Introduction
The trobairitz were the female counter parts of the male troubadours in the 11th and 12th century. They lived during the heart of the Middle Ages, and in a sense they contradict the often-depicted image of the meek and sub-status women of the times. Throughout history, women have been an under-privileged subset of the population, with only a few defiant and bold women among the masses. As William D. Paden asserts, "Our most direct access to the experience of medieval women lies in their own writing (Paden, 7)," and the trobairitz offer some of this insight. The trobairitz epitomize these sorts of women, and the fact that we have any written work from them at all, shows that they must have had some kind of freedom and status to be able to offer up their voices and reveal their artistic creativity.
One of the phenomena resulting from the Middle Ages is the commencement of the idolization of the women by men. This veneration can be seen in the two main places: the worship of the Virgin Mary, and the adoration of women in troubadour love poetry. There seems to be a slight paradox here, though, because women of the time did not really enjoy any status in society, yet there was a new exultation of some women. This fact is interesting because this mini-movement of female writers in Southern France could almost be considered a response to the idolization of the men of the century. It could almost be understood that these women were writing in response to the poems venerating the image of the supposed saintly women, and were trying to illustrate who and what women really were.
General Info on the Trobairitz
The trobairitz, or the women troubadours, comprised of a group of rather mysterious women, about whom, not many actual facts are known. The trobairitz, meaning literally, "a woman who composes (Paden, 13)," wrote almost all of their known work between 1170 and 1260. The trobairitz were almost entirely comprised of noblewomen, about whom, much of the troubadour love poems are written. In other words, it is assumed that these women were some of the privileged few whom were being adored and idolized in the poetry written by the men of the day (Bogin, 63). As suggested before, these women could be trying to combat this idolization.
The scant literature of the trobairitz only consist of between 23 and 46 works, compared to the some 2,500 poems coming from the male troubadours of about the same period. A very few number of the works are actually named and accredited to specific authors, which is why the actual number is currently a source of dispute among musicologists because of the disagreement pertaining to the actual authorship of the existing anonymous poems from the same era (New Grove Dictionary).
Trobairitz in the Context of the 12th and 13th Centuries
The fact that some women were even free enough to express their creativity in a society where women were considered a lower class by birth is a large accomplishment. Importantly, as pointed out by Meg Bogin, the production of troubairitz poetry was the first time in history that women actually composed and wrote work as women, as opposed to other occurrences when women were only published under the false names of men. In fact, the Trobairitz were one of the first groups of women in Western Europe to take part in the literary dialogue of the day, and it was the first time that women participated in a creative expression outside of the domestic world (Sankovitch, 114).
One of the reasons that these women were able to take part in this form of once male-dominated creativity was that in the 12th and 13th century southern French Occitan courts, women of the nobility seemed to posses a new sort of political power and social status (Sankovitch, 115). Especially, in Southern Frances, some laws were more favorable to women than other areas, which may explain the trobairitz phenomena in this specific region (Bogin, 22). Additionally, though literacy was a sporadic occurrence for men in the in this period, the daughters of nobility, were often trained to read "psalter in Latin" and could sometimes read better than the noble men (Paden, 7).
Style and Form
The typical genres in which these women wrote were called "canso" (love poem) and "tenso" (debate poem). Though some of them did, not all of these poetry styles consisted of any clear form in terms of rhyme scheme or meter; however, some of them have some specific story guidelines. The canso, consistent with the fin'amor theme, needed to comprise of a lowly poet, seeking the love of his/her unresponsive love, and through the created song/poem, expected to be acknowledged with a gift of "joi (Bruckner, xii)." The tenso, on the other hand, had a much freer story line and allowed the poet to be more creative.
Themes
The Trobairitz wrote their works in a variety of forms, but they all tend to have one central theme, much like their male counter parts. Almost all of the poetry derived from the Trobairitz center around the theme of "fin'amor" or the idea of a pure or perfect love. Their poems, like many in the middle ages, celebrate a form of ideal romance, or what has come to be known as "courtly love."
Fin'Amor
Fin'amor, the provencal word derived from Southern France, also known as courtly love, was a 12th centry phenomenon. This trend was mostly confined to European courts, and was almost exclusively associated with the nobility and the upper classes of society. This was a form of love in which there was a large emphasis on the idealization of the love object; and in addition, between the two participants, there was a strong emotional and physical attraction. This sort of love never occurred between two married individuals, in other words, it was almost always extra-marital; however, one of the main features of courtly love was that it is widely assumed to be non-sexual in nature (although this may be a somewhat debated issue). (Becker, 2001)
At the time, some of the male troubadours themselves tried to define the fin'amor that was so widely discussed in the 12th and 13th centuries. Their mission was to try and explain what set about this notion "fin'amor" apart from other forms of love. Macabru, a troubadour living around 1130-49, tried desperately to explain this love, and described it as "a love based on joy, patience, self-control, mutuality of desire, trust, purity, honesty and freedom from greed, courtesy, controlled speech, personal worth, liberality, and monogamy. (Paterson, 32)." Though this explanation was given by a male poet of the time, it still offers some insight into the idea of love, and the central theme of the Trobairitz poety.
In addition, the theme of fin'amors, and the idea and goal of such a perfect love is one that is not always possible, besides the fact that it probably does not exist. An idea and emotion as pure as this impossible ideal seems to be what some of the trobairitz poets are writing against. Instead of a speculated or made-up love, the emotions and men they speak of seem to be solidly based in reality, and may differ from the male perspective of fin'amors in this realistic fashion.
The Music of the Trobairitz
Though the Trobairitz, like the Troubadours, were poets and musicians, almost none of their actual music has survived. The result is that almost the only relics left from the work of these women musicians are the poems left behind. In fact, only one melody has been preserved to date, a melody left from the Comtessa de Dia, a trobairitz composing in the second half of the twelfth century (Switten, 151).
Musicologists assume that there was music to accompany these poems because of the recorded history of women composers and performers in the era and region. Thus, the only real knowledge about their music comes from the music of their male counterparts, and draws on the assumption that the music created by these women consisted of a similar style and form to the male troubadours of the period (Bruckner, xiii).
The actual music that survived from the male troubadours was monophonic, or music written for a single part, and was intrinsically linked to the text of the poetry that accompanied the actual music. Thus, the music was written and notated in single lines of melody, accompanied by neumes, or specific groupings of notes, sung on one syllable. There was no indication of the rhythm or time of the music, but it is thought that the time and melodies had to have been adjusted to the words of the poem, depending on the specific lines of the different poetic stanzas (Bruckner, xiii.)
Additionally, troubadours did not always compose new music to accompany their poetic texts. In fact, they often borrowed other pre-existing melodies from other types of songs, and put their own poems to these borrowed musical ideas (Switten, 149).
There is much dispute among musicologists about how the actual music was performed. The reason for this controversy is that the only record of this form of music is written, which is, in some cases, somewhat difficult to interpret, and we have no way of knowing what the actuality of the performance entailed. Whether or not an instrument accompanied these songs, is a major source of debate along with the performance version of rhythm (Switten, 149).
The Actual Style of Troubadour Prose
The trobairitz comprised of the noble subset of women in medieval society that were rather exceptional and able to overcome the some of the obstacles of the day. That they were even able write and compose as much as they did, exemplifies the power and status they enjoyed. In fact, the actual style of their prose depicts a manner of writing that demonstrates a lot, it seems, about their personalities.
Aside from their elegant style of writing, and the fact that there are even poems written by these women, the subject matter of their poetry is very interesting. These women do not, unlike their male counter parts, write about a fictional character (Bogin, 66). Instead, they seem to write about themselves and their own personal experiences, and they recorded a life and a kind of love that was real to them. This writing technique and the fact that the subject matter was based on realities are a possible backlash from the seemingly fictionalized male writings of the time.
One would expect some of the trobairitz prose to depict a meek and passive woman, or a woman lacking any significant power in society; however, these limitations are never mentioned (Bruckner, xxii). In fact, their poetry seems to be very progressive for the twelfth and thirteenth century, and almost current to the day. In other words, the themes of many of their poems have an odd and somewhat familiar quality to them, and touch on some of the age-old problems and occurrences in the lives of everyday women.
In fact, some of the lines of the trobairitz are almost shockingly progressive. One element that could be expected, given the expectations of this male-dominated era, would be an adoration of men; however, these poems do not shy away from criticizing men, and the women do anything but submit to them. For example, Castelozza, a trobairitz from the early 13th century, openly condemned the object of her affection and wrote, "I'm angry if you refuse me any joy, and if you let me die you'll commit a sin. I'll be in torment, and you'll be vilely blamed." She openly explains that her love will be at fault and deems that he is anything but perfect.
Many of these poems exemplify the independence of these authoresses, and do not depict a woman who always acts properly, but rather portray a woman who acts how she pleases. In the same poem by Castelloza, she explains, "I know this is a fitting thing for me, though everybody says it isn't proper for a lady to plead her case with a knight, or to make such long speeches to him…" She explicitly states that she should not be speaking in such a manner because it is improper, but then she promptly says that she does not care about these things, and then continues to say what she pleases. This extraction most definitely depicts the independence of the poet.
Another trobairitz who speaks rather progressively is the Comtessa de Dia. Four of her poems are known, and in them, she shows open displays of emotion and desire, which portray anything but a meek and subservient woman. One of her poems express her candid desire when she explains, "Be sure I'd feel a strong desire to have you in my husband's place provided you had promised me to do everything I wished." This line demonstrates that she is not afraid to speak of sexual exploits, even though; at the time, this discussion would probably have been slightly taboo.
Finally, other poetry from the Comtessa de Dia shows that she holds herself in very high regard, and has a high opinion of herself. This knowledge of her own power and self-worth comes through when she says, "mercy and courtliness don't help me with him, nor does my beauty, or my rank, or my mind; for I am every bit as betrayed and wronged as I'd deserve to be if I were ugly." She acknowledges all of her best assets, and then proceeds to say that she does not deserve this bad treatment, and that she is better than to be "wronged."
Conclusion
The trobairitz compose of a very interesting subset of women in the Middle Ages. They wrote incredibly beautiful and explicit prose with, what can be thought of, as a somewhat progressive style. These women exemplify some of the few women of status and power of the age, and much of their prose combat the stereotypical notion of the submissive and obedient woman of the day. Their writing suggests a class of women who were not afraid to tell of their own opinions and emotions, and who formed their own mini-movement by throwing their voices out into the oppressive society of the day.
All images used are, to the best of my knowledge, in the public domain. Concerns should be addressed to Dr. Cyrus at cynthia.cyrus@vanderbilt.edu
