Trobar leu was a style of TROUBADOUR poetry that
was characterized by simple, natural, and accessible
diction and relatively simple verse forms. It was
a style intended to appeal to the broadest possible
audience. The term comes from the Provençal
words trobar, or the art of composing verse, and
leu, meaning “light” or “easy.”
Perhaps the best-known troubadour in the leu
style is BERNART DE VENTADORN, whose wide popularity
probably owed much to his composition in
a style that appealed to a broad audience. The term
itself, however, seems to have been invented by GIRAUT
DE BORNELH, who was more concerned than
Bernart with developing a theory of composition,
and who discusses the style in seven different
songs. Giraut seems to have developed the theory
of the leu style in reaction to the TROBAR CLUS.
For Giraut trobar leu describes verse that is
“easy to sing and understand, light and entertaintrobar
ing, apparently carefree, smooth and polished
with obscurity planed away” (Paterson 1975, 208).
But he insists that it takes as much skill and effort
to produce verse that is smooth and polished as it
does to compose something obscure, and therefore
the trobar leu style should not be considered
inferior to the trobar clus, even though it seems
easier.
In a well-known TENSO, or DEBATE POEM, with
RIMBAUT D’ORANGE, Giraut engages in an argument
over the relative merits of the two styles, suggesting
that there may have been a controversy on
the matter among troubadours in about 1170.
Rimbaud cares nothing for popularity, but wants
to be appreciated only by those with the most intelligence
and the best taste. But Giraut, applying
reasoning comparable to that of rhetoricians like
GEOFFREY OF VINSAUF (Paterson 1975, 113–14), argues
that he is making his verse appropriate to his
audience. Since he is writing for a broader segment
of the courtly audience, including those whom
Rimbaut calls “fools,” he will use his skills to shape
his verse to the tastes and understanding of that
audience. Thus Giraut says:
I have no complaint
if each man writes the kind of song that
suits him,
but it seems to me
the song is better loved
and more applauded
when you make it easy and open to all
(Goldin 1973, 203, ll. 8–13)
Trobar leu, then, is a style more popular, more
appealing for a general audience, than the more
obscure and exclusive style of the trobar clus.
Bibliography
Gaunt, Simon. Troubadours and Irony. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Goldin, Frederick, ed. and trans. Lyrics of the Troubadours
and Trouvères: An Anthology and a History.
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973.
Paterson, Linda M. Troubadours and Eloquence. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1975.