Once the rich TROUBADOUR poetry had developed
in Provence in the south of France during the first
half of the 12th century, formulated in the langue
d’oc (the Provençal language), Old French poets in
central and northern France also adopted the
ideals and values associated with COURTLY LOVE, expressing
themselves in the langue d’oïl or French
vernacular.CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES, famous for his introduction
of the Arthurian material in French literature,
also composed the earliest trouvère poetry
as early as 1160.
One crucial moment of cross-fertilization between
the cultures of the south and north might
have been the marriage of ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE
with the Capetian king Louis VII of France in 1137.
Her great interest in Occitan poetry—her grandfather
had been the first troubadour poet GUILLAUME
IX—carried over to her court in Paris, where she
assumed the role of patron for many artists and
writers. The social background of the trouvère poets
was highly diverse, some being clergy, others nobles,
clerks, bourgeois, and JONGLEURS. They composed
mostly love poetry fairly similar to that created in
Provence. Some of the best known trouvère poets
were Chrétien de Troyes, Huon d’Oisi, CONON DE
BÉTHUNE, GACE BRULÉ, BBLONDEL DE NESLE, le
CHÂTELAIN DE COUCI, THIBAUT DE CHAMPAGNE,
Colin MUSET, Gautier d’Epinal, Renaut de Beaujeu,
Gautier de Dargies, Richart de Semilli, Guiot de
Provins, and RUTEBEUF, but still the majority of
trouvère poetry has come down to us anonymously.
Their themes were not particularly innovative;
instead they dealt with a wide range of conflicts in
love, mostly unrequited, but in contrast to the troubadour
poetry, the French poets pursued less esoteric
and metaphysical ideals and reflected upon
concrete, socially identifiable situations.An unusual
phenomenon proves to be the 13th-century school
of poets, or poetic guild (puy), in Arras (Puy d’Arras),
a town of 20,000 inhabitants. Here newfound
wealth, based on trade and commerce, sparked the
emergence of some 200 poets who composed
courtly love poetry, although they intended it for a
bourgeois audience. In clear contrast to troubadour
poetry, however, a large number of trouvère poems
were copied down in manuscripts along with their
melodies (about 1,500 out of more than 2,500
songs).As in the case of the Occitan lyric poetry,we
do not know what sources the trouvères used, except
for some general remarks included in their own
texts. One of their favorite themes was to raise an
issue regarding the fundamental meaning of love,
expressed in a jeu parti, or DEBATE POEM, that concludes
with an appeal to a judge. Generally the trouvères
explored the complex topic of love from a
personal perspective, creating chansons d’amour, or
grand chants courtois. In the TENSO (another type of
debate poem) two persons exchange their opinions
about the meaning and relevance of their poetry.
Nevertheless the topic of unrequited, rejected, and
unfulfilled love dominated the entire corpus of
trouvère poetry, in which the singers mostly reflect
upon their own feelings.Whereas the troubadour
poets tended to imply their sexual desires more or
less openly, their northern counterparts were rarely
that explicit and limited their desires to lofty ideals
of love. Some trouvère poets, such as Thibaut IV,
count of Champagne and king of Navarre
(1201–53), openly displayed their great delight in
animal images and in references to classical mythology
and to medieval literary figures, including
Roland and Oliver, TRISTAN, and Merlin.
Most trouvère poems begin with an introductory
stanza reflecting on nature or the desire to sing
a song. The concluding stanza is also clearly
marked, often followed by a partial stanza (envoi) in
which the poet “sends” the song to the beloved or
to someone in the audience. In a surprisingly large
number of cases the poets adopt female voices who
discuss issues of love (CHANSON DE TOILE). They also
enjoyed political and other types of satire (sotte
chanson), and often intended their songs for dances
(ballette, rondet, rotrouenge, estampie, motet). Poets
such as Rutebeuf (ca. 1230–ca. 1285) and ADAM DE
LAHALLE (fl. 1277–88) introduced moral and ethical
issues in their works. By the 14th century, trouvère
poetry experienced a considerable revival through
composers such as Guillaume de MACHAUT (ca.
1295–1377) and Eustache DESCHAMPS (1346–ca.
1407) who developed new musical forms, such as
the RONDEAU, the BALLADE, and the chanson. Nevertheless
by the 15th century, courtly love poetry became
increasingly idealizing and artificial, perhaps
best represented by CHARLES D’ORLÉANS’s (1394–
1465) compositions, dominated by melancholy.
Bibliography
Akehurst, F. R. P., and Judith M. Davis, eds. A Handbook
of the Troubadours. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1995.
Goldin, Frederick, ed. and trans. Lyrics of the Troubadours
and Trouvères: An Anthology and a History.
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973.
Holmes, Urban T. A History of Old French Literature
from the Origins to 1300. New York: Crofts, 1948.
Rosenberg, Samuel N., and Hans Tischler, eds.
Chanter m’estuet: Songs of the Trouvères. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1981.
von der Werf, Hendrik. The Chansons of the Troubadours
and Trouvères: A Study of the Melodies and
Their Relation to the Poems. Utrecht, Netherlands:
Oosthoek, 1972.
Albrecht Classen