Matthew Laamanen
December 2012
LITR 312
Research Paper
The Great Troubadors
The topic of troubadours and their songs was something only mentioned in brief during
LITR 312, but for some reason this brief explanation and history made me want to learn more. At
first, this paper was going to be about the troubadour songs and their affect and influence on
popular music of today, but that topic has shifted into something that will fit the content of this
course much better. The paper will not only discuss troubadour songs, but it will give in depth
information about great troubadours such as: Falquet de Romans, Perdigon, Periol, Aimeric de
Belenoi, and Salh d'Escola. Each of these troubadours came from different courts and different
countries, but their messages of courtly love, chivalry, and honor still hold true today. In the last
sections of this paper, a brief analysis will be done about the lyrics contained in the troubadours
songs, and how they can be related back to popular music today, but a bulk of the paper will focus
on the troubadours themselves.
The first troubadour being researched is Falquet de Romas (Falquet). Falquet was one of the
most famous troubadours for Fredrick II. Fredrick was fond of Falquet, and decided to do away
with jongelers (minstrels) and deal exclusively with troubadours Falquet served in the court for
Fredrick II while he was the Holy Roman Emperor of Italy from 1220-1250. Falquet was know for
his love songs/poetry and like many of the other troubadours that will be discussed, a lot of his
work has never been discovered and his life's work only contains fifteen known pieces. These
pieces range from seven service songs, which were songs that were used as a parody of service
men, and their roles in the culture. Falquet also created two tensos, which are known today, and a
tenso is a type of troubadour song where the troubadour incorporates the use of multiple voices to
create a type of faux debate about a topic through the use of song. Falquet also has several cansos,
a canso is a type of troubadour song that is divided into three sections: the first section details the
composers purpose, the second section details the relationship that the troubadour is attempting to
explain, and the third section either comes to a brief end, or it is carried on into another song. But
the canso always ends with some type of resolution. Falquet also wrote and performed two
religious albas which we can still reference today. The alba is a type of troubadour song where two
lovers desire each other and they spend the night with one another, but after that night passes they
must separate so they are not discovered by each other's spouse. Kinda racy stuff for the middle
ages, but also in a religious sense. The alba is seen as a story of forbidden love, but it also harkens
back to the religious theme when the lovers break one of the ten commandments: “Thou shall not
commit adultery” (English Standard Version, Proverbs 6:32-35). Falquet composed nearly all of
his troubadour songs/poetry in Italy except for one of his most well know pieces, which was
actually a collaboration with another troubadour, Nicoletto da Torino. Falquet final surviving
troubadour song was about the departure of his biggest fan, Fredrick II who was leaving Italy for
the Sixth Crusade. The troubadours did not only hold and share their songs in Italy, but they also
thrived in countries like France.
Perdigon was a troubadour from France and like most troubadours, he started off as
jongeler. Little is known about Perdigon and his upbringing, and only fourteen of his works
have survived over time, just like Falquet. “What we gather about Perdigon is that he grew up very
poor, and that he was probably the son of a fisherman, or some other type of merchant” (Aubrey
68). Perdigon joined up with the minstrels at a young age, and he became popular because of his
fiddle playing
skills. Perdigon just like most famous people nowadays let fame get to his head a
bit too much. Perdigon was knighted and given land due to his skills, but he started to use his
power and status to slander higher ranking officials of the time period such as Peter II. The
songs/poetry of Pedrigon contained various troubadour genres including three cansos and a
collaboration between him and two other troubadours, which was known as a torneyamen. A
torneyamen is a type of troubadour song that closely relates the tenso except it involves three
people instead of two. In a torneyamen a question is presented and the other man responds, just
like the tenso, this type of song was usually presented at contest, to encourage competitive nature
between the people involved. The torneyamen between Perdigon and the other man survives today.
“Lord Aymar, choose, out of three gentlemen, the one you deem the best, and answer first,and after
you, let Perdigon answer:one is generous, gay and ostentatious,the second is intelligent and a
good statesman and somewhat generous, but just not as much, the third is remarkable for his
hospitality and his lanced for his handsome apparel. Which one behaves best?” (Malcovati 15).
The quote comes from the first stanza of the torneyamen and it effectively sets up the rest of the
torneyamen and offers all three sides of the debate, which is about to ensue as this song is being
sang. The song concludes when the Perdigon chooses himself as the best, and the lord grows so
tiresome of the events that he falls asleep. Perdigon used an unknown technique during this
particular torneyamen and that is because he incorporates the use of melody, which was to make the
whole experience more musical, but it did not manage to keep the lord awake. The genres that the
troubadours created in their songs cover many different aspects of life in the middle ages, and so
does our next troubadour, Periol.
Periol was a French troubadour who mostly wrote cansos about courtly love, but he also
wrote a number of crusading songs. Like most of the other troubadours not much seems to be
known about Periol, and his life before becoming a troubadour “Periol's story mimics some of
the greatest troubadour songs because he fell in love with his own sister at a young age, and was
forced away from his home” (Switten 322). After being banished from his home by his family
Periol learned how to play fiddle, and just like Perdigon, he became famous from his fiddle
playing. Periol began traveling from court to court with other jongelers and performing for money,
food, and other goods. Unlike the other troubadours analyzed thus far, Periol has thirty-four songs
that have survived, and capture his legacy in this lyrics. Periol also is one of the few troubadours
whose melodies have also been recorded and can still be accessed today. “If there were poetcomposers who on occasion projected through melody the spirit of a poem, this was by no means a
universal occurrence authoritative opinion on the subject is difficult to form be cause so little
troubadour music has been preserved. (Switten 320). Periol's melodies have been preserved, but
the melodies were never connected to the thirty-four surviving works he has. “Despite the
comparatively large number of melodies, relationships between verse content and music in his
cansos have never been studied” (Switten 321). Periol composed mostly cansos and tensos which
have already been analyzed, but he also was know for his crusading songs. Periol's crusading
songs. In Periol's crusading songs he openly supported the Third Crusade, and his most famous
crusading song entitled Quant amors trobet partit was a tenso created to reach out to the kings in
Europe, and try to get them to agree to some type of peace agreement, but that was not Periol's
only message in the tenso, he also wanted the kings he was communicating with to send aid to the
King of Jerusalem, which is where Periol was residing during the time of the Third Crusade. In his
crusading songs, Periol seemed to carry more of a political agenda than anything else. In one of
Periol's final crusading songs entitled Pus flum Jordan ai vist e.l monime, Periol details his hate for
the Byzantine Empire, and even mocks the symbol of the empire, in modern times it would be the
same if someone burned the American flag, or killed or defamed a bald eagle. Periol also explains
his support for Egypt in this final crusading song. “Periol died shortly after his he returned form
Jerusalem, but his songs and melodies went on to influence future troubadours”(Kehew 129).
The fourth troubadour we will be analyzing is Aimeric de Belenoi. According to Belenoi's
vida he was born in France and related to another famous troubadour, Peire de Corbiac. “Corbiac
was the uncle of Belenoi, and since Belenoi did not have a father, which we know about, it is safe
for us to assume that Corbiac was the father figure to Belenoi, and taught him about the
troubadours” (Egan 74). Belenoi has twenty-two works that have survived, although some of his
works not attributed to him until the medieval period. The majority of Belenoi's songs were about a
lady named Gentill. Belenoi made songs specifically for Gentill, but unfortunately for Belenoi,
Gentill was married. After looking through all of Belenoi's songs it was shocking to see that he
never composed an alba because the alba would have explained all the emotions of forbidden love
that he had for Gentill. The alba may have gotten the attention that Belenoi was desiring, but
Belenoi gave up his pursuit after nearly twenty years, and moved to Italy. “Belenoi was a broken
man, and his later songs reflected his somber mood” (Gaunt 256). Belenoi gained notoriety
throughout Italy when he was asked to perform a planh for Nuno Sanchez. A planh is a type of
troubadour song often performed at funerals. Planhs are divided into three different types of
categories: planhs for important people such as kings, queens, and other nobility, planhs for friends
and family often detailing the life of the person and their accomplishments, and the third and final
type of planh is one for lovers and ladies. Belenoi's planh for Nuno Sanchez entitled Ailas, per que
viu lonjamen ni dura. There is no known modern translation known for this planh. Belenoi died in
1242 while living Catalonia. The final troubadour we will be analyzing is Salh d'Escola.
Salh d'Escola was another French troubadour Escola has only one song/poem that has
survived beyond him, which is the least amount out of any troubadour that has been analyzed so
far. Luckily, details about Escola's life are well known and were documented by two sources. The
first source is his vida which was produced around one-hundred years after his death, and the other
was a record kept in poetry form entitled Pos Peire d'Alvernh' a chantat. “It would be the luck of
scholars to know the most about the troubadour who has only one surviving work” (Egan 82).
According to Escola's vida, he began life as a jongeler and soon evolved into a troubadour
Escola was also believed to be the son of a merchant who later became a jongeler. You know what
they say, father like son. Escola became an active troubadour and became a member of Ainermada
de Narbona. Escola was a member of Narbona's court for nearly twenty years, and when Narbona
began to feel ill, it made Escola into a bit of a lunatic. Escola did not
handle the death of Narbona well, and as a result of Narbona's death, Escola seized in the creation
of his troubadour songs. When Escola stopped creating songs, he retreated back to a colister in
Bergerac, and stayed there until he eventually died. The troubadours that have been analyzed not
only created the genres, which we discussed, but they also created lyrics, song concepts, and forms
of expression that were not conceived of before the troubadours conception. In the next part of this
paper, we will begin analyzing the translations from famous troubadour songs, and then connecting
them to modern day songs, to show influence and connection between the two.
During the course of analyzing lyrics from famous troubadour songs, to show variety in
troubadour lyrics, no troubadours analyzed in the first section will be used, or the songs they have
created. We will instead look at famous troubadour songs from troubadours or are not as well
known to provide the biggest possible spectrum of the various type of troubadour songs/poetry
created by diverse authors and composers The first troubadour song we will be analyzing is Leu
chansoneta by Guiraut de Bornelh. The lyrics to this song are in “Provencal”, so for the analysis
we will be looking at the English translation done by James H. Donaldson. It is believed that this
song was one done by commission, meaning someone paid Bornelh to compose this song about his
woman. The aim of the song is to be simple and express the courtly love for the woman, but the
woman is not mentioned until the last stanza, which is a strong indicator that Bornelh had no real
connection with the woman he is mentioning in the song. “I must be humble now towards my dear
Bel-Senhor; I can say nothing else: she kills me with her love.A worse assassin, I could scarcely
hope to find and I can find no rest; but toil and trouble make it so my song is close to frenzy now”
(Donaldson, A Light and Simple Song). The final stanza mentions the name of the woman to
whom the song is about, and Bornleh confesses his undying love for the woman that he barely
knows. Bornleh also implements the use of comparison in this troubadour Bornleh weighs both
sides of the love and comes to the conclusion that the rich are bad people, and the continue to
threaten the poor people, thus keeping Bel-Senhor away from her admirer “The values we all
love are hanging by a thread, and it is hard to find who'll mend it when it breaks;it's nearly always
true the rich are miserly,so when they should increase and bring back former worth and pomp and
joy they make them run away” (Donaldson, A Light and Simple Song). This poem also offers a
type of warning within it, and that is to keep all love secret, and to truly obtain courtly love, a man
must surrender himself to a woman, and become inferior to her. Finding a modern day song that
fits with this troubadour may be challenging, but the themes of love and the struggles between
different classes are issues still dealt with heavily in today's popular music.
The next set of troubadour lyrics we will be analyzing is Foy porter by Guillaume de
Machaut. Machaut's song is about the irresistibly of love. Machaut does not stop there he also
details the use of gemstones to heal wounds he suffered in battle, only the lady he is longing for
can be the one to cure his wounds with the gemstone. Like most of the other cansos, the theme of
courtly love resonates throughout the song and its lyrics. The love described throughout the song is
a love that cannot be denied by anyone as a powerful love. This is heavily detailed within the
second stanza. “ For I love you so much, truly, that one could sooner dry up the deep sea and hold
back its waves than I could constrain myself from loving you, without falsehood; for my thoughts
my memories, my pleasures and my desires are perpetually of you, whom I cannot leave or even
briefly forget” (Brians, Foy porter: A translation). Machaut uses metaphors to express his love and
how deep it is for the woman, but the lyrics also contain information that is vital for the man's
survival, and without the assistance of the woman he will soon be alone (dead). “You are the true
sapphire that can heal and end all of my sufferings, the emerald which brings rejoicing, the ruby to
brighten and comfort the heart. Your speech, your looks, Your bearing, make one flee and hate and
detest all vice and cherish and desire all that is good. I want to stay faithful” (Brians, Foy porter: A
translation). In this section it is now understood that the man in the lyrics does not have actual
wounds, and that all of his wounds are that of symbolic wounds. The theme of courtly love comes
heavily into play with the last quote because the man admits that he needs the woman in his life,
and that he is putting his needs behind hers and surrendering himself to her faithfully in all facets
of his life. It seems to be the man's most important thought it left until the end of the song with the
simple words, “I want to stay faithful.” These words resonate even more when a second reading of
the song is done, but Machaunt wanted these words to be the last part of the song to leave the
biggest impression on the person hearing the song. The song is one of reliance and love, and
Machaut lets it be known that if you cannot rely on someone to help you in your time of need then
love is out of the question.
The next set of troubadour lyrics we will be analyzing is entitled Kalenda Maya by
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras. Like many of the other troubadours, the song seems to be about heart-felt
emotional love, but in the end it is revealed the whole song is artificial and was created as a
falsehood. The song contains a melody that was used in other troubadour songs, but of course the
lyrical content is different The poem details the awakening of the Spring, and with this
awakening comes another tale of forbidden romance. The spring time is usually associated with
new life, hope, and and joy, but for the male figure in the song he cannot seem to shake his
melancholy state due to him being away from his beloved women. As I mentioned before, this is a
song about forbidden love, and that all becomes evident in the third stanza where the man explains
his love. “How could I lose or retrieve a lady, before I have had her? neither leman nor lover is
such by imagination alone;but when a suitor turns into a lover great is the honor he has accrued,
such is the fame produced by a sweet glance; yet naked held you I have never, nor others have won
you; longed for, obeyed you I have, without any meed” (Vaquerias, trobar.org). The tone of
hopelessness echoes throughout these lines, and with such pure emotion on display, the reader does
not expect the whole song to be a falsehood, but it is revealed to be in the final stanza. “Gracious
lady, everyone praises and proclaims your worth, which gives such pleasure; and he who forgets
you, prizes life but a trifle and so I adore you, distinguished lady; since I have chosen you as the
kindest and as the best, laden with worth, I have flattered and served you more kindly than Eric did
Enid. Composed, and ended, Dame Engles, I have the estampida” (Vaquerias, trobar.org). In the
final lines, Vaquerias reveals that the song is actually addressed to the poet's patron, Dame Engles,
and not the mysterious woman that has caused so much heartbreak and feelings of loneliness that
are detailed all the way up until the final stanza. The song is yet another type of set piece written to
please a patron and not the actual outpourings of someone who is deeply in love. Why does this
troubadour song rely so much on trickery? It is possible that troubadours had a skewed view of love
since rarely did they express it for anyone they actually cared for, rather they just composed the
troubadours for nobel people, and when it came time for the troubadours to express real love through
song, it was not an easy task.
Now that we have examined the troubadours, various types of troubadour songs/genres, and
the lyrics contained within these songs, it is now time for the third and final part of this research
paper and that is to compare troubadour lyrics to modern day songs. One of the most fascinating
types of troubadour songs is the torneyamen, which was detailed earlier in the paper. But just to
recap the torneyamen is a song that details the debate between two people, and when it came time
to find a song that details a debate between two people, it became evident that the modern day
version of a torneyamen was not going to be a love song. The modern day of a torneyamen is
Eminem and Dr. Dre's Guilty Conscience. The song is a debate between Eminem and Dr. Dre and
they are debating whether or not a man should rob a liquor store. Dr. Dre is taking the proactive
side of the debate by advising the man not to rob the liquor store, but Eminem is offering a much
different stance on the situation. “Go in and gaffle the money and run to one of your aunt's cribs
and borrow a damn dress, and one of her blonde wigs tell her you need a place to stay you'll be safe
for days if you shave your legs with Renee's razor blade” (Mathers, Guilty Conscience 1999). Dr.
Dre continues to explain to the man that he should not rob the liquor store, taking an active stance
in the two rappers' torneyamen. “Man, don't do it, it's not worth it to risk it! Not over this shit Drop
the biscuit Don't even listen to Slim yo, he's bad for you” (Young, Guilty Conscience 1999). The
debate between the two stances the rappers take in this song ends with Dr. Dre deciding to side
with Eminem and choosing to shoot the store clerk and rob the store. “What am I sayin? Shoot em
both Grady, where's your gun at?” (Young, Guilty Conscience 1999). This modern day example of
a torneyamen is a bit different than the one between Pedrigon and the other troubadours, but
Eminem and Dr. Dre follow the genre in a surprising fashion.
Nearly every troubadour that was profiled in the beginning of this paper also wrote in the
troubadour genre of cansos. A modern day love song that fits into this genre would be the Biz
Markie classic entitled Just a Friend. In the beginning of the song Biz Markie explains his purpose
of the song, which is to inform the listener about a girl that he was fond of, but he warns that the
story is a cautionary tale about love. The opening verse details Markie's purpose, just like how
cansos created by Falquet and Belenoi also do. “Have you ever met a girl that you tried to date
but a year to make love she wanted you to wait let me tell ya a story of my situation” (Hall, Just a
Friend 1989). In the following verses just like a traditional canso, Biz Markie examines various
aspects of the relationship and the girl he is involved with. Markie attempts to meet up with the girl
on many various occasions, but something always keeps getting between them, and then near the
end of the song the exordium is confirmed when Markie realizes that the girl he is deeply in love
with is actually involved with another man, and she says he is just a friend. “So I came to her room
and opened the door oh, snap! Guess what I saw? A fella tongue-kissin' my girl in the mouth, I was
so in shock my heart went down south so please listen to the message that I say don't ever talk to a
girl who says she just has a friend” (Hall, Just a Friend 1989). The song by Biz Markie concludes
in the form of a tornada (twist) since the set up for the song does not cue the listener into the fact
that the girl is actually cheating on Markie. The last type of troubadour genre that we will be
attempting to find a modern day counter part of is the crusade/crusading song.
As mentioned earlier in this paper, crusade songs/crusading songs can either be a song that
is meant to protest a type of conflict, criticize the leaders of a conflict (Periol criticizing the
Byzantine Empire), or to show support for a certain side of of the conflict. The modern day
counterpart to a crusade/crusading song would be with a war protest song, or some type of patriotic
song. At first, the analysis was going to be on Born in the U.S.A. By Bruce Springsteen, but the
focus has shifted to a song that displays more raw emotion than the song by Springsteen, and that
song is War by Edwin Starr. War is seen as more of a protest song, which still fits the genre of
crusading songs because Periol did the same type of thing when he began to squander his support
for the war when he saw how much damage it was doing to his country. War is filled with explicit
examples that really capture the feeling of war not being good for anyone on both sides, and thus it
should be protested, and or stopped if possible. “War means tears to thousands of mothers eyes
when their sons go to fight and lose their lives” (Starr, War 1970). In the song, Starr expresses his
anger towards war, and almost treats it as if it were a person. Starr explains that war never resolves
in peace or understand, it results in death and more conflict. “War, it ain't nothing but a
heartbreaker war, friend only to the undertaker Ooooh, war It's an enemy to all mankind the point
of war blows my mind” (Starr, War 1970). War has shown by multiple examples to fit the
troubadour genre of crusade/crusading song. Although, the modern day version does not refer to
the Byzantine Empire, it does refer to the Vietnam war, which was the cause of Starr's aggression
and pure emotion displayed within the song.
During the course of this paper, we have analyzed famous troubadours, notable troubadour
songs, the lyrics contained within different genres of the songs, and we have also compared
troubadour songs/genres to their modern day counterparts. The troubadours and their songs still
evidently carry some type of influence on today's popular music, but not many people are even
aware of the contributions the troubadours made. The best advice to offer is to read for yourself,
but you may need a translation of the songs. The songs are filled with love, trickery, adultery, etc.
It is important to note that the troubadours may have been the victim of Parental Advisory stickers
on the front of their albums because of the content contained within their songs, but their history
lives on even though so few of their songs have survived the test of time.
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