PROVENCAL LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE 



453 



French speech is hetter and more suited for making 

 epics andpastou irelles, whilst that of Lemosin [i.e. 

 the Provencal ] is better for making love-songs and 

 satin's). In the modem Provencal dialects there 

 is to l>e noted chiefly a greater simplicity of inflec- 

 tions and grammatical forms and a large ad mixture 

 of French words. 



The first employment of the Provencal lan- 

 guage in writing dates back to al>out the 9th 

 century. The few specimens that survive are 

 mostly writings in Latin, but mixed more or less 

 with Provencal words and phrases. It is to the 

 priests and monks that are most probably due the 

 earliest attempts at composition in the Provencal 

 language. In order to arouse the religious sym- 

 pathies of the people they composed or translated 

 mm the Latin into the vulgar idiom pious tales, 

 allegories, legends of saints, &c. There were also 

 introduced into the liturgy, along with the prayers 

 and hymns in pure Latin, others in the popular 

 dialect. In 813 at the councils of Aries, Mainz, 

 and Tours preaching in the popular language was 

 recommended to the clergy. Towards the close 

 of the 11 th century a revival took place in Pro- 

 vencal poetry consequent upon the religious 

 wars of the Crusades and the introduction of the 

 institution of chivalry. The influence of the Moore 

 of Spain undoubtedly, too, had its effect in the 

 development of Provencal poetry and culture. The 

 poetry of medueval Provence has much in common 

 with that of the Moors. 



Although it was in the north of France that 

 epic poetry in the middle ages especially flourished, 

 still in the south it was by no means so neglected 

 as many have supposed. Among the earliest 

 compositions in the Provencal language were un- 

 doubtedly epic romances, treating either of his- 

 torical subjects, such as the struggles against the 

 Franks or the wars with the Moors of Spain, or 

 else of the semi-mythical deeds of Charlemagne 

 and King Arthur which formed the basis of the 

 Carlovingian and Arthurian (or Round-Table) 

 legends. Of these old popular epics which were 

 sung and so handed down from generation to 

 generation we |x>s8es8 but few traces. From the 

 middle of the 12th century epic poetry may be 

 divided into popular and artistic. Of the first 

 class but few specimens remain, but of the artistic 

 epic they are more numerous, probably owing to 

 the fact that, Iteing recited and not sung, it was 

 more necessary to commit them to writing. 



The Provencals did not cultivate the drama like 

 the French ; in fact the only productions that 

 might come under this head are pieces on pious 

 subjects in dramatised form, such as the Mystery 

 of the Passion, the Marriage of the Virgin, &c. 

 Provencal literature was essentially poetic, and 

 its prose works are of little importance. They 

 were in the early period mostly translations from 

 I In' Latin, sermons and chronicles also the bio- 

 grapliii's of the principal troubadours. Later, in 

 the 14th and loth centuries, prose works became 

 more numerous, and included scientific, juridical, 

 philological, and other works. The lync poetry 

 is by far the best-known branch of Provencal 

 literature. It was in lyric verse that the Provencal 

 )MM'ts gave expression to the sentiments of chivafry 

 and love of that adoration and devotion to women 

 which had liecorne with them a sort of worship. 



The word troubadour (in Provencal trooaire, 

 tru/Kiilor) is derived from the verb trobcir (Fr. 

 tronver, ' to find, invent, compose ; ' from Lat. 

 turbare, 'to move,' meaning latterly 'to seek,' and 

 also 'to find'). This verb was used only with 

 reference to the composition of lyric poetry. 

 Hence, strictly speaking, a troubadour means a 

 poet of the lyric form. Epic poets were styled 

 noellaircs ( Fr. nouvellistes, 'romancers'). The 



troubadours were of two classes viz. professional 

 and amateur. Amongst the latter were many 

 nobles and even kings, as, for instance, Richard 

 CoBur-de-Lion, Alfonso II. of Aragon, the Counts 

 of Poitou, Provence, and Toulouse ; of the pro- 

 fessional troubadours also many were of high 

 birth. Generally speaking, the latter were re- 

 cruited from all ranks of society (merchants, 

 soldiers, monks, lawyers, &c. ), and they were of 

 various grades. The majority of the troubadours 

 led a wandering life, frequently travelling beyond 

 the limits of their own country more especially 

 into Spain, visiting Catalonia and Aragon, and 

 even Castile. Beyond the Alps they visited Pied- 

 mont, Lombardy, and Tuscany, where many of 

 them settled. Others mostly those who were 

 tired of wandering attached themselves to the 

 households of the great feudal lords, wherein they 

 played an important part. There were no fixed 

 schools of poetry for learning the troubadour's 

 art. They acquired it either by attaching them- 

 selves as pupils to some celebrated troubadour, or 

 by visiting the great chateaux which the more 

 distinguished poets were accustomed to frequent. 

 The convent, too, was a great school of song ; 

 the monks had both the means and leisure to 

 cultivate the taste for poetic composition, and 

 there were many monks amongst the trouba- 

 dours. At a later period professors of poetry estab- 

 lished themselves in the chief towns of Provence ; 

 Peire Cardinal settled as such at Tarascon 

 in the 13th century. The first of the trouba- 

 dours of whom we Know was Guillem IX., Count 

 of Poitiers, a powerful noble of the south of 

 France. He flourished towards the end of the 

 llth century. To the first half of the 12th century 

 belong Cercamon (or Cherehemonde) ; Marcabrun, 

 who was originally attached to the service of 

 Cercamon in his wanderings ; Peire d'Alvernh, 

 a troubadour of great merit ; and Bernart de 

 Ventadom, who was famed for the grace and 

 sweetness of his poetry. The second half of ^he 

 12th and first half of the 13th centuries was the 

 most brilliant period of Provencal poetry. Of the 

 many poets who flourished during this period the 

 following are the most distinguished : Gaucelm 

 Faidit ; Gui d'Uisel ; Peirols ; Arnaut de Maruelh, 

 the author of many exquisite love-songs ; the 

 talented Folquet, Bishop of Marseilles ; Peire 

 Vidal of Toulouse, a versatile and most eccentric 

 poet ; Arnaut Daniel, the chief of the artificial 

 school ; Giraut de Bornelh, considered by the Pro- 

 vencals themselves to be the finest of all their 

 poets (though Dante and Petrarch both regard 

 Arnaut Daniel as superior to him ) ; Raimbaut de 

 Vaquieras ; Guillem de Cabestanh, a most melodi- 

 ous singer ; the Monk of Montaudon, a powerful 

 and unsparing satirist ; Raimon de Miravals ; Uc 

 de Saint Circ ; Guillem Adhemar; Bertrand de 

 Born, the author of many warlike sirventes; Guillem 

 Figueira ; and Peire Cardinal, the great writer of 

 moral and religious satire. The latter half of the 

 13th century shows the poetry of the troubadours 

 in its decline, and few of the poets of this period 

 deserve to be classed with those of the previous 

 one. Towards the close of the century lived 

 Guiraut Riquier, a poet of great renown, who has 

 been termed the 'last of the troubadours.' He 

 specially cultivated the popular forms of lyric 

 poetry, particularly the pastoreta. Among the 

 long list of troubadours (about 400 in all) there 

 are only about a dozen women -singers of whom we 

 know. Their works, so far as one can judge from 

 the scanty fragments that remain, are much in- 

 ferior in merit to those of the troubadours. The 

 most distinguished among them was the Countess 

 Beatrix de Dia, who has been tunned the Sappho 

 of Provence. 



