Trouvères, troubadours, and minnesingers (9th–13th centuries)

The first centuries of the second millennium AD are marked by the emergence of a secular poetic and musical literature, though it continued to make use of religious motifs. This corpus dedicated to courtly love is the invention of the first musicians in history to escape the veil of anonymity: the troubadours (writing in the langue d'oc), the trouvères (in langue d'oïl), and the minnesingers (active in Germany). These distant forerunners of today's pop stars deserve special attention—for the stories they tell are timeless and universal...