Troubadours in the Middle-Ages
Troubadours Performing
Troubadour performances emerged and flourished during the 12th and 13th centuries while most of Europe was being overwhelmed in warfare and crusades.
Troubadour performances emerged and flourished during the 12th and 13th centuries while most of Europe was being overwhelmed in warfare and crusades. As a reaction to the gloominess of battles and the oppression of the church during the preceding years, the 12th and 13th centuries in Europe marked the beginning of the entertainment of ideas of romance, personal value, and respect for the rights of love and choice (Berthelot and Cornilliat, 1988).
During this time in the southern region of France - the langue d’oc in particular - the significance of love and romance played into the lives of the people like the subtle monophonic music that accompanied troubadour poetry in their performances. Although modern records lack any audio recording of the original troubadour performances, some data shows that troubadour performances were accompanied by monophonic music.
Performers of lower-birth, called jongleurs, assisted the troubadours in performing their poetry (Topsfield, 1975). Jongleurs of low social standing who excelled in their careers were able to achieve the status of a troubadour, but rarely did so.
For the most part troubadours were noble men or crusader knights who lived in Southern France among their female counterparts - also skilled as poets - called troubairitz (Paden, 1989). Troubadours and troubairitz were prominent composer-poets in the 12th and 13th centuries until the Albigensian Crusades led to the decline of their popularity (Peterson, 1993).
The term troubadour
stems from the Provencal word trovar, which meant ‘to invent’
(Topsfield, 1975). Troubadours were renowned poets who were highly praised
for their vocal and compositional skills. Although research shows that the
troubadours seldom sacrificed the worth of their poetry for the musical
aspect of their performances, musical accompaniment served as a method of
harmonizing and accentuating the power of their words.
Natikan Peek
Copyright © 2001 by University of North Texas. All rights reserved.
Revised: 04 Dec 2003 09:56:12 -0600
During this time in the southern region of France the langue D’oc in particular the significance of love and romance played into the lives of the people like the subtle monophonic music that accompanied troubadour poetry in their performances.
troubadours in the middle-ages
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