Troubadours

The Troubadours were lyric poets and musicians who lived in the Middle Ages in Europe in the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries.

The first troubadours came from a region known as Occitania, which we now know as southern France, Monaco and part of Spain and Italy. The Occitan language was known as Langue D'oc, because the word for yes was oc.

Many of the Troubadours spoke a dialect of Langue D'oc known as Provençal, named for the region of Provence in southeastern France.

Courtly Love

One of the most common subjects of Troubadour song was Courtly Love.

Songs about Courtly Love involved a man  trying to gain the love of a woman who was so admirable, and so superior to him, that she could not possibly love him.

These songs had a melancholy tone. This is because the lady in the song always refused her lover's advances, and sometimes treated him harshly. In addition, he was often subject to cruel gossip about his unrequited love.

In contrast, the life of a real woman in the Middle Ages in Europe was very different from the life of a lady in Troubadour poetry. In real life, women in Medieval Europe were treated as property.

The worship of the Virgin Mary within the Catholic Church had a great influence on the concept of Courtly Love and the image of women in Troubadour lyrics.

Troubadour Song Genres

A canso was a song in which the troubadour declared his love for a lady.

In an alba, lovers are waiting for the dawn, usually because they must then return to their spouses.

A pastourelle involved a shepherd, a shepherdess and a knight who is was love with the shepherdess.

The ballada, or balada, was a song that was accompanied by dancing. The name comes from the Latin word ballare, which means "to dance." The word modern word ballad, which is a different type of song, comes from ballada.

A sirventes was a song with strong political or moral content. It was told from the viewpoint of a paid soldier. Many sirventes were about the Crusades.

The tenso consisted of a debate about the problems of Courtly Love. A tenso was performed in court as a contest. There were two voices, each competing to prove one side of an argument. Each competitor in a tenso not only had to be a good musician and songwriter, but an excellent debater as well.

Famous Troubadours

The earliest Troubadour that we know of was Guillaume IX, Duke of Aquitaine.

While he and many other Troubadours were born into the nobility, not all of the Troubadours were noble.

Guiraut de Bornelh was a Troubadour born into the lower classes. He traveled from castle to castle in the summer accompanied by two singers who sang his songs.

His talent enabled him to gain the kings of Aragon, Navarre and Leon and most of the Provencial nobility as his patrons.

Eventually, Guiraut became known as Master of the Troubadours. Although he wrote many songs, only four have been written down.

Guiraut de Bornelh's most famous work is the Reis Glorios, which is an alba. In this song - the title means "Glorious King" - a lady is waiting for her lover before dawn. She has not seen him, and she is praying that God will look after him.

The Troubadour Bernart de Ventadorn had a mother who was a maid and a father who was a servant. Both of his parents worked in the castle of Count Elbe de Ventadorn.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, the wife of Henry II, invited Bernart to the English court.

Many of Bernart's songs were about nature and about love. Can vei la lauzeta mover is a song about a lark. The title is Provençal for "When I see the lark beat his wings."

Lancan vei le folha, the title of another of Bernat's songs, means "When I See the Foliage."

Folquet de Marseille was born into a wealthy Genoese family, but moved to Marseilles when he was young. He played for the Viscount of Marseilles and for King Alfonso II of Aragon.

In addition to writing songs about Courtly Love, Folquet wrote songs promoting the Crusades.

Folquet wrote music with a range of almost an octave and a half. This was a very wide range for Troubadour song.

Guiraut Riquier is sometimes known as the last of the troubadours. He lived toward the end of the 13th century, when courts were finding it hard to support musicians, and when many people had begun to think of Courtly Love as sinful.

Over 100 of Guiraut Riquier's poems and songs still survive, because he took great care to preserve his works.