Love And History!

Love is something that can change a person beyond recognition. I think we're beginning to feel that! It can overthrow kingdoms, and without it the world would be a sad place. Without love there would probably be no art, no poetry, and probably no life on this Earth.

Back in the late 11th century, the South of France was one of the most peaceful places in Europe and along with this peace came prosperity which gave birth to one of the most brilliant periods in human history. A period in which the tribal and military values of the Germanic tribes that had invaded the Roman Empire in the 4th Century gave way to a new way of thinking. No more brutish conflicts and force, but a society in which honour, respect, patience and true love became essential values.

Back in these days the people in the South of France did not speak French at all, they spoke a language that derived from Latin. In this language, the word "yes" was said "Oc", andtherefore it was called "Langue d'Oc" or later "Occitan". This language became the first language deriving from Latin to be written down and to be used as a great language of literature, well before French, Spanish or English! Occitan remained the main language in the South of France until the 19th Century when French started replacing it. Nowadays less than 1% of Southern French know the language! And this is a great shame!

Back in the late 11th century, noblemen from great families started composing poetry that would change the meaning of poetry. These pieces were generally set to music and sung in castles an at banquets. These poets were said to "find" the right words, they would "troba", which gave the name Troubadour (the one who finds words!). The troubadours were not singers or minstrels at all, they generally came from the families of the highest nobility, and they composed poems to celebrate the values of the brilliant society in which they lived.

Southern French society valued women in a particular way, unique in Medieval Europe. Far from being male-centered and suspicious of women, this society saw women as givers of life, as persons worthy of the greatest feelings. Women were deeply respected in this society, and even given prominent roles. There were even many women troubadours actually!

This gave way for a literary genre called Fin'amor (Fine love) or courteous love. The ideal man in this society was a knight, who would go on a quest for his beloved lady, show himself worthy of his love for her, seduce her with his songs, with his elegant manners. But in the end the beloved lady might not love him in return. Nevertheless his noble attitude would show the world the greatness of his feelings and the worthiness of his heart. He might find consolation in the respectful attitude he had for her more than in the fact of finally gaining her heart!

Among the great troubadours were some of the greatest Medieval poets, like Berenguier de Palol, Bernat de Ventador or Folquet de Marselhe. Their love poems influenced literature well beyond the South of France. In fact it changed the way Europeans saw poetry, and gave birth to Modern day literature! When we read Dante, Shakespeare's sonnets, Keats, Byron, Lamartine or any other great poet, we often forget that these writers owe most of their language to those poets of the 11th and 12th centuries. The troubadours invented all the elements of language that the Romantic poets have used throughout the ages!

The troubadour's society ended brutally in the early 13th Century, when the Church declared a crusade against the Albigeois or Cathars (a nonconformist Christian sect). The brutal savagery of this war put an end to the great nobility of Southern France, and also ended one of the most blessed periods of Medieval history! But the way the troubadours saw love, and courtesy (the word originates here!) remained, and became deeply embedded in World culture!

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       Written & edited by : Janaki mehta. ©®