Editing Courtly love (section)

===Lyric===
Courtly love was born in the lyric, first appearing with Provençal poets in the 11th century, including itinerant and courtly [[minstrels]] such as the French troubadours and [[trouvère]]s, as well as the writers of lays. Texts about courtly love, including lays, were often set to music by troubadours or minstrels. According to scholar Ardis Butterfield, courtly love is "the air which many genres of troubadour song breathe".<ref>Butterfield, Ardis. "Vernacular poetry and music". ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|Cambridge Companion to Medieval Music]]''. Ed. Mark Everist. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 209.</ref>  Not much is known about how, when, where, and for whom these pieces were performed, but we can infer that the pieces were performed at court by troubadours, trouvères, or the courtiers themselves. This can be inferred because people at court were encouraged or expected to be "courtly" and be proficient in many different areas, including music. Several troubadours became extremely wealthy playing the fiddle and singing their songs about courtly love for a courtly audience.

It is difficult to know how and when these songs were performed because most of the information on these topics is provided in the music itself. One lay, the "Lay of Lecheor", says that after a lay was composed, "Then the lay was preserved / Until it was known everywhere / For those who were skilled musicians / On viol, harp and rote / Carried it forth from that region…"<ref>Burgess, Glyn S.. "C'est le Lay dou Lecheor."
''Three old French narrative lays: Trot, Lecheor, Nabaret''. Liverpool: University of Liverpool, Department of French, 1999. 67.</ref> Scholars have to then decide whether to take this description as truth or fiction.

Period examples of performance practice, of which there are few, show a quiet scene with a household servant performing for the king or lord and a few other people, usually unaccompanied. According to scholar Christopher Page, whether or not a piece was accompanied depended on the availability of instruments and people to accompany—in a courtly setting.<ref>{{cite book |last=Page |first=Christopher |title=Voices and Instruments of the Middle Ages |location=London |publisher=J. M. Dent & Sons |year=1987 |isbn=0-460-04607-1 }}</ref> For troubadours or minstrels, pieces were often accompanied by fiddle, also called a [[vielle]], or a [[harp]]. Courtly musicians also played the vielle and the harp, as well as different types of [[viol]]s and [[flute]]s.

This French tradition spread later to the German [[Minnesänger]], such as [[Walther von der Vogelweide]] and [[Wolfram von Eschenbach]].{{sfn|Boase|Bornstein|1983}} It also influenced the [[Sicilian School]] of Italian vernacular poetry, as well as [[Petrarch]] and [[Dante]].<ref>Dorothy Sayers trans, ''Dante:Purgatory'' (1971) p. 260 and 279</ref>