Editing Troubadour (section)

==Lives==
{{see also|List of troubadours and trobairitz|Minstrel|Vida (Occitan literary form)|Razo|Consistori del Gay Saber|Consistori de Barcelona}}
The 450 or so troubadours known to historians came from a variety of backgrounds. They made their living in a variety of ways, lived, and travelled in many different places, and were actors in many types of social context. The troubadours were not wandering entertainers. Typically, they stayed in one place for a lengthy period of time under the patronage of a wealthy nobleman or woman. Many did travel extensively, however, sojourning at one court and then another.

===Status===
The earliest known troubadour, the Duke of Aquitaine, came from the high nobility. He was followed immediately by two poets of unknown origins, known only by their sobriquets, [[Cercamon]] and [[Marcabru]], and by a member of the princely class, [[Jaufre Rudel]]. Many troubadours are described in their ''vidas'' as poor knights. It was one of the most common descriptors of status. [[Berenguier de Palazol]], [[Gausbert Amiel]], [[Guilhem Ademar]], [[Guiraudo lo Ros]], [[Marcabru]], [[Peire de Maensac]], [[Peirol]], [[Raimon de Miraval]], [[Rigaut de Berbezilh]], and [[Uc de Pena]] are all so described. [[Albertet de Sestaro]] is described as the son of a noble [[Jongleur]], presumably a [[Petty nobility|petty noble]] lineage.

Later troubadours especially could belong to lower classes, ranging from the middle class of merchants and "burgers" (persons of urban standing) to tradesmen and others who worked with their hands. [[Salh d'Escola]] and [[Elias de Barjols]] were described as the sons of merchants and [[Elias Fonsalada]] was the son of a burger and jongleur. [[Perdigon]] was the son of a "poor fisherman" and [[Elias Cairel]] of a blacksmith. [[Arnaut de Mareuil]] is specified in his ''vida'' as coming from a poor family, but whether this family was poor by noble standards or materially is not apparent.

Many troubadours also possessed a clerical education. For some this was their springboard to composition, since their clerical education equipped them with an understanding of musical and poetic forms as well as vocal training. The ''vidas'' of the following troubadours note their clerical status: [[Aimeric de Belenoi]], [[Folquet de Marselha]] (who became a bishop), [[Gui d'Ussel]], [[Guillem Ramon de Gironella]], [[Jofre de Foixà]] (who became an abbot), [[Peire de Bussignac]], [[Peire Rogier]], [[Raimon de Cornet]], [[Uc Brunet]], and [[Uc de Saint Circ]].

===''Trobadors'' and ''joglars''===
[[File:Vielles and Citole, Manuscript T (El Escorial, Biblioteca del Real Monasterio, MS. T. I. 1), fol. 5r, detail.jpg|thumb|right|Musicians in the time of the [[Cantigas de Santa Maria]]. These were in the court of the king, two [[vielle]] players and one [[citoler]].]]

The Occitan words ''trobador'' and ''trobaire'' are relatively rare compared with the verb ''trobar'' (compose, invent), which was usually applied to the writing of poetry. It signified that a poem was original to an author (''trobador'') and was not merely sung or played by one. The term was used mostly for poetry only and in more careful works, like the ''vidas'', is not generally applied to the composition of music or to singing, though the troubadour's poetry itself is not so careful. Sometime in the middle of the 12th century, however, a distinction was definitely being made between an inventor of original verse and the performers of others'. The latter were called ''joglars'' in both Occitan and Catalan, from the Latin ''ioculatores'', giving rise also to the French ''jongleur'', Castilian ''juglar'', and English [[juggler]], which has come to refer to a more specific breed of performer. The medieval ''jongleur/joglar'' is really a [[minstrel]].

At the height of troubadour poetry (the "classical period"), troubadours are often found attacking ''jongleurs'' and at least two small genres arose around the theme: the ''ensenhamen joglaresc'' and the ''sirventes joglaresc''. These terms are debated, however, since the adjective ''joglaresc'' seems to imply "in the manner of the ''jongleurs''". Inevitably, however, pieces of these genres are verbal attacks at ''jongleurs'', in general and in specific, with named individuals being called out. It is clear, for example from the poetry of [[Bertran de Born]], that ''jongleurs'' were performers who did not usually compose. They often performed the troubadours' songs: singing, playing instruments, dancing, and even doing acrobatics.{{notetag|The earliest reference to the ''[[basse danse]]'' comes from [[Raimon de Cornet]], who attributes it to the ''jongleurs'' of the mid-14th century.}}

In the late 13th century [[Guiraut Riquier]] bemoaned the inexactness of his contemporaries and wrote a letter to [[Alfonso X of Castile]], a noted patron of literature and learning of all kinds, for clarification on the proper reference of the terms ''trobador'' and ''joglar''. According to Riquier, every vocation deserved a name of its own and the sloppy usage of ''joglar'' assured that it covered a multitude of activities, some, no doubt, with which Riquier did not wish to be associated. In the end Riquier argued—and Alfonso X seems to agree, though his "response" was probably penned by Riquier—that a ''joglar'' was a courtly entertainer (as opposed to popular or low-class one) and a troubadour was a poet and composer.

Despite the distinctions noted, many troubadours were also known as jongleurs, either before they began composing or alongside. [[Aimeric de Belenoi]], [[Aimeric de Sarlat]], [[Albertet Cailla]], [[Arnaut de Mareuil]], [[Elias de Barjols]], [[Elias Fonsalada]], [[Falquet de Romans]], [[Guillem Magret]], [[Guiraut de Calanso]], [[Nicoletto da Torino]], [[Peire Raimon de Tolosa]], [[Peire Rogier]], [[Peire de Valeira]], [[Peirol]], [[Pistoleta]], [[Perdigon]], [[Salh d'Escola]], [[Uc de la Bacalaria]], [[Uc Brunet]], and [[Uc de Saint Circ]] were jongleur-troubadours.

===''Vidas'' and ''razos''===

A ''vida'' is a brief prose biography, written in [[Occitan language|Occitan]], of a troubadour. The word ''vida'' means "life" in Occitan. In the [[chansonnier]]s, the manuscript collections of medieval troubadour poetry, the works of a particular author are often accompanied by a short prose biography. The ''vidas'' are important early works of vernacular prose nonfiction.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Egan |first1=Margarita |title=The Vidas of the Troubadours |date=2018 |publisher=Routlegde |location=Abingdon |isbn=978-0367189440 |pages=xiv}}</ref> Nevertheless, it appears that many of them derive their facts from literal readings of their objects' poems, which leaves their historical reliability in doubt. Most of the ''vidas'' were composed in Italy in the 1220s, many by [[Uc de Saint Circ]].

A ''razo'' (from Occitan for "reason") was a similar short piece of Occitan prose detailing the circumstances of a particular composition. A ''razo'' normally introduced the poem it explained; it might, however, share some of the characteristics of a ''vida''. The ''razos'' suffer from the same problems as the ''vidas'' in terms of reliability. Many are likewise the work of Uc de Saint Circ.

[[File:Perceval Doria.jpg|thumb|right|Late 16th-century Italian cursive on paper, recording a song of Perceval Doria]]

===''Podestà''-troubadours===
A phenomenon arose in Italy, recognised around the turn of the 20th century by Giulio Bertoni, of men serving in several cities as ''[[podestà]]s'' on behalf of either the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Guelph or Ghibelline]] party and writing political verse in Occitan rhyme. These figures generally came from the urban middle class. They aspired to high culture and though, unlike the nobility, they were not patrons of literature, they were its disseminators and its readers.

The first ''podestà''-troubadour was [[Rambertino Buvalelli]], possibly the first troubadour native to the Italian Peninsula, who was ''podestà'' of [[Genoa]] between 1218 and 1221. Rambertino, a Guelph, served at one time or another as ''podestà'' of [[Brescia]], [[Milan]], [[Parma]], [[Mantua]], and [[Verona]]. It was probably during his three-year tenure there that he introduced Occitan lyric poetry to the city, which was later to develop a flourishing Occitan literary culture.

Among the ''podestà''-troubadours to follow Rambertino, four were from Genoa: the Guelphs [[Luca Grimaldi]], who also served in Florence, Milan, and [[Ventimiglia, Italy|Ventimiglia]], and [[Luchetto Gattilusio]], who served in Milan, [[Cremona]], and Bologna, and the Ghibellines [[Perceval Doria]], who served in [[Arles]], [[Avignon]], [[Asti]], and [[Parma]], and [[Simon Doria]], sometime ''podestà'' of [[Savona]] and [[Albenga]]. Among the non-Genoese ''podestà''-troubadours was [[Alberico da Romano]], a nobleman of high rank who governed [[Vicenza]] and [[Treviso]] as variously a Ghibelline and a Guelph. He was a patron as well as a composer of Occitan lyric.

Mention should be made of the Provençal troubadour [[Isnart d'Entrevenas]], who was ''podestà'' of Arles in 1220, though he does not fit the phenomenon Giulio Bertoni first identified in Italy.

===Trobairitz===
{{main|Trobairitz}}
The ''trobairitz'' were the female troubadours, the first female composers of [[secular music]] in the Western tradition. The word ''trobairitz'' was first used in the 13th-century ''[[Romance of Flamenca]]'' and its derivation is the same as that of ''trobaire'' but in feminine form. There were also female counterparts to the ''joglars'': the ''[[joglaresse|joglaresas]]''. The number of trobairitz varies between sources: there were twenty or twenty-one named trobairitz, plus an additional poet known only as [[Domna H.]] There are several anonymous texts ascribed to women; the total number of trobairitz texts varies from twenty-two (Schultz-Gora),{{sfn|Schultz-Gora|1888|p=12}} twenty-five ([[Pierre Bec|Bec]]), thirty-six (Bruckner, Shepard, and White),{{sfn|Bruckner|Shepard|White|2000|p=xxxvi}} and forty-six (Rieger).{{sfn|Rieger|1991|p=xii}} Only one melody composed by a trobairitz (the [[Beatritz de Dia|Comtessa de Dia]]) survives. Out of a total of about 450 troubadours and 2,500 troubadour works, the trobairitz and their corpus form a minor but interesting and informative portion. They are, therefore, quite well studied.

[[File:BnF ms. 12473 fol. 110v - Na Castelloza (2).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Castelloza]]

The trobairitz were in most respects as varied a lot as their male counterparts, with the general exceptions of their poetic style and their provenance. They wrote predominantly ''[[cansos]]'' and ''[[tenso]]s''; only one ''sirventes'' by a named woman, [[Gormonda de Monpeslier]], survives (though two anonymous ones are attributed to women). One ''[[salut d'amor]]'', by a woman ([[Azalais d'Altier]]) to a woman ([[Clara d'Anduza]]) is also extant and one anonymous ''[[planh]]'' is usually assigned a female authorship. They wrote almost entirely within the ''[[trobar leu]]'' style; only two poems, one by [[Lombarda]] and another [[Alais, Yselda, and Carenza]], are usually considered to belong to the more demanding ''[[trobar clus]]''. None of the trobairitz were prolific, or if they were their work has not survived. Only two have left us more than one piece: the Comtessa de Dia, with four, and [[Castelloza]], with three or four. One of the known trobairitz, [[Gaudairença]], wrote a song entitled ''Coblas e dansas'', which has not survived; no other piece of hers has either.

The trobairitz came almost to a woman from [[Occitania]]. There are representatives from the [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]], [[Provence]], [[Languedoc]], the [[Dauphiné]], [[Toulousain]], and the [[Limousin (province)|Limousin]]. One trobairitz, [[Ysabella (trobairitz)|Ysabella]], may have been born in [[Périgord]], Northern Italy, [[Latin Empire|Greece]], or [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Palestine]]. All the trobairitz whose families we know were high-born ladies; only one, Lombarda, was probably of the merchant class. All the trobairitz known by name lived around the same time: the late 12th and the early 13th century (c. 1170 – c. 1260). The earliest was probably [[Tibors de Sarenom]], who was active in the 1150s (the date of her known composition is uncertain). The latest was either [[Garsenda of Forcalquier]], who died in 1242, though her period of poetic patronage and composition probably occurred a quarter century earlier, or [[Guilleuma de Rosers]], who composed a ''tenso'' with [[Lanfranc Cigala]], known between 1235 and 1257. There exist brief prose biographies—''[[Vida (Occitan literary form)|vidas]]''—for eight trobairitz: [[Almucs de Castelnau]] (actually a ''[[razo]]''), [[Azalais de Porcairagues]], the Comtessa de Dia, Castelloza, [[Iseut de Capio]] (also a ''razo''), Lombarda, [[Maria de Ventadorn]], and Tibors de Sarenom.