Editing Troubadour (section)

===Schools and styles===

Three main styles of Occitan lyric poetry have been identified: the ''[[trobar leu]]'' (light), ''[[trobar ric]]'' (rich), and ''[[trobar clus]]'' (closed, [[Hermeticism|hermetic]]). The first was by far the most common: the wording is straightforward and relatively simple compared to the ''ric'' and literary devices are less common than in the ''clus''. This style was the most accessible and it was immensely popular. The most famous poet of the ''trobar leu'' was [[Bernart de Ventadorn]]. The ''trobar clus'' regularly escapes modern scholarly interpretation. Words are commonly used metaphorically and symbolically and what a poem appears to be about on its surface is rarely what is intended by the poet or understood by audiences "in the know". The ''clus'' style was invented early by [[Marcabru]] but only favoured by a few masters thereafter. The ''trobar ric'' style is not as opaque as the ''clus'', rather it employs a rich vocabulary, using many words, rare words, invented words, and unusual, colourful wordings.

Modern scholars recognise several "schools" in the troubadour tradition. Among the earliest is a school of followers of Marcabru, sometimes called the "Marcabrunian school": [[Bernart Marti]], [[Bernart de Venzac]], [[Gavaudan]], and [[Peire d'Alvernhe]]. These poets favoured the ''trobar clus'' or ''ric'' or a hybrid of the two. They were often moralising in tone and critical of contemporary courtly society. Another early school, whose style seems to have fallen out of favour, was the "Gascon school" of [[Cercamon]], [[Peire de Valeira]], and [[Guiraut de Calanso]]. Cercamon was said by his biographer to have composed in the "old style" (''la uzansa antiga'') and Guiraut's songs were ''d'aquella saison'' ("of that time"). This style of poetry seems to be attached to early troubadours from [[Gascony]] and was characterised by references to nature: leaves, flowers, birds, and their songs. This Gascon "literary fad" was unpopular in [[Provence]] in the early 13th century, harming the reputation of the poets associated with it.

In the late 13th century a school arose at [[Béziers]], once the centre of pre-Albigensian Languedoc and of the Trencavel lordships, in the 1260s–80s. Four poets epitomise this "school": [[Bernart d'Auriac]], [[Joan Esteve]], [[Joan Miralhas]], and [[Raimon Gaucelm]]. The latter three were natives of Béziers and all four lived there. All were members of the urban middle class and no courtesans: Miralhas was possibly a potter and Bernart was a ''mayestre'' (teacher). All wrote in Occitan but were supporters of the French king [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] and the French aristocracy against the native Occitan nobility. They have been described as "[[Gallicised]]". Raimon Gaucelm supported the [[Eighth Crusade]] and even wrote a ''[[planh]]'', the only known one of its kind, to a burgher of Béziers. Joan Esteve and Bernart both composed in support of the French in the [[Aragonese Crusade]]. The Béziers poets are a shining example of the transformation of Occitania in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, but also of the ability of troubadours to survive it.{{sfn|de Riquer|1975}}