1071
October 22 has to be the date for my essay on the Troubadours - or the Trovères if you insist on using their French rather than their Occitanian name - because October 22 1071 was the birthdate of the man remembered as Guilhèm IX, duc d'Aquitània e de Gasconha, or sometimes as Guilhèm VII, comte de Peitieus, or sometimes, in England anyway, as plain William of Poitiers. And why his birthdate? Because he was the first – or at least, he is the first of whom we still have any documents that retain the works.
Modern European literature originated in the Langue
d'Oc in the early 12th century, using Occitan - the first
literary language of Europe since classical times - and the Troubadours who
created it were the equivalent of the rock-and-roll revolution that hit the
world in the aftermath of World War 2: hundreds of singer-songwriters, equivalents on
a scale from Chuck Berry to Cat Stevens, playing mediaeval equivalents of the guitar, who sang the praises of new values,
and did so in a very new way: focused on courtly love (think of Paul Simon’s “Kathy’s
Song”, or Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna”) and concepts such as
"convivencia" (Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” comes to mind), and "paratge" (honour,
courtesy, chivalry, gentility: Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them”).
Troubadours praised high ideals (John Lennon might respond
with the word “Imagine”), promoting a spirit of equality based on common virtue
(Neil Young’s “Southern Man”), and deprecating discrimination based on blood or
wealth (almost anything by Bob Marley). They were responsible for a great
flowering of creativity. The lyrics could be racy, even by modern standards.
Woman Troubadours - the Trobairitz who can be found on Jan 13 of this blog - as well as men were welcomed in châteaux throughout the Midi, precursors of the salons of the Ancien Régime.
They were loathed by the Roman Church - William was excommunicated twice - though
a number of priests and bishops had themselves been well-known Troubadours in
their early years, including, famously, Folquet de Marseille, Archbishop of
Toulouse.
William, as I say, is regarded as the first. His son was also a Troubadour, just
not a very good one. His grand-daughter was Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of
England’s King Henry II – you can read about her, with the Trobairitz on Jan 13, and on her own on April 1
Why
did the age of the Troubadours come to an end? Why did the age of the Cathars
come to an end? Same region of France, same dedication to the human rather than
the divine, same commitment to the creative and the intellectual, the poetikos.
So they had to be removed from the Catholic Republic.
Much of the above is looted (I mean quoted and paraphrased, forgive me!) from this amazing website, which is so complete on the history, the themes, the poets, that I see little point my writing any more than I have thus far.
I have, nonetheless, created a separate post for the Troubadours, intended simply as an Index of all the names that I have found thus far, whose works are readable in English translation, with links to find them; I am planning to spend many hours over the coming months doing precisely that. Feel free to join me!
Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer and pianist, born today in 1811
Doris Lessing, Botswana's other greatest writer, born today in 1919, in Iran as it happens (the other "other" is Bessie Head, and she was born in South Africa)
Timothy Leary, psychologist and LSD advocate, born today in 1920
Robert Rauschenberg, artist, born today in 1925
Sarah Bernhardt, French actress, born today in 1844, and if I've placed her out of chronological order, it's only because I so much like that pairing of her with Derek Jacobi, born today in 1938. Bernhardt was the Vanessa Redgrave of her day, the first woman ever to play Desdemona on the stage - until then, in France as in Britain, only men were permitted on the classical stage, and all female parts were transvestised. Apparently she was brilliant, and even better as Cordelia in "Le Roi Lear" - that's where I imagine her and Jacobi partnering, with him equally capable of playing the King or the Fool - though that may actually be the same role, as he also demonstrated with the imbecilic simpleton turned great Emperor Claudius, in the BBC adaptation of Robert Graves' histories (and funnily enough, the other great Jacobi role was Hamlet, another instance of a highly intelligent man feigning mental lassitude in order to survive in a despotic era).
General Sam Houston sworn in as the first President of the Republic of Texas, today in 1836. Hmm! Texas, as an independent state, like Hay-on-Wye or Achziv (click here to find out why the Israel-Palestine problem requires a three-state solution). The current governor of California has apparently been considering secession from the Union, ever since the birdbrain was elected President (so a three-state American solution as well: not a bad idea at all!). Might Texas follow - there is going to be a huge fight over building that stupid Mexican wall; who knows, maybe... and then, what happens to Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Washington State...
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