Summer (1150–1200)

Summary

The second half of the twelfth century saw some of the greatest poets among the troubadours, including Bernart de Ventadorn and the Comtessa de Dia for the love song, and Bertran de Born for satire. Bernart de Ventadorn and Bertran de Born were from the West, as most of their predecessors had been, and so were others such as Rigaut de Berbezilh, Giraut de Bornelh, Arnaut Daniel, Gaucelm Faidit, Maria de Ventadorn, Gui d’Ussel, and Peire Vidal. But the mode of troubadour poetry spread east to Provence with Raimbaut d’Aurenga (Orange) early in the half-century, and with Raimbaut de Vaqueiras later on. The first known woman troubadour, or trobairitz, was Azalais de Porcairagues, a friend of Raimbaut d’Aurenga whose home was near Béziers. The best-known trobairitz, the Comtessa de Dia, was from Die in northern Provence. Alfonso, the count of Barcelona, who became king of Aragon and count of Provence, also wrote Occitan songs, as did a lesser Catalan nobleman, Guillem de Berguedà.

Many of these poets traveled widely: Arnaut Daniel to Reims for the coronation of Philip Augustus, Giraut de Bornelh to Spain, Gaucelm Faidit to Romania, and Peire Vidal to the Holy Land on pilgrimage, to Hungary for a royal wedding, and to Malta on crusade. The Monk of Montaudon, in Auvergne, pretended in a song to have visited God in Paradise.