Alfonso X. of Castile himself wrote many poems in the Galician or Portuguese dialect; perhaps his choice was dictated by reasons analogous to those which impelled Italian and Catalonian poets to write in Provençal. The general body of Portuguese poetry declares itself by form and content to be directly borrowed from the troubadours: it appeals to an aristocratic audience; the idea of love as a feudal relation is preserved with the accompanying ideas of amour courtois, and the lyric forms developed in Southern France are imitated. The Provençal manner took root in Portugal as it failed to do in Spain, because it found the ground to some extent prepared by the existence of a popular lyric poetry which was remodelled under Provençal influence. The most popular of the types thus developed were Cantigas de amor e de amigo and Cantigas de escarnho e de maldizer; the former were love songs: when the poet speaks the song was one de amor; when the lady speaks (and she is unmarried, in contrast to Provençal usage) the song was de amigo. This latter is a type developed independently by the Portuguese school. Cantigas de escarnho correspond in intention to the Provençal sirventes; if their satire was open and unrestrained they were cantigas de maldizer. They dealt for the most part with trivial court and personal affairs and not with questions of national policy upon which the troubadours so often expressed their opinions. Changes in taste and political upheavals brought this literature to an end about 1385 and the progress of Portuguese poetry then ceases for some fifty years.
CHAPTER IX
PROVENÇAL INFLUENCE IN GERMANY, FRANCE AND ENGLAND
Provençal influence in Germany is apparent in the lyric poetry of the minnesingers. Of these, two schools existed, connected geographically with two great rivers. The earlier, the Austro-Bavarian school, flourished in the valley of the Danube: the later minnesingers form the Rhine school. In the latter case, Provençal influence is not disputed; but the question whether the Austro-Bavarian school was exempt from it, has given rise to considerable discussion. The truth seems to be, that the earliest existing texts representing this school do show traces of Provençal influence; but there was certainly a primitive native poetry in these Danube districts which had reached an advanced stage of development before Provençal influence affected it. Austria undoubtedly came into touch with this influence at an early date. The Danube valley was a high road for the armies of crusaders; another route led from Northern Italy to Vienna, by which Peire Vidal probably found his way to Hungary. At the same time, though Provençal influence was strong, the Middle High German lyric rarely relapsed into mere imitation or translation of troubadour productions. Dietmar von Aist, one of the earliest minnesingers, who flourished in the latter half of the twelfth century has, for instance, the Provençal alba theme. Two lovers part at daybreak, when awakened by a bird on the linden: if the theme is Provençal, the simplicity of the poet's treatment is extremely fresh and natural. This difference is further apparent in the attitude of minnesingers and troubadours towards the conception of "love." The minnesong is the literary expression of the social convention known as "Frauendienst," the term "minne" connoting the code which prescribed the nature of the relation existing between the lover and his lady; the dominant principle was a reverence for womanhood as such, and in this respect the German minnesang is inspired by a less selfish spirit than the Provençal troubadour poetry. Typical of the difference is Walter von der Vogelweide's—
Swer guotes wîbes minne hât,
der schamt sich aller missetât.
("He who has a good woman's love is ashamed of every ill deed"), compared with Bernart de Ventadour's—
Non es meravilha s'ieu chan
Melhs de nul autre chantador
Car plus trai mos cors ves Amor