>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 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]]).
-==Genres==
-Troubadours, at least after their style became established, usually followed some set of "rules", like those of 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 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:
-*''[[Alba (poetry)|Alba]]'' (morning song) – the song of a lover as dawn approaches, often with a watchman warning of the approach of a lady's jealous husband
-*''[[Arlabecca]]'' – a song defined by poetic metre, but perhaps once related to the [[rebec]]
-*''[[Canso (song)|Canso]]'', originally ''vers'', also ''chanso'' or ''canço'' – the love song, usually consisting of five or six [[stanza]]s with an [[envoi]]
-*''[[Cobla (Occitan literary term)|Cobla esparsa]]'' – a stand-alone stanza
-*''[[Comiat]]'' – a song renouncing a lover
-*[[Crusade song]] (''canso de crozada'') – a song about the [[Crusades]], usually encouraging them
-*''[[Dansa]]'' or ''balada'' – a lively dance song with a [[refrain]]
-*''[[Descort]]'' – a song heavily discordant in verse form and/or feeling
-*''[[Desdansa]]'' – a dance designed for sad occasions
-*''[[Devinalh]]'' – a riddle or cryptogram
-*''[[Ensenhamen]]'' – a long didactic poem, usually not divided into stanzas, teaching a moral or practical lesson
-*''[[Enuig]]'' – a poem expressing indignation or feelings of insult
-*''[[Escondig]]'' – a lover's apology
-*''[[Estampida]]'' – a dance-like song
-*''[[Gap (song)|Gap]]'' – a boasting song, often presented as a challenge, often similar to modern sports chants
-*''[[Maldit]]'' – a song complaining about a lady's behaviour and character
-*''[[Partimen]]'' – a poetical exchange between two or more poets in which one is presented with a dilemma by another and responds
-*''[[Pastorela]]'' – the tale of the love request of a [[knight]] to a [[shepherdess]]
-*''[[Planh]]'' – a lament, especially on the death of some important figure
-*''[[Plazer]]'' – a poem expressing pleasure
-*''[[Salut d'amor]]'' – a love letter addressed to another, not always one's lover
-*''[[Serena (genre)|Serena]]'' – the song of a lover waiting impatiently for the evening (to consummate his love)
-*''[[Sestina]]'' – highly structured verse form
-*''[[Sirventes]]'' – a political poem or [[satire]], originally put in the mouth of a paid soldier (''sirvens'')
-*[[Sonnet]] (''sonet'') – an Italian genre imported into Occitan verse in the 13th century
-*''[[Tenso]]'' – a poetical debate which was usually an exchange between two poets, but could be fictional
-*''[[Torneyamen]]'' – a poetical debate between three or more persons, often with a judge (like a tournament)
-*''[[Viadeyra|Viadeira]]'' – a traveller's complaint
-All these genres were highly fluid. A cross between a ''sirventes'' and a ''canso'' was a ''meg-sirventes'' (half-''sirventes'').<ref>Sometimes ''canso-sirventes'' or ''sirventes-canso'' was used. [[Bertran de Born]] uses the term ''miei sirventes''.</ref> A ''tenso'' could be "invented" by 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 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 is debatable: ''peguesca'' (nonsense), ''espingadura'' ([[flageolet]] song), ''libel'' (legal petition), ''esdemessa'' (leap), ''somni'' (dream), ''acuyndamen'' (challenge), ''desirança'' (nostalgia), ''aniversari'' (anniversary), ''serena'' (serene).<ref>Frank M. Chambers (1985), ''An Introduction to Old Provençal Versification'', (Darby, PA: Diane Publishing, {{ISBN|0-87169-167-1}}.), pp. 195–96.</ref>
-Most "Crusading songs" are classified either as ''cansos'' or ''sirventes'' but sometimes separately. Some styles became popular in other languages and in other literary or musical traditions. In [[French literature|French]], the ''alba'' became the ''[[aubade]]'', the ''pastorela'' the ''[[pastourelle]]'', and the ''partimen'' the ''[[jeu parti]]''. The ''sestina'' became popular in [[Italian literature]]. The troubadours were not averse to borrowing either. The ''planh'' developed out of the Latin ''[[planctus]]'' and the sonnet was stolen from the [[Sicilian School]]. The [[basse danse]] (''bassa dansa'') was first mentioned in the troubadour tradition (c. 1324), but only as being performed by jongleurs.
+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: the [[Minnesang]] in Germany, ''[[trovadorismo]]'' in [[Galicia, Spain|Galicia]] and [[Portugal]], and that of the [[trouvère]]s 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 the 14th century and around the time of the [[Black Death]] (1348) it 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.
 ==See also==
 *[[Mediaeval poetry]]
 * [[Minstrel]]
 * [[Medieval music]]
-* [[Trouvère]] (troubadour from the North of France)
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