Catalan Troubadours and the Rise of Romance Languages
The Birth of Romance Languages
From Latin to the Various Romance Languages
In the fifth century, with the demise of the Roman Empire, the implanted Roman Latin evolved differently in each territory. By the eighth century, modern Romance languages were already configured, and people no longer understood Latin. The Council of Tours recommended that ecclesiastical authorities deliver homilies in vernacular or Romance languages, as people did not understand Latin.
First Texts in Catalan
The first text written in Catalan appears in the twelfth century, a very short prose fragment of the *Book of Judges*, a code of Visigoth laws translated from Latin. The first documented texts in Catalan are the *Homilies d’Organyà*, six sermons found in the parish of Organyà, the first written expression of Catalan literature.
The Rise of Romance Literature
The Epic, the Lyric, and the *Roman*
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, epic and lyric poetry were created.
- Epic: Unattributed and recited
- Lyric: Author known and sung
Minstrels or troubadours made them known. The *Roman* is a report of narrow fragments of French novels, the remains, which tell the story of King Arthur. The creator of the first *Roman*, Chrétien de Troyes, picked up legends of Celtic Britain and dared to write these things. He then invented a form of literature from Britain.
Troubadour Poetry
Born in Occitan, it imposes a new conception of love. The knight has won the love of women, culture, etc., through courtesy. Women force men to suffer and feel inferior.
Value of Vassalage: The woman takes the role of feudal lord. The lady is *la belle dame sans merci* (beautiful lady without mercy) and makes no concessions to the man. The lover feels rejected and removed from the lady.
Troubadours and Music
The troubadour could be of any social class, troubadours who earned a living and pleasure for kings and nobles. If a woman was a troubadour, she was called a *trobairitz*. The gentlemen who were hired as minstrels were singers and musicians who were informed about the troubadour who contracted them.
Catalan Troubadours
The *Ensenhament* of Guerau de Cabrera
Before 1160, written in Provençal verse, the *Ensenhament* aims to teach what to do and how to be a minstrel.
King Alfonso the Troubadour
King of Aragon and a trademark of Provence. Raymond V was his political enemy. Alfonso hired minstrels to sing about his exploits in Europe and won support from the feudal lords of southern France.
Berenguer de Palol
A Catalan troubadour, the oldest preserved building, an expression of love songs very easily.
Guillem de Berguedà
Documented between 1138 and 1196. A great feudal lord, 31 poems are preserved. He killed his enemy in betrayal. Pons, his enemy, was a famous troubadour. He spent four very cruel *sirventes* on him, but when he died, he wrote a beautiful *planh*.
Ramon Vidal de Besalú
Documented between 1200 and 1252, a group of one lyric poem and three stories are preserved. *The Blind Guardian* is known for finding a grammar and perceptive treatise of Provence, the oldest preserved.
Cerverí de Girona
Documented between 1259 and 1285, he was a professional troubadour who lived from his art. 120 compositions and *Proverbs*, a moral poem, are retained.