Troubadours
What were troubadours?
"Troubadour" by Thomas Couture (1843), from the Philadelphia Museum of Art
A troubadour is defined by the Britannica Dictionary as, “a writer or performer of songs or poetry in the Middle Ages” (2). Britannica.com narrows this definition to more specifically encompass “lyric poet[s] of southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy,” the golden age for whom was the late 22th-24th centuries (3). I’ll speak more about him later on, but the very first known troubadour was William IX, whose poetry was written in his native language of Occitan (native to the Provençal region, which encompassed the aforementioned area of parts of France, Spain, and Italy) (4). His influence was so great that the French term “troubadour” is derived from an Occitanian word: trobar, “to find” or “to invent,” presumably named as such because troubadours were inventors of poetry; poetry which proved to endure so soundly as “to influence all later European lyrical poetry” (3).
Because of how “ennobling [a] pursuit” (4) being a troubadour was, troubadours enjoyed a certain amount of privilege at court, enough so that they were known to “occasionally [intervene] even in the political arena.” Their chansons, or songs, were secular in nature, and as a school of lyricism in and of itself, many of the songs naturally followed similar formats. Many of the songs which have survived into the modern age (somewhere in the realm of 400 songs) were preserved in chansonniers, or songbooks in the format of manuscripts. Common distinct poetry forms included canso (a poem of five or six stanzas, the last of which directly addressed a real or imagined person, as a sort of farewell or comment on the body of the poem), dansa/balada (“a dance song with a refrain”), and jeu parti/débat (“a debate on love between two poets”). The “debate” format was particularly common, as many troubadours’ songs were written as conversations between two poets, discussing metaphysical matters such as love or religion. Troubadours did not always, or even all that frequently, play the monophonic (songs which lack harmonies) melodies to accompany their stories themselves; many melodies were played by accompanists. Melodies were sometimes reused for different poems, and even when a melody was composed specifically for one poem, it was usually done by an accompanying musician, as I mentioned before (3).
The first troubadour
The originator of the troubadour poetic and musical tradition was William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (2072-2237) (4) and count of Poitiers. Though he spent years of his life involved in significant conflicts, such as battles with the Moors and Crusades into the Holy Land, William IX is remembered more so for his contributions to the arts (5). William IX’s preserved poems reach only a total of eleven, but they are the basis of “many of the forms, themes and terms that later troubadours [used].” (4) As Britannica.com describes, William IX’s songs “are boisterous, amorous, humorous, usually delicate but sometimes coarsely obscene and tend, in the fashion of courtly love, to idolize lady love” (5). The “unprecedented” social influence (3) which troubadours held was likely inspired by the noble roots of the form’s founder; as Poetry at Harvard puts it, “his elevated status probably contributed to elevate poetry itself” (4).
For our purposes, it’s also important to note that William IX was the grandfather of Eleanor of Aquitaine (5), who ruled England alongside Henry II. As we’ve mentioned in class, the arts flourished during the time of their rule, allowing the Arthurian World to expand further. Eleanor was, naturally, a great patron of the arts, and “was instrumental in turning the court of Poitiers, then frequented by the most famous troubadours of the time, into a [center] of poetry and a model of courtly life and manners.” Through her patronage and influence, the troubadours of the court were encouraged to spin tales of courtly love, the themes of which endure to this day (1).
Works Cited
Pernoud, Régine. “Eleanor of Aquitaine | Biography, Facts, Children, Family Tree, & Significance.” Britannica, 10 August 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eleanor-of-Aquitaine. (1)
“Troubadour Definition & Meaning.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/troubadour. (2)
“Troubadour | Medieval Lyric Poetry, Courtly Love & Chivalry.” Britannica, 2 August 2023, https://www.britannica.com/art/troubadour-lyric-artist. (3)
“Troubadours.” Poetry at Harvard, https://poetry.harvard.edu/troubadours. (4)
“William IX | Count of Poitou, Troubadour & Crusader.” Britannica, 27 July 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-IX. (5)
Great job, Mad! This blog was super interesting to me. I had no prior knowledge of troubadours. I think it was really cool that music and poetry existed so long ago and was valued. I liked that you mentioned the power they held in court because that does a good job of illustrating the position and importance of the troubadours. I am glad that historians were able to preserve such a large number of songs (400), even though I am sure there were plenty more that were lost. I would like to listen to some of these songs. As a musician I find it interesting the different forms and styles that music took through the ages. I will be looking more into William IX's poems on my own time.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great blog post! Like Rebecca I had very little prior knowledge of troubadours. I love the specification of the type of poets troubadours are in the Britannica definition, "lyric poets" has a nice ring to it and I feel like it encompasses what a troubadour is. I find it interesting how historians are able to know who the first troubadour was. I feel like with a lot of topics in this genre it can be hard to trace back who the first person was to do something so it's nice to know that William IX was the first troubadour. I'd be really interested in hearing some of these songs/poems, hopefully we can listen to some in class.
ReplyDeleteHey Mad, I came to your blog to finally learn who troubadours were and I was not disappointed. I'm a bit surprised they even were able to play a role in more political spaces, though I suppose this makes sense as they were scholars in their own right. I'd imagine their work was widely respected. In that way, its sad that we have so little of what is likely a large collection of work that William IX had made, especially if he laid the groundwork for other troubadours to build upon. I appreciate stories like William IX's and his relationship with Elanor of Aquitaine, as I enjoy seeing how the arts have evolved and flourished throughout time. Awesome work here!
ReplyDelete