This is the leading French work of the Middle Ages, as it sums up the greatest idealism, and brings to us that which they considered most vital—the call of patriotism, of honor and of duty.
Great Cathedrals and Feudal Castles
About this time began the building of the great Gothic churches in France, England, and Germany. Rome had fallen, paganism had gone, and the spirit of Christianity was taking great hold of the people’s hearts. As a result of this feeling to praise God suitably the great churches which we copy even today were built.
If “architecture is frozen music,” you can understand why music and architecture developed at the same time.
This was also the age of Feudalism, when the noblemen lived in castles with moats and drawbridges, and owned vast tracts of land and whole villages. People were retainers, vassals and serfs, with no freedom and no property rights except what the lords gave them. They even had to give their masters much of the produce of the lands which they cultivated. Of course, these feudal lords besides having to be fed and guarded had to be entertained, and had to know what was going on in the outside world. So, the minstrels and bards were cordially welcomed, and wandered from castle to castle, receiving presents of money or clothes, jewelry, horses, and sometimes even houses.
What Troubadours Learned Through Crusades
Every year during the early centuries of the Christian era, hundreds of pilgrims journeyed to the Holy Land undergoing much hardship on the way. They thought through this pilgrimage to be forgiven for their sins, and win the approval of the Church, then far more powerful than the kings. Toward the end of the 11th century, Mohammedans had seized Palestine, and prevented the Christian pilgrims from doing penance or worshipping at the Holy Sepulchre. This led to a series of expeditions against the Mohammedans in Palestine in which all the Christian countries of Europe united. These expeditions were called the Crusades (1095–1271), and they have been celebrated in story and song ever since. The Crusades gave the rough uncultured men of the Western world the chance to hear the poetry and the songs of the Arabs (Chapter VI), who at that time were the most advanced in culture and arts. Although the Oriental music with its complicated rhythms must have been hard to learn, the Crusaders brought back much of real value and beauty,—a new way of singing, new subjects for poems, and two new instruments, a kind of guitar and el oud, in Europe called lute. The lute had a strong influence on popular music, for it was the most commonly used instrument for centuries.
Romance Languages
Latin had been the language of France because the Romans lived there so long, but later it became mixed with the rough dialect and speech of the Franks and other Gothic barbarous tribes and was much changed. From this mixture came rustic Latin, or Romanse rustique, and modern French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are still called Romance languages. A new poetry was born in Provence, the south of France, and in Normandy in the north, written in this Romanse rustique, and the oldest French songs were called lais, lay or ballad. The great ruler Charlemagne collected these lais of barbarian period and the trouvères and troubadours had wonderful old songs of heroism to choose from.
In Provence they said “oc” for “yes” and in Normandy, “oui.” So, the language of the south of France was called “langue d’oc” and of the north “langue d’oui.”