Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/898

Rh 874 servation. Shortly after him centres of poetic activity make their appearance in various places first in Limousin and Gascony. In the former province lived a viscount of Ventadour, Eble, who during the second part of William of Poitiers s life seems to have been brought into relation with him, and according to a contemporary historian, Geffrei, prior of Vigeois, erat valde gratiosus in cantilenis. We possess none of his compositions ; but under his influ ence Bernart of Ventadour was trained to poetry, who, though only the son of one of the serving-men of the castle, managed to gain the love of the lady of Venta dour, and, when on the discovery of their amour he had to depart elsewhere, received a gracious welcome from Eleanor of Guienne, consort (from 1152) of Henry II. of England. Of Bernart s compositions we possess about fifty songs of elegant simplicity, some of which may be taken as the most perfect specimens of love poetry Pro- ven9al literature has ever produced. Bernart must therefore have been in repute before the middle of the 12th century ; and his poetic career extended well on towards its close. At the same period, or probably a little earlier, flourished Cercamon, a poet certainly inferior to Bernart, to judge by the few pieces he has left us, but nevertheless of genuine importance among the troubadours both because of his early date and because definite information regard ing him has been preserved. He was a Gascon, and composed, says his old biographer, &quot; pastorals &quot; according to the ancient custom (pastorelas a la uzansa antiya). This is the record of the appearance in the south of France of a poetic form which ultimately acquired large develop ment. The period at which Cercamon lived is determined by a piece where he alludes very clearly to the approaching marriage of the king of France, Louis VII., with Eleanor of Guienne (1137). Among the earliest troubadours may also be reckoned Marcabrun, a pupil of Cercamon s, from whose pen we have about forty pieces, those with dates ranging from 1135 to 1148 or thereabout. This poet has great originality of thought and style. His songs, several of which are historical, are free from the commonplaces of their class, and contain curious strictures on the corrup tions of the time. We cannot here do more than enumerate the leading troubadours and briefly indicate in what conditions their poetry was developed and through what circumstances it fell into decay and finally disappeared : Peter of Auvergne (Peire d Alvernha), who in certain respects must be classed with Marcabrun ; Arnaut Daniel, remarkable for his com plicated versification, the inventor of the sestina, a poetic form for which Dante and Petrarch express an admiration difficult for us to understand ; Arnolt of Mareuil (Arnaut de Maroill), who, while less famous than Arnaut Daniel, certainly surpasses him in elegant simplicity of form and delicacy of sentiment; Bertran de Born, now the most generally known of all the troubadours on account of the part he played both by his sword and his sirventescs in the struggle between Henry II. of England and his rebel sons; Peire Vidal of Toulouse, a poet of varied inspiration, who grew rich with gifts bestowed on him by the greatest nobles of his time; Guiraut de Borneil, lo maestre dels trobadors, and at any rate master in the art of the so-called &quot;close&quot; style (trobar dm), though he has also left us poems of charming simplicity; Gaucelm Faidit, from whom we have a touching lament (plank) on the death of Richard Cceur de Lion; Folquet of Marseilles, the most powerful thinker among the poets of the south, who from being a troubadour became first a monk, then an abbot, and finally bishop of Toulouse. It is not without interest to discover from what class of society the troubadours came. Many of them, there is no doubt, had a very humble origin. Bernart of Ventadour s PKOVENgAL [LITERATURE. father was a servant, Peire Vidal s a maker of furred garments, Perdigon s a fisher. Others belonged to the bourgeoisie: Peire d Alvernha, for example, Peire Raimon of Toulouse, Elias Fonsalada. More rarely we see traders sons becoming troubadours ; this was the case with Folquet of Marseilles and Aimeric de Pegulhan. A great many were clerics, or at least studied for the church, for instance, Arnaut of Marcuil, Hugh of Saint Circq (Uc de Saint Circ), Aimeric de Belenoi, Hugh Brunet, Peire Cardinal ; some had even taken orders the monk of Montaudon, the monk Gaubert of Puicibot. Ecclesiastical authority did not always tolerate this breach of discipline. Gui d Uissel, canon and troubadour, was obliged by the injunction of the pontifical legate to give up his song- making. One point is particularly striking the number of nobles (usually poor knights whose incomes were in sufficient to support their rank) who became troubadours, or even, by a greater descent, jongleurs Raimon de Miraval, Pons de Capdoill, Guillem Azemar, Cadenet, Peirol, Raimbaut de Vacqueiras, and many more. There is no doubt they betook themselves to poetry not merely for their own pleasure, but for the sake of the gifts to be obtained from the nobles whose courts they frequented. A very different position was occupied by such important persons as William of Poitiers, Raimbaut of Orange, the viscount of Saint Antonin, William of Berga, and Blacatz, who made poetry for their own amusement, but contributed not a little, by thus becoming troubadours, to raise the profession. The profession itself was entirely dependent on the exists ence and prosperity of the feudal courts. The troubadours could hardly expect to obtain a livelihood from any other quarter than the generosity of the great. It will conse quently be well to mention the more important at least of those princes who are known to have been patrons and some of them practisers of the poetic art. They are arranged approximately in geographical order, and after each are inserted the names of those troubadours with whom they were connected. France. ELEANOR OF GUIENNE, Bernart of Ventadour (Venta- dorn) ; HENRY CURTMANTLE, son of Henry II. of England, Bertran de Born ; KICHAKD CCEUR DE LION, Arnaut Daniel, Peire Vidal, Folquet of Marseilles, Gaucelni Faidit ; ERMENGARDE or NARBONNE (1143-1192), Bernart of Ventadour, Peire Rogier, Peire d Alvernha ; RAIMON V., count of Toulouse (1143-1194), Bernart of Ventadour, Peire Rogier, Peire Raimon, Hugh Brunet, Peire Vidal, Folquet of Marseilles, Bernart of Durfort ; RAIMON VI., count of Toulouse (1194-1222), Raimon de Miraval, Aimeric de Pegulhan, Aimeric do Belenoi, Ademar lo Negro ; ALFHON.SE II., count of Provence (1185- 1209), Elias de Barjols ; RAIMON BERENGEII IV., count of Provence (1209-1245), Sordel ; BARRAL, viscount of Marseilles (died c. 1192), Peire Vidal, Folquet of Marseilles ; WILLIAM VIII., lord of Mont- pellier (1172-1204), Peire Raimon, Arnaut de Mareuil, Folquet of Marseilles, Gtiiraut de Calanson, Aimeric deSarlat; ROBERT, dauphin of Aiivergne (1169-1234), Peirol, Perdigon, Pierre de Maensac, Gaucelm Faidit; GUILLAUME DU BAITS, prince of Orange (1182- 1218), Raimbaut de Vacqueiras, Perdigou; SAVARIC DE MAULEON (12GO-1230), Gaucelm de Puicibot, Hugh of Saint Circq; BLACATZ, a Provencal noble (1200 ?-1236), Cadenet, Jean d Aubusson, Sordel, Guillem Figueira ; HENRY I., count of Rodez (1208-1222?), Hugh of Saint Circq ; perhaps HUGH IV., count of Rodez (1222 ?- 1274), and HENRY II., count of Rodez (1274-1302), Guiraut Riquier, Folquet de Lunel, Serveri de Girone, Bertran Cartonol ; NUNYO SANCHEZ, count of Rou.ssillon (died in 1241), Aimeric de Belenoi ; BERNARD IV., count of Astarac (1249-1291), Guiraut Riquier, Amanieu de Sescas. Spain. ALPHONSE II., kingof Aragon (1162-1196), Peire Rogier, Poire Ruimon, Poire Vidal. Cadenet, Guiraut de Cabreira, Elias de Barjols, the monk of Montaudon, Hugh Brunet; PETER II., king of Aragon (1196-1213), Raimon dc Miraval, Aimeric do Pegulhan, Perdigon, Ademar lo Negro, Hugh of Saint Circq ; JAMES I., king of Aragon (1213-1276), Peire Cardinal, Bernart Sicart de Maruejols, Guiraut Riquier, At de Mons ; PETER III., king of Aragon (1276-1285), Paulct of Marseilles, Guiraut Riquier, Serveri do Girone; ALPIIONSO IX., king of Leon (1138-1214), Peire Rogier, Guiraut dc Bonicil, Aimeric de Pegulhan, Hugh of Saint Circq; ALPHONSO X., kingof Castile (1252-1284), Bertran de Lamanon,