Editing Troubadour (section)

===Genres===
Troubadours, at least after their style became established, usually followed some set of "rules", like those of the ''[[Leys d'amors]]'' (compiled between 1328 and 1337). Initially all troubadour verses were called simply ''vers'', yet this soon came to be reserved for only love songs and was later replaced by ''canso'', though the term lived on as an antique expression for the troubadours' early works and was even employed with a more technically meaning by the last generation of troubadours (mid-14th century), when it was thought to derive from the Latin word ''verus'' (truth) and was thus used to describe moralising or didactic pieces. The early troubadours developed many genres and these only proliferated as rules of composition came to be put in writing. The known genres are:
*''[[Alba (poetry)|Alba]]'' (morning song) – the song of a lover as dawn approaches, often with a watchman warning of the approach of a lady's jealous husband
*''[[Arlabecca]]'' – a song defined by poetic metre, but perhaps once related to the [[rebec]]
*''[[Canso (song)|Canso]]'', originally ''vers'', also ''chanso'' or ''canço'' – the love song, usually consisting of five or six [[stanza]]s with an [[envoi]]
*''[[Cobla (Occitan literary term)|Cobla esparsa]]'' – a stand-alone stanza
*''[[Comiat]]'' – a song renouncing a lover
*[[Crusade song]] (''canso de crozada'') – a song about the [[Crusades]], usually encouraging them
*''[[Dansa]]'' or ''balada'' – a lively dance song with a [[refrain]]
*''[[Descort]]'' – a song heavily discordant in verse form and/or feeling
*''[[Desdansa]]'' – a dance designed for sad occasions
*''[[Devinalh]]'' – a riddle or cryptogram
*''[[Ensenhamen]]'' – a long didactic poem, usually not divided into stanzas, teaching a moral or practical lesson
*''[[Enuig]]'' – a poem expressing indignation or feelings of insult
*''[[Escondig]]'' – a lover's apology
*''[[Estampida]]'' – a dance-like song
*''[[Gap (song)|Gap]]'' – a boasting song, often presented as a challenge, often similar to modern sports chants
*''[[Maldit]]'' – a song complaining about a lady's behaviour and character
*''[[Partimen]]'' – a poetical exchange between two or more poets in which one is presented with a dilemma by another and responds
*''[[Pastorela]]'' – the tale of the love request of a [[knight]] to a [[shepherdess]]
*''[[Planh]]'' – a lament, especially on the death of some important figure
*''[[Plazer]]'' – a poem expressing pleasure
*''[[Salut d'amor]]'' – a love letter addressed to another, not always one's lover
*''[[Serena (genre)|Serena]]'' – the song of a lover waiting impatiently for the evening (to consummate his love)
*''[[Sestina]]'' – highly structured verse form
*''[[Sirventes]]'' – a political poem or [[satire]], originally put in the mouth of a paid soldier (''sirvens'')
*[[Sonnet]] (''sonet'') – an Italian genre imported into Occitan verse in the 13th century
*''[[Tenso]]'' – a poetical debate which was usually an exchange between two poets, but could be fictional
*''[[Torneyamen]]'' – a poetical debate between three or more persons, often with a judge (like a tournament)
*''[[Viadeyra|Viadeira]]'' – a traveller's complaint

All these genres were highly fluid. A cross between a ''sirventes'' and a ''canso'' was a ''meg-sirventes'' (half-''sirventes'').{{notetag|Sometimes ''canso-sirventes'' or ''sirventes-canso'' was used. [[Bertran de Born]] uses the term ''miei sirventes''.}} A ''tenso'' could be "invented" by a single poet; an ''alba'' or ''canso'' could be written with religious significance, addressed to God or the Virgin; and a ''sirventes'' may be nothing more than a political attack. The ''maldit'' and the ''comiat'' were often connected as a ''maldit-comiat'' and they could be used to attack and renounce a figure other than a lady or a lover, like a commanding officer (when combined, in a way, with the ''sirventes'').

[[Peire Bremon Ricas Novas]] uses the term ''mieja chanso'' (half song) and [[Cerverí de Girona]] uses a similar phrase, ''miga canço'', both to refer to a short ''canso'' and not a mixture of genres as sometimes supposed. Cerverí's ''mig'' (or ''meig'') ''vers e miga canço'' was a ''vers'' in the new sense (a moralising song) that was also highly critical and thus combined the ''canso'' and the ''sirventes''. Among the more than one hundred works of Cerverí de Girona are many songs with unique labels, which may correspond more to "titles" than "genres", but that is debatable: ''peguesca'' (nonsense), ''espingadura'' ([[flageolet]] song), ''libel'' (legal petition), ''esdemessa'' (leap), ''somni'' (dream), ''acuyndamen'' (challenge), ''desirança'' (nostalgia), ''aniversari'' (anniversary), ''serena'' (serene).<ref>Frank M. Chambers (1985), ''An Introduction to Old Provençal Versification'', (Darby, PA: Diane Publishing, {{ISBN|0-87169-167-1}}.), pp. 195–96.</ref>

Most "Crusading songs" are classified either as ''cansos'' or ''sirventes'' but sometimes separately. Some styles became popular in other languages and in other literary or musical traditions. In [[French literature|French]], the ''alba'' became the ''[[aubade]]'', the ''pastorela'' the ''[[pastourelle]]'', and the ''partimen'' the ''[[jeu parti]]''. The ''sestina'' became popular in [[Italian literature]]. The troubadours were not averse to borrowing either. The ''planh'' developed out of the Latin ''[[planctus]]'' and the sonnet was stolen from the [[Sicilian School]]. The [[basse danse]] (''bassa dansa'') was first mentioned in the troubadour tradition (c. 1324), but only as being performed by jongleurs.

[[File:BnF ms. 854 fol. 135 - Le moine de Montaudon (1).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Monge de Montaudon]] receiving a [[Eurasian sparrowhawk|sparrow hawk]] as a prize for his performance in a contest]]