It's called troubadour the first artistic movement that took place in poetry European, especially from the 11th and 12th centuries. Composed by lyrical and satirical songs, written by the troubadours, who give the movement its name, was a hybrid between poetic language and music.
Accompanied by musical instruments and dance, the troubadours traveled singing their songs. It was one of the most popular literary genres in the Middle Ages, next to the soap operas of cavalry, expression of prose in the period.
Know more: Five poems from Portuguese literature
Historical context
Troubadourism developed during the medieval period, mainly from the 12th century. At the time, the national states — Europe was divided into manors, large estates controlled by overlords. Value, in the Middle Ages, was not based on money, but on territorial possession. For this reason, medieval daily life was marked by many wars, battles and invasions with the intention of conquering territory.
A suzerainty and vassalage relationship: the overlord, lord of the manor, precursor of the European nobility, offered protection to his vassals who, in return, produced consumer goods: cultivated, spun, forged weapons, etc.
Like decline of the Roman Empire, from the fourth and fifth centuries, the vulgar Latin, official language of Rome, started to undergo changes among the dominated peoples. It was in this long period of the Middle Ages that theneo-latin languages, like the Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian and Catalan. However, it was only in the 14th century that Portuguese emerged as the official language; the songs of the troubadours were therefore written in another dialect: the Provencal.
See too:The origin of the Portuguese language
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Characteristics of Troubadourism
The works of troubadour are called songs, as they were written to be declaimed (there was no book culture in the Middle Ages, the population was largely illiterate and the printed book had not yet been invented), and were often accompanied by musical instruments, like the lyre, the flute, the viola.
While the composer (of origin) was called the troubadour, the musician was called minstrel. it was called secret the professional troubadour, Knight who went from court to court, promoting his songs in exchange for money.
There was still the jester, singer of popular origin who sang someone else's songs and composed his own. At parties or welders they were the dancers and singers who also accompanied them in the performances and dramatizations of the songs.
Troubadourism was a movementtraveling, that is, groups of troubadours and minstrels traveled through the courts, towns and fiefs, disclosing political events and propagating ideas, like that of the amorous behavior expected of a knight in love.
O love is one of the central themes of troubadour. It is the guiding axis of the love songs and of the friend songs. The coita theme is common (coyta), word that designates the pain of love, of the passionate troubadour who feels in his body the non-fulfillment of love. Hence the origin of the word “poor man”: one who was disgraced, victim of pain or ailment.
The troubadours also wrote two other types of ditties: those of mockery and those of curse, dedicated to satirizing and ridiculing.
It is common for there to be parallelism in songs: each idea develops after every two stanzas—or, for that matter, snakes. The nomenclature of the time was different: the stanza was called snake, the verse was called word.
Troubadourism in Portugal
Galician-Portuguese troubadourism developed, in general terms, in late twelfth century. Researchers point its genesis in a song by Paio Soares de Taveirós dedicated to Maria Pais Ribeiro, the favorite of King Sancho I, who lived between 1154 and 1211.
It's important make sure that The portuguese literature of the twelfth century did not yet have a notion of national identity fully instituted. The territory was part of the County of Portucalense and the County of Galicia, lands given as a wedding gift to crusader soldiers who married two noble girls.
D. Alfonso I Henriques he made the two counties into a kingdom, but he himself was only recognized as a monarch when he regained those lands, protected by the power and strength of Christendom. The identity of the troubadours, therefore, was not Portuguese, but Iberian and Hispanic. The origin of these composers was Leon, Galicia, the Portuguese kingdom, Castile etc.
Was Dom Dinis I, at the end of the 13th century, who established the Galician-Portuguese language as official of the kingdom, together with the first universities. And he himself was a troubadour king. The poet monarch wanted Portugal was constituted as a nation in fact, encouraging cultural identity and troubadourism. The movement was, therefore, very important for the development of the Portuguese language and culture.
Know more: Orphism: the first phase of modernism in Portugal
Troubadour authors and works
There was large number of authors of Galician-Portuguese songs, part of them of unknown origin, anonymous. It is known, however, that troubadour art is, for the most part, authored by the great medieval Iberian lords. In addition to the troubadours, there were also the jesters, authors who came from the popular classes, who not only interpreted the songs but also composed them.
Of the best known authors, João Soares de Paiva, the oldest author present in the manuscripts, João Zorro, Martin Codax, Paio Soares de Taveirós, João Garcia de Guilhade, Vasco Martins de Resende and the kings stand out D. Dinis I and Alfonso X.
The works of troubadourism constitute of scrolls and manuscripts. What has come down to our days is compiled in the Songbooks. The scrolls are best known Vindel and Sharrer, because they have musical notation. Based on them, contemporary recordings of some songs were made, such as “Ondas do mar de Vigo”, by jester Martin Codax, allowing us to listen to the songs as they were conceived by their authors.
songs
The songs are divided into two types: lyrical and satirical.
Lyric songs
Lyric songs are those with a love theme, and have two types: love songs and friend songs.
love songs
The genesis of the love poetry that would emerge in the following centuries, the love song is sung in 1st person. In it, the troubadour declare your love by a lady, usually affected by the poor thing, the loving pain in the face of the loved one's indifference.
THE love confession is straightforward, and the troubadour commonly addresses the lady as “mia Senhor” or “mia Senhor Fremosa” (“my lady” or “my beautiful lady”), in analogy to medieval lordship and vassalage relations. The lover is, therefore, servant and vassal of the beloved and enunciates his love with insistence and intensity.
bow1 would be sir2,
to cherish you3 from me,
that you in serious4 day saw,
and in very grave your love,
so serious that i can't
d'aquesta thing more to suffer
from which I have long suffered.
But you know Our Lord
I never deserved you,
but he knows very well that I served you,
since I saw you, always better
that I have never been able to do;
put in want to hurt you
from me, poor sinner.
[...]
(D. Dinis, in Songs of D. Dinis,B 521b, V 124)
[1] curtsy: "courtesy"
[2] Mr: "Lady". Suffixes ending in “or” did not have feminine inflection.
[3] market: "compassion, feel compassion"
[4] serious: "difficult, unhappy"
In this song, the troubadour hopes that the lady has the courtesy to feel compassion by him. Suffering, he says that the day he met her was unhappy and even more unhappy was the love he felt for her, so difficult that he can no longer suffer from it, as it has been for a long time. sufferer. God knows he never deserved this suffering, God knows he always offered the lady his best and says she wants to see him suffer, poor sinner.
friend songs
Although composed of male troubadours, they always represent a female voice. It is the lady who will expose her feelings, always discreetly, because, for the Provencal context, the most important value of a woman is the discretion. The maiden sometimes addresses her mother, a sister or friend, or even a pastor or someone she meets along the way. There are seven categories of friend songs:
- at albas, who sing the sunrise;
- at bailies, who sing the art of dance;
- at barcarolas, with a maritime theme;
- at herdings, with a bucolic theme;
- at pilgrimages, of religious celebration;
- at serene, who sing the sunset;
- of the pure solitude, which do not fit into any of the above themes.
Hey me, coytada, how do i live in gran cuydado
by my friend that ey elongated!
it takes me too long
my friend in Guard
Oy me, coytada, how I live in great desire
for my friend who is late and I don't see!
I'm too late
my friend in Guard
(D. Sancho I or Alfonso X [doubtful authorship], National Library Songbook, B 456)
In this song, it is verified that the maiden also suffers the painful pains of love, of the distance between her and the beloved, guard officer, whom she has not seen for a long time. We realize, however, that love speech is more subtle, is not addressed directly to the boy; it is about a regret of missing.
satirical songs
are intended to mock or defame particular person. There are two types of satirical songs: mockery and those of curse.
derision songs
They are most ironic and they work mostly with puns and double-sense words, without directly mentioning names. They are indirect criticism: is a covert, insinuated “bad saying”.
Oh lady, you were complaining
that I never praise you for my singing;
but now I want to sing
in which I will loathe you nevertheless;
and see how I want to give you:
female, old and sandia owner!
Female lady, if God forgive me,
for you have [a]tam gram heart
that I loe to you, in this reason
I want to loar you already;
and see what the loaction will be:
female, old and sandia owner!
Mistress fea, I never gave you
in my trobar, but I trobbed a lot;
but now a good singing I will do
in which I will loathe you nevertheless;
and I will tell you how I will praise you:
female, old and sandia owner!
(João Garcia de Gilhade, National Library Songbook, B 1485 V 1097)
In this derisive song, the troubadour responds to a lady who would have complained that she had never received any troubadour from him. Ironic, he says he will then make a song to praise her, calling her “ugly, old and crazy lady [sandia]”.
cursing songs
Are those where the troubadours point direct and nominally the target of his satires, purposefully offensive and doing use of coarse vocabulary.
From your wife, O my Pero Rodrigues
Never believe in the evil that speaks of her.
Well, I know that she takes great care of you,
Those who do not want you only bring you intrigues!
Because when she laid her on my bed,
She spoke very well to me about you,
If she gave her body to me, it's you she loves.
(Martim Soares, version by Rodrigues Lapa, in Archaic Chrestomatia)
See too: Humanism: period of great development of literature
Songbooks
The songs of troubadour came to our knowledge through the register of Songbooks. These are books, usually manuscripts, which are compiled with the lyrics and sometimes musical notations of the songs, as well as illustrations. There are three main Songbooks.
- Help Songbook: compilation of 13th century texts, it was discovered in the library of Colégio dos Nobres only in the beginning of the 19th century. It has 310 songs, mostly loving lyrics, and it remained unfinished, which is noticeable for having illuminations with the incomplete paintings or even just with the traced drawing.
![Manuscript sheet of Cancioneiro da Ajuda, a set of poems written in the 12th century. [1]](/f/c58fcb4406bacc668e3a6406342c06be.jpg)
- National Library Songbook: manuscript copied in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century, at the initiative of the humanist Angelo Colocci, based on another manuscript of unknown medieval origin. It contains 1560 poems by about 150 Galician-Portuguese troubadours and minstrels, composed between the 12th and 14th centuries, in the love lyrics and satire genres.
- Vatican Songbook: also copied by Angelo Colocci, in Italy, receives this name because it was found in the Vatican Library. It is composed of 1205 songs, of which 138 are written by D. Dinis.
Summary
- It was a poetic-musical movement;
- It developed in the Middle Ages, between the 11th and 14th centuries;
- The compositions were called songs and were usually accompanied by music and dancing;
- Cantigas de amor (knight declares love and misfortune to the lady);
- Cantigas de amigo (always in the female voice);
- Scornful songs (irony and indirect criticism);
- Cursing songs (offensive and direct, naming names);
- The songs came to our days thanks to Cancioneiros;
- Official troubadours were of noble lineage, including kings, but there were also jesters, born into the lower classes;
- Appreciated by the court, the troubadour work was an important instrument for the consolidation of Portuguese culture and language.
Image credit
[1] Palace of National Aid (Public domain)/commons
by Luiza Brandino
Literature teacher
