The first troubadour whose lyrics have been preserved was William IX., Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine, but lie must have had a long line of humble forerunners. His granddaughter. Eleanor, the quick-witted but licentious wife 01 Louis VII. and Henry Plantagenet, was the theme of the impassioned songs of Bernart de Ventadour. Ermengarde of Narbonne was an other celebrated patroness of poetry, with ninny adorers in verse. This was, indeed, the flourish ing period of the troubadours. Among their chief patrons were the counts of Provence, the counts of Toulouse, and several kings of Aragon and Castile, the most notable of whom was Alfonso 11. of Aragon. In Italy the lords of Este and the Emperor Frederick II. harbored the singers of Languedoc. At these courts min strels were kindly received and lavishly rewarded, taking part, apparently, in the social pleasures mirrored in their songs. This gay life, however, was not without its bitterness, and many a troubadour retired to a convent to pass his de clining years in repentance.
Much of the romantic interest that has gath ered about the careers of these poets is derived from the Provençal biographies and rang which are found in some of the manuscripts containing their works. Many of these are merely imagina tive tales in which elements of folk-lore, com bined with a fanciful interpretation of the poems, have been set down as fact. Growing up among the later jongleurs and other lovers of poetry, they represent the conception which the succeed ing age had formed of the heroes of Provençal song. Another fact has tended to give a romantic
coloring to the lives of the troubadours: the fact that their poems deal so largely with the subject of love. This love was, it is true, chiefly factitious and conventional, rather than personal, and the formulas in which it was expressed are exceedingly monotonous; hut the modern imagi nation has built up for these wandering min strels a sort of butterfly existence of poetry and passion, to which is added the excitement of con stant adventures. That such a picture does not represent the truth is obvious, but it is intensely fascinating. and the troubadours will probably long continue to be regarded as sentimental heroes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The best work on the subject Bibliography. The best work on the subject for English readers is Justin 1T, Smith, The Troubadours at Rome, with bibliography (New York. 1899), a popular view of the troubadour country, stories of their adventures, and transla tions of their poems, together with copious and scholarly notes. Less exact and scholarly are Hueffer, The Troubadours (London, 1S78) ; Rutherford, The 7'1'01111de urs; Their Loves and Their Lyrics (ib.. 1873) ; Rowbotham, The Troubadours and the Courts of Lore (ib., 1895). The best edition of Les biographies des trouba dours in Provencal is that by Chabaneau (Tou louse, 1885). Most of these biographies have been translated by Ida Farnell, Lives of the Troubadours from the ilediaTal Provencal (London, 1896). Consult also the authorities referred to under PROVENcAL LITERATURE.