96 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
occurrence. The word puy comes from a supposed 
Celtic root, and signifies tribunal. It was one of these 
courts which was established at Toulouse in 1324, by 
a company of seven Troubadours. They called it the 
court of the Gai Saber , and poets from Provence, 
Languedoc, and Catalonia were invited to compete 
for the prize, which was a violet “ of fine gold.” 
The court assembled annually in a garden, and under 
a spreading elm made their award. This gave such 
an impetus to the “joyous science,” that, in 1388, King 
John, of Arragon, sent an embassy to Charles VI., 
asking for French Troubadours to establish academies 
of the Gai Saber in his dominions. 
Put, in the next century, wars, and other circum¬ 
stances unfavorable to the quiet pursuits of litera¬ 
ture and the peaceful pleasures of the garden, caused 
such a decline in the spirit of the age, that this pretty 
custom fell into disuse. Then, when a night of igno¬ 
rance and mental indolence seemed settling down upon 
these fair southern fields, Clemence Isaure suddenly 
steps upon the scene, and rescues her native land 
from the demoralizing influence of material force by 
encouraging once more the cultivation of eloquence 
and belles-lettres. 
This famous lady was of an ancient and illustrious 
Toulousan family. She is represented to have pos¬ 
sessed all graces, both of mind and person, and to 
have encouraged in every way the revival of letters. 
