Lyric poetry, though the most important, was not the only manifestation of Provencal litera ture. Almost all the media'val forms are to be found. There are epics, mostly fragmentary. the most important of which is fi'irart de /?ossillon; Arthurian romances, such as Jaufr6; short versi fied tales, called nomis, which are interesting chiefly as presenting the life of the age; and one long and highly artificial love-story, Flamena, which represents the impossible wooing and con quest of a married lady by a young knight. Flamenco has kept for us a most valuable picture of Provencal manners before the year 1235, when it was probably composed. Some historical poems are also of importance, among which may be mentioned the (!hanso d'intioche, dealing with the First Crusade, and two long fragments on the Albigensian War. A few fables, hymns, prayers, allegories. epistles, and lives of saints remain : also a great mass of moral, didactic, and scientific vet-se, of which much is still unpub lished. To this class belongs an immense work, a sort of encyclopedia, the Breriari d'Amors of Matfre Ermengaud, which consists of over 34,000 lines. Of the drama little has been preserved, and of that little none is earlier than the four teenth century.
Compared with the poetry, Provencal prose is weak and poor. We have some translations of parts of the Bible and of legends of the saints, some chronicles, some quasi-scientific treatises, and works on grammar (Donat Provensal, of about 1243, Las Razos de Trobor) and poetics (Las Legs d'Amors, of about 1356). The most interesting bit of prose is the Biographies of the Troubadours, containing more than one hundred lives. together with ra.:os, or stories explaining the circumstances under which particular poems were composed. This work, however, is untrust worthy. Many of the notices are romantic tales, products of the imagination, built wholly upon the poems they are designed to interpret.
Provencal literature, it will be seen,. is of slight value apart from its lyric poetry, but this lyric poetry is one of the most important artistic manifestations of the Middle Ages. Poor as it was in ideas and sentiments and empty in its courtly refinement, it was original. Very few outside influences were at work at its rise or in its development. It was the spontaneous out growth of chivalric manners and institutions act ing under favorable conditions upon a race prone to melody. Its fundamental aridity is offset by
variety of form, courtly refinement, and superior musical qualities. Though almost without known ancestry, it was not without known offspring. France, Germany, Spain, and Italy echoed its tones and imitated its conventional forms. In Germany, however, a native spirit soon mastered the Slinnesingers. and in Italy a school of thoughtful and cultivated writers developed the love theories of Provence till they were fit for the hand of Dante.
For modern Provencal literature, see FELT BEIGE.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Fr. Diez, Die Poesie der TrouBibliography. Fr. Diez, Die Poesie der Trou- badours (2d ed., by Bartsch. Leipzig, 1853) : id., Leben and 'Werke dcr Troubadours (2d ed. by Bartsch. ib., 1852) ; Fauriel, Histoire litteraire des troubadours (3 vols., Paris, 1844: Eng. trans. by Adler, New York, 1860), a work which, though brilliant. loses through hazardous theoriz ing; Bartsch, Grundris& zur Gesehichte der pro venzalisehen Litteratur (Elberfeld, 1812) ; Res tori, Lctteratura Prorcnzale (Milan, 1591). of which there is also a French translation (Montpellier, 1594), perhaps the best brief treatment of the subject; Stimming, "Proven zalische Litteratur," in Griiber, Grundriss ,hr romanischen Philologie, vol. ii. (Strassburg, 1892-98) ; and the Britannica (9th ed.), "Provencal Literature," by Paul Meyer. Gas ton Paris, in his Hrdia'val French Literature(Lon don. 1902). treats Provencal literature a- a branch of the old French. In addition to these works, collections of poems have been published by Ray nouard, Choix des pomsies originales des trouba dours (6 vols., Paris, 1516-21). and in the first volume of his Lexique roman (6 vols.. ib., 1844) ; and by Mahn, der Troubadours 14 vols., Berlin, 1853-56), and Gedichte der Troubadours (Berlin, 1356-73). There are also edition: of many individual troubadours and of several of the longer epic and didactic works. Several of the manuscripts have also been printed diplo matically. The best introductory selection of old Provencal poetry and prose is Appel, Proven zalische Chrestomathie, mit Abriss der Formen lchre und Glossar (Leipzig. 1895), of which the first part of a second edition appeared in 1902. Consult also the authorities referred to under TROUBADOURS.