re. Skilful
variation upon a given theme, rather than inspired or creative power, is
generally characteristic of the troubadour.

Thus, whatever may have been the origin of troubadour poetry, it appears
at the outset of the twelfth century as a poetry essentially
aristocratic, intended for nobles and for courts, appealing but rarely
to the middle classes and to the common people not at all. The
environment which enabled this poetry to exist was provided by the
feudal society of Southern France. Kings, princes and nobles themselves
pursued the art and also became the patrons of troubadours who had risen
from the lower classes. Occasionally troubadours existed with sufficient
resources of their own to remain independent; Folquet of Marseilles
seems to have been a merchant of wealth, above the necessity of seeking
patronage. But troubadours such as Bernart de Ventadour, the son of the [11]
stoker in the castle of Ventadour, Perdigon the son of a fisherman, and
many others of like origin depended for their livelihood and advancement
upon the favour of patrons. Thus the troubadour ranks included all sorts
and conditions of men; monks and churchmen were to be found among them,
such as the monk of Montaudon and Peire Cardenal, though the Church
looked somewhat askance upon the profession. Women are also numbered
among the troubadours; Beatrice, the Countess of Die, is the most famous
of these.

A famous troubadour usually circulated his poems by the mouth of a
_joglar_ (Northern French, _jongleur_), who recited them at different
courts and was often sent long distances by his master for this purpose.
A joglar of originality might rise to the position of a troubadour, and
a troubadour who fell upon evil days might sink to the profession of
joglar. Hence there was naturally some confusion between the troubadour
and the joglar, and poets sometimes combined the two functions. In
course of time the joglar was regarded with some contempt, and like his
forbear, the Roman joculator, was classed with the jugglers, acrobats,
animal tamers and clowns who amused the nobles after their feasts. Nor,
under certain conditions, was the troubadour's position one of dignity; [12]
when he was dependent upon his patron's bounty, he would stoop to
threats or to adulation in order to obtain the horse or the garments or
the money of his desire; such largesse, in fact, came to be denoted by a
special term, _messio_. Jealousy between rival troubad