Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/546

* PROVENQAL LITEBATTJBE. 478 PBOVENgAL LITEKATUKE. taiiic and Count of Poitou, but his pieces show such sure skill ill treatment, such stability of language, metrical form and artistic diaracter, as could not have been attained without the foun- dation of a considerable earlier literature. After the middle of the twclftli century the poets be- came numerous and their art soon reached its culmination. Among the most notable singers are: Marcabrun, distinguished for his biting satire; Jaufre Rudel, Prince of Blaia, hero of a romantic tale, charmingly dramatized by Edmond Rostand in his Princesse lointaine; Rambaut d'Orangc, who exchanged love songs with Beatrice, Countess of Die; Peire Rogier, who ex- celled in exaggerated devotion to Ermcngarde, the masculine Countess of Narbonne; Bernart de ^'enladour, the greatest singer of love; Peire <rAherhne, who «'rote largely in the difficult style ; Arnaut de Mareuil. referred to by Pe- trarch, in comparison with Arnaut Daniel, as 'the less famous Arnaut:' Guiraut de Borneil, 'the master of the troubadours;' Peire Vidal, an erratic genius; Bertran de Born, often called, on account of his stirring war songs, 'the Tj-rtseus of Provence,' and put by Dante into hell among the stirrers of dissension {Inf. xxviii.) ; Folquct de Marseille^ who sang of love in his youth, then entered the Church, rose to be Bishop of Tou- louse, and was one of the most ferocious persecu- tors of the Albigenses; Pons de Capdueil, Ram- baut de Vaqueiras, and Peirol, all three lovers and crusaders ; Arnaut Daniel, whom Dante met in the last circle of Purgatory, and whom he re- gards as the greatest of all poets of love (Purg. xxvi.) ; Raimon de Miraval, who sang light- heartedly of amorous intrigues while his coun- try was being devastated bv a cruel war and ruin stalked through the land. ' After tlic beginning of the thirteenth centurj' the Provencal lyric rapidly declined. Moral poems largely took the place of songs of love ancl war. Among the writers worthy of mention are: Aimeric de Peguilhan, the favorite of many nobles: Peire Cardinal, master of the moral sirvcntes; Sordello, the Mantuan, made famous by Dante and Browning; and Guiraut Riquier, who may well be regarded as the last of the Trou- badours. The fall' of this brilliant literature began with the Albigensian Crusade of 1209. which soon turned into a savage war of con(|uest. and ended in the absorption of the fiefs of the south liv the French monarchy. The elegant and liberal life of the Provencal nobility, the fount from' which this lyric drew all its vitality, was destroyed. The stream of court poetry was dried up at its source. Even the language was condemned by authority. The culture of the region became en- tirely French, and the hinfiue d'oc declined into a nu're group of dialects, with a dialectal litera- ture. The poets took refuge in Catalonia, Ara- gon, and Italy, where for another century their profession flourished. The art. abandoned by the aristocracy, was taken up by the citizens of the towns. In 1.32.3 seven burghers of Toulouse founded the "Sobre- gaya Companhia dels VII. Trobadors de Tholoza," the purpose of which was to further their native poetry. This company developed into a formal society with many sharply defined gi-ades of mem- bership. Their chancellor prepared in 13.5.5 a manual of poetic art, the Leys d'Amorfi. degrees of bachelor and doctor of the 'gav science' were conferred, and annual competitions in song were held, called the "'Floral Games," from the fact that gold and silver flowers constituted the prizes. The pieces composed for these competi- tions celebrated the Virgin under the names Amors and Clcnienza. the stereotyped love-formu- las of the ancient poets being employed in the service of religion. Being written according to rule, these jjoems are uninspired and of small literary value. Lj'ric ]ioetry, though the most important, was not the only manifestation of Provencal litera- ture. Almost all the media'val forms are to be found. There are epics, mostly fragmentary, the most important of which is Girart de liossillon ; Arthurian romances, such as Juufrc ; short versi- fied tales, called novas, which are interesting chiefly as presenting the life of the age; and one long and highlj' artificial love-story, Flamenca, which represents the impossible wooing and con- quest of a married lady by a yoimg knight. Flamenca has kept for us a most valuable picture of Provencal manners before the year 123.5, when it was probably composed. Some historical poems are also of importance, among which may be mentioned the Chnnso d'Antioche, dealing with the First Crusade, and two long fragments on the Albigensian War. A few fables, liymns, prayers, allegories, epistles, and lives of saints remain; also a great mass of moral, didactic, and scientifie verse, of which much is still unpub- lished. To this class belongs an immense work, a sort of encyclopiedia, the Prerinri d'Amors of IMatfre Ermengaud, which consists of over 34.000 lines. Of the drama little has been preserved, and of that little none is earlier than the four- teenth century. Compared with the jioetrv, Provencal prose is weak and poor. We have some translations of parts of the Bible and of legends of the saints, some chronicles, some quasi-scientific treatises, and works on grammar {Donat Provcnsal, of about 1243, Las Razos de Trobar) and poetics (Los Leys d'Amors, of about 1356). The most interesting bit of prose is the Bioyrnphics of the Troubadours, containing more than one hundred lives, together with razos, or stories explaining the circumstances under which particulnr poems were coin]iosed. This work, however, is untrust- worthy. jNIany of the notices are romantic tales, products of the imagination, built wholly upon the poems they are designed to interi)ret. Provencal literature, it will be seen, is of slight value apart from its lyric poetry, but this lyric poetry is one of the most important artistic manifestations of the Jliddle Ages. Poor as it was in ideas and sentiments and empty in its courtly refinement, it was original. Very few outside influences were at work at its rise or in its development. It was the spontaneous out- growth of chivalric manners and institutions act- ing under favorable conditions upon a race prone to melody. Its fundamental aridity is olTset by variety of form, courtly refinement, and superior musical qualities. Though almost without known ancestry, it was not without known ofTspring. France, Germany, Spain, and Italy echoed its ■ tones and imitated its conventional forms. In > Germany, however, a native spirit soon mastered the Uinnesingers. and in Italy a school of thoughtful and cultivated writers developed the love theories of Provence till they were fit for the hand of Dante.