Trobairitz

A medieval depiction of Comtessa de Diá

The trobairitz (IPA: [tɾuβajˈɾits]) were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries. The word trobairitz was first used in the 13th-century romance Flamenca. It comes from the Provençal word trobar, the literal meaning of which is "to find", and the technical meaning of which is "to compose". Trobairitz composed, wrote verses, and performed for the Occitan noble courts. They are exceptional in musical history as the first known female composers of Western secular music; all earlier known female composers wrote sacred music. The trobairitz were part of courtly society, as opposed to their lower class counterparts the joglaresse. Although troubadours frequently came from humble origins— Bernart de Ventadorn may have been the son of a castle's baker— the trobairitz were nobly born. The most important trobairitz are Alamanda de Castelnau, Azalais de Porcairagues, Maria de Ventadorn, Tibors, Castelloza, Garsenda de Proença, Gormonda de Monpeslier, and the Comtessa de Diá.

Sources of information

There are very few extant sources of information on the individual trobairitz. Almost all information which exists about them come from their vidas (biographies) and razós (contextual explanations of the songs), the brief descriptions that were assembled in song collections called chansonniers. The vidas are notoriously unreliable, since they frequently consisted of little more than romanticized extrapolations from the poems of the trobairitz themselves. The names of about twenty female poets from the 12th and 13th centuries survive, among whom between 23 and 46 works are attributed. Only one survives with musical notation intact, "A chantar" by Comtessa de Diá (see below). Some works which are anonymous in the sources are ascribed by certain modern editors to women, as are some works which are attributed to men in the manuscripts. For comparison, of the 460 male troubadours, about 2600 of their poems survive. Of these, about one in 10 survive with musical notation intact.

The first chansonniers which contained their works did not separate the works of the male troubadours from those of the trobairitz. It was only in later Italian and Catalan chansonniers that trobairitz were in a separate section of the books.

Position in medieval society

"A chantar" by Comtessa de Día (first page; see also second page)

Throughout the 13th century, among the accomplishments necessary for a woman at court were the ability to sing, play instruments, and write jocs partis, or partimen (a debate or dialogue in the form of a poem). The cultivation of these womanly skills may have led to the writings of the trobairitz.

The trobairitz may also have been a result of the power women held in southern France during the 12th and 13th centuries. Women had far more control over land ownership, and Occitan society was far more accepting of women than were other societies of the time. During the Crusades many men were away, which left women with more administrative responsibility, and thus power. Nevertheless, this society was not "feminist", nor was fin' amor, which exalted women while at the same time circumscribing many aspects of their lives and behavior.

There is difficulty in labeling the trobairitz as either amateurs or professionals. The distinction between these two roles was complicated in the medieval era, since professionals were generally lower class, and amateurs had as much time as professionals to devote to their craft. Joglaresse were lower class, professional composers far less respected than the trobairitz.

Both troubadours and trobairitz wrote of fin' amors, or courtly love. Women were generally the subject of the writings of troubadours, however: "No other group of poets give women so exalted a definition within so tightly circumscribed a context of female suppression." The tension between the suppression of women present in the poetry of the troubadours and similar themes in the poetry of the trobairitz is a major source of discussion for modern commentators. The trobairitz wrote in the canso (strophic song) and tenso (debate poem) genres.

Attribution

The number of works attributed to the trobairitz ranges from 23 to 46. There are a number of reasons for this. In the courtly love tradition it was common for poems to be written as an exchange of letters, or a debate, as in a tenso. Some of these may have been originally written by one poet; however, some were originally an actual exchange of epistles, later gathered together in a manuscript. Some of these were between men, and some were between a man and a woman. Some modern editors attribute these solely to the man who originated the exchange, and some attribute them to both the man and the woman involved. There is a long history of attributing these solely to men, even when all evidence points to the contrary.

Since poetry was highly stylized, it is difficult to determine when a poet speaking as a woman actually was a woman, or a man speaking as a woman. This adds to the difficulty of attribution, especially of anonymous writers. There is some debate as to whether or not the poems by the trobairitz represent genuine feminine voices, since they worked within the highly circumscribed conventions of the troubadours. Bruckner suggests that the trobairitz "spoke in her own voice as channeled through the voices of many others". By manipulating the strict constructs of troubadour lyric, the trobairitz were able to create their own "fictions of the female voice".

There is one notable instance where clear attribution is given to a woman, Bieiris de Romans (also given as Beatritz), but the subject of the poem is another woman, Na Maria. In the poem "Na Maria" Beatritz expresses her love for Maria in the traditional fin' amors style, both in terms of physical longing and courtly admiration. This poem, if not clearly marked as by a woman, would be assumed to be by a man.

List of trobairitz works

Anonymous

• Bona domna, un conseill vos deman

Attributed

• Alais Iselda and Carenza: Na Carenza al bel cors avinen
• Alamanda de Castelnau
• Almucs de Castelnau and Iseut de Capio: Domna n’Almucs, si-us plages
• Azalais d'Altier
• Azalais de Porcairagues
• Beatriz de Diá
• Castelloza
• Clara d'Anduza
• Beatritz de Romans: Na Maria, pretz e fina valors
• Felipa
• Garsenda de Proença: Vos qe’m semblatz dels corals amadors
• Gaudairença: Coblas e dansas (not extant)
• Gormonda de Monpeslier
• Guillelma de Rosers
• Domna H.
• Lambarda
• Maria de Ventadorn: Gui d'Uisel, be.m pesa de vos
• Tibors de Sarenom
• Ysabella

See also

• List of troubadours and trobairitz
• Medieval music
• Provençal literature
• List of medieval composers
• List of female composers

References

Primary sources

• Manuscript du Roi (F-Pn fr. 844, c. 1246–1254)
• Chansonnier cangé (F-Pn fr. 845); F-Pn n.a.fr. 21677; F-AS 657 (c1278); I-Rvat Reg. Lat. 1490
• Chansonnier de Noailles (F-Pn fr. 12615)

Secondary sources

• John Stevens, Ardis Butterfield, Theodore Karp. "Troubadours, trouvères", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed February 11 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
  • Judith Tick. "Women in music, 500-1500", Grove Music Online.
  • Maria V. Coldwell. "Azalais de Porcairagues", Grove Music Online.
  • Elizabeth Aubrey. "Comtessa de Dia", Grove Music Online.
  • Maria V. Coldwell. "Castelloza", Grove Music Online.
• Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn (1995). Songs of the Women Troubadours. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-8153-0817-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn (1992). "Fictions of the Female Voice:The Women Troubadours". Speculum. vol. 67 (no. 4): pp 865–91. doi:10.2307/2863471. ISSN 0038-7134. {{cite journal}}: |issue= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help); |volume= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Bogin, Magda (March 1, 1980). The Women Troubadours. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-00965-3. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Dronke, Peter (1984). Women Writers of the Middle Ages. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-25580-5.
• Earnshaw, Doris (1988). "The Female Voice in Medieval Romance Lyric". American university studies.; Series II,; Romance languages and literature. Series II (v. 68). ISBN 0-8204-0575-2. {{cite journal}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
• Paden, William D. (1989). The Voice of the Trobairitz:Perspectives on the Women Troubadours. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-8167-5.