Known as the language of the troubadours, Occitan is often reduced to a medium of their songs of courtly love. But during at least 800 years following its emergence as a vernacular in the south of today’s France, this language was much more – a mean of everyday communication, administration, liturgy, all genres of literature and natural sciences.
Occitan shares its evolution story with other Romance languages: In the area of today’s France, Latin language brought by Roman conquerors and imposed in the dominated territories caused the gradual disappearance of different Celtic and Aquitanian languages originally spoken there by those tribes. However, the local use of Latin with its phonological and syntactical variations from the standard Latin, as well as with lexical heritage from the Celtic and Aquitanian (a non-Indo-European ancestor of the Basque) languages, formed a local type of “vulgar Latin”.
Roman invasions and conquests started in the 2nd century BCE (with establishing Gallia Narbonensis in 121 BCE, the first Roman province north of the Alps, encompassing the south-east of today’s France, with its centre in Narbona, an important city in the later Occitan-speaking territory) and culminating in 50 BCE at the end of the Gallic wars, when Gallia was completely conquered (the last resisting area being also in the later Occitan speaking territory, only rather in the south-west – today’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine).
The local language then continued its evolution, becoming more and more distant from Latin. The first written proof that people in modern-day France are using languages that are fully separated from Latin comes from the Council of Tours (813) when it was decided that preaching should be done in local romance languages.
Declension
Declension in Old Occitan is very simple. It has two grammatical cases like Old French – the nominative (inherited from the Latin nominative, it’s used for words functioning as subjects and for the vocative case) and oblique (for words in any other case according to the Latin declension system).
Another common feature is the presence of only two genres – masculine and feminine, but the declension system is then different in Occitan and French, for example:
Conjugation
As Old, Middle, and even modern French, Old Occitan has three types of conjugation –one for every class of verbs, which are divided according to how their infinitive ends: in -ar, or -ir, or -er/-re. But for conjugations of some tenses (like the indicative imperfect), they can be divided into only 2 groups – verbs in -ar and all the others.
Articles, elision and enclision
Like Old and Middle French, Old Occitan has definite articles, indefinite articles, and zero articles
CSS lo CRP li
CSP lo CRP los
CSS la CRP las
CRS la CRP las
It’s difficult to precisely date the texts that are the oldest surviving witnesses of the Occitan language in order to find the most ancient of them. The most probable option is a 17 verses-long fragment commonly referred to as Tomida femina (A Swollen woman), written in margins of folio 89v in manuscript 201 of Bibliothèque communautaire et interuniversitaire in Clermond-Ferrand, dated to 9th or 10th century. These magically sounding (in the literal sense of the word) verses seem to be designated for healing or help during childbirth.
Tomida femina in tomida via sedea; tomid infant in falda sua tenea; tomides mans et tomidas pes, tomidas carnes que est colbe recebrunt; tomide fust et tomides fer que istæ colbe doner unt. Exsunt en dolores d'os en polpa de polpa en curi de curi in pel de pel in erpa. Terra madre susipiat dolores.
Other examples of short Occitan texts from a similar period are Phebi claro nondum orto iubare – a Christian hymn to dawn written in Latin with Occitan refrains, and O Maria, Deu maire – a monastic song from Saint Martial in Limoges.
There is, however, another text that is very often cited as the oldest surviving work in Occitan language – Boecis. But being dated to the early beginnings of the 11th century, this fragment is surely posterior to at least the medicinal charm presented above. Even if it’s not the oldest preserved Occitan text, Boecis remains highly important and interesting: As a paraphrase or a text at least inspired by Boethius’ Consolatio Philosophiae, it’s the oldest vernacular work belonging to the tradition of Consolatio Philosophiae written in modern-days French territory.
In the 12th century, we can already see the beginnings of the impressively famous and loved, even nowadays, courtly poetry. This literary and artistic tradition, which continued to be popular in the 13th and (although a bit differently, see below) 14th century, is built on several motives – the central one is without doubt fin’ amor, or “courtly love”, according to Gaston Paris who proposed the term “amour courtois” in 1881 in his article Etudes sur les romans de la table ronde when treating Chevalier de la charrette. Fin’ amor is the most noble feeling the literary subject (male or female, although typically male) expresses in their poetry and directs towards its object (of the opposite gender, typically female) – it’s supposed to be perfectly pure love for a person typically out of the subject’s reach, socially or physically or often both, emanating in the form of poetry full of yearning which can’t be satisfied. This motive often makes use of feudal metonymies, such as referring to the heart of the loving subject as a fief in possession of the loved one, who then only lends it back to them. Other typical motives are the personages of gilos – an extremely jealous man who is convinced of his wife’s adultery abuses and imprisons her, thus ironically giving a pretext and a possibility for another man (with more noble, thus proper feelings for her) to find a way how to be with her. The texts with this scheme as a main plot – for example Castia gilos (The Punishment of a Jealous Man), Las novas del papagay (Tale of the Parrot) or Flamenca (the name of the main personage meaning “Flemish woman”) – present the committed adultery of the wife as a punishment for the horrible husband, who himself caused it by treating her badly. The personage of gilos is however often present in classical cançons (songs of courtly love as described above) “only” as one of the obstacles for the love of the lyrical subject and object, just as lausengiers – people trying to find the two in flagrante, then tell it to the jealous husband. As implied, the compositions were meant to be sung. Unfortunately, not many musical notations were preserved until today.
One of the most famous and classical cançons is Lanquan li jorn son lonc en mai (Jaufre Rudel, 1st half of 12th century):
Lanquand li jorn son lonc en mai m’es bels douz chans d’auzels de lonh, e quand me sui partitz de lai, remembram d’un’ amor de lonh : vauc de talan enbroncs e clis, si que chans ni flors d’albespis nom platz plus que l’inverns gelatz. Iratz e gauzens m’en partrai, quan veirai cest’ amor de lonh ; mas non sai coras la veirai, car trop son nostras terras lonh ; assatz i a pas e camis, e per aisso non sui devis ; mas tot sia, cum a dieu platz.
Courtly literature circulates in all different literary genres, for example: alba (meaning “dawn”, a song about couple’s lamentation of near dawn, which means they must say goodbye to each other), salut d’amor (a composition in the form of a love letter), or planh (a lamentation of someone’s death, most often the author’s patron or patroness). There were also two genres serving as introductions to the songs – vidas (short story about the life and loves of the author) and razos (short story about how and why he/she composed the song). Both types were almost always written after the activity of the author in question.
However, the authors, called trobadors (male) and trobairitz (female, for more about this peculiar term see below) didn’t compose only works that could fit perfectly in the characteristics described above. Other thematically defined genres were very popular since the very beginnings of courtly literature (many of them being proper and limited to the Occitanophone area), like sirventes (a song which theme is a commentary of something actual – it can treat politics, works of other trobadors/trobairitz, current state of courtly literature, manners etc.), partimen (or joc partit, a dialogical composition of a debate between two trobadors, framed as a rhetoric exercise – in the beginning the two speakers invent the theme and positions they’re going to hold), or razo (a debate similar to partimen, but this time being presented as a genuine argument, where the two speakers advocate for what they supposedly truly believe in). There is plenty of parodic texts too (also since the beginnings), for example Farai un vers de dreyt nien (Guilhem IX de Peitieu, the 1st trobador known by name, 1071–1126):
Farai un vers de dreyt nien : A 8 Non er de mi ni d’autra gen, A 8 Non er d’amor ni de joven, A 8 Ni de ren au, B 4 Qu’enans fo trobatz en durmen A 8 Sobre chevau. B 4 |
I’ll make a poem about nothing, Won’t be about me nor others, Won’t speak of love nor youthfulness, Nor something else, ‘Cause I made it up while sleeping On a horseback. |
How strong this tradition of courtly literature was can be summed up well in the count of preserved songs – to this day we have 95 songbooks with more than 2 500 compositions from around 350 authors – 34 of them being works of 17 known trobairitz. Some names of other popular trobadors include Marcabrú (1st half of the 12th century), Arnaut Daniel (end of the 12th cetury), Bernart de Ventadorn (second half of the 12th century), or Peire Vidal (end of the 12th century), who wrote the first Occitan grammar called Razos de trobar.
Even though the number of female authors is small compared to one of the trobadors, in the era it was quite exceptional. These authors are nowadays called trobairitz, which is nevertheless an hapax found in the romance Flamenca, when Flamenca praises her companion for helping her come up with a suitable response to Guilhem, the young man who’s in love with her. We don’t know if in their times they were referred to as such, but we can see (from how they are included in songbooks, where there is no graphic or other separation between male and female authors) that their works were treated with the same attention and appreciation as the works of their male colleagues. It seems that the majority of trobairitz were noblewomen figuring also and foremost as patronesses of trobadors, as was the case of probably the most famous of them – Comtessa de Dia (2nd half of the 12th century, beginning of the 13th). Other names are for example Azalais de Porcairagues (late 12th century) and Clara d’Anduza (1st half of the 13th century) with her only clearly attributed composition En grèu esmai et en grèu pessamen:
Cel que'm blasma vòstr' amor ni'm defen Non pòt en far en re mon còr melhor, Ni'l douç desir qu'ieu ai de vos major Ni l'enveja ni'l desir ni'l talen ; E non es òm, tan mos enemics sia, Si l'aug dir ben, que non lo tenh' en car, E, si'n ditz mal, mais no'm pòt dir ni far Neguna ren que a plazer me sia.
The beginning of the 13th century is marked by a tragic and for Occitan culture devastating event – the Albigensian crusade. This crusade was initiated by Pope Innocent III in 1208 to suppress a disturbingly strong Cathar (or Albigensian, according to the city of Albi, which was one of its important centres) heresy in the prospering south of current France. This heresy, which was discussed at councils since the 1160s, was characterized by alleged radical dualism (very simply put, it’s a belief in two gods, one good and the other evil, with all the material world being perceived as a creation of the evil one), their spiritual leaders – men or women, they would live a very ascetic life and be obliged to travel to preach. They would also administrate the practice of “consolament”, a third fundamental characteristics, which is a form of baptism that only the spiritual leaders would receive during life and then administrate it for common believers shortly before their death. However, almost all the sources for this image of the Cathar heresy are of Catholic authors, inquisitors even. Until nowadays, the question as to which point this was an invention remains actual and not fully answered. But what is without any doubt, is the atrocity and impact of the crusade. Participants assembled from the royal domains and Anglo-Norman territories in France, as well as the Holy Roman Empire. As crusaders, they opposed the knights of the southern counts. Already in 1209, one of the major events took place, which was the infamous massacre of Beziers, where practically all inhabitants (heretics or not) were killed, followed by many sieges and massacres during the following 30 years. Ending with almost all the east-south of today’s France gained by the French kings (which until this moment included only Ile-de-France, Champagne and Normandie) and the creation of the inquisition, this event became sad and until nowadays controversial point in French history.
We can see a continuation of the courtly literature with authors like Guilhem de Cabestanh (beginning of the 13th century), Peire Cardenal, Cerverí de Girona (2nd half), or Na Casteloza (early 13th century) and Gormunda de Montpeslier (1st half). The events of the crusade made many male authors flee to northern Italy where they searched for protection from noble houses, like the Malaspina (the trobairitz didn’t need to search for patronage in a less troubled area since they were themselves in a position of power and their own patronesses). There, their poetry was generously supported by patrons and patronesses, and it is thanks to their (and that of the troubadours) activity that many important songbooks were created and preserved, like the illuminated manuscript BnF 854 with portrayals and vidas of troubadours and trobairitz.
We see the continuation and development of the courtly thematic also in other genres, like the already mentioned romance Flamenca written close to the end of the 13th century. This text is remarkable in many aspects, for example, its longer space permits a sophisticated combination of narrative development and lyrical circularity – In the end, Archimbaut is cured of his jealousy, which means that Flamenca and her lover Guilhem can no longer be together. The young knight finds a new purpose in battles but sends her salut d’amor (and later returns to the tournament at Archimbaut’s castle and expresses his love for her by sending her all the knights he vanquished. Unfortunately, the rest of the romance was not preserved, but very probably it would continue alike, with Flamenca’s and Guilhem’s amor de lonh). It also permits a more complex and deeper (in the context of Occitan courtly literature) exploration of all the three main personages of the triangle lady–her jealous husband–young man.
Of course, the crusade left its mark in literature, even with an exceptional witness – Canson de la crosada (Song of the Crusade), written not only during the very events (the first part was started in 1210, covering the years 1208–1213, the second part in 1227, covering the years 1213–1219) but also from both points of view, first by Guilhem de Tudela, a clerk in the service of Baudoin de Toulouse (who joined the crusaders), then the second part by an anonymous author. Even though catholic, in his text, the latter often expresses a clear dissent with the crusade, for example:
Que·l filhs del rei de Fransa ve orgulhozamens, Ab trenta quatre comtes et ab aitantas gens Que non es en est setgle negus hom tant sabens Que puesca azesmar los milhers ni los cens. Que·l cardenal de Roma prezicans e ligens Que la mortz e lo glazis an tot primeramens, Aissi que dins Tholoza ni·ls apertenemens Negus hom no i remanga ni nulha res vivens Ni don ani donzelha ni nulha femna pens Ni autra creatura ni nulhs efans laitens, Que tuit prengan martiri en las flamas ardens.
An image of a Cathar believer also entered Occitan literature – Las novas de l’heretje (The Tale of the Heretic) recounts a theological debate between bishop Sicart de Figueiras and inquisitor Izarn charged with Sicart’s questioning and, if need be, burning. Izarn tries to convert his prisoner, which turns out to be a successful initiative – Sicart agrees on condition that another episcopacy is given to him. Written shortly after 1242, Las novas originate in or at least very close to the period of so-called Great inquisition which took place in over 100 villages around Toulouse, from 1245 to 1246. The interrogations of more than 5 500 people were recorded and are preserved today in manuscript 609 of the Municipal Library of Toulouse.
When the southern counties became royal domains of the French king, the Occitanophone area became divided along the Pyrenean chain into northern and southern part. Each of the parts then saw a separate evolution of Occitan, thus becoming, by the 14th century, two separate languages – Occitan (in the north) and Catalan (in the south).
In the 14th century, France was troubled by the Hundred Years’ War, the Black Death, peasants’ revolts and hunger, but literature continued to flourish anyway. 200 years after the golden age of troubadours, seven poets in Toulouse take initiative to revive the classical Occitan courtly poetry by establishing Consistori de Sobregaya companhia dels VII trobadors de Tolosa (Consistory of the Very Happy Company of VII Troubadours of Toulouse) in 1323. This first European literary institution organized poetic competitions and encouraged the study and imitation of courtly poetry. Following the command of Consistori, poets Guilhem Molinier and Bartolomieu Marc wrote Las Leys d’amors (The Laws of Love). Under such a name one would expect perhaps an allegorical work about courtly love, but it’s in fact a manual of rhetoric, poetry, versification, and Occitan grammar. The institution was later Francisated, and exists until today, under the name of Académie des Jeux Floraux.
Of course, other texts that have nothing to do with troubadours were written. Two interesting examples from the end of the 14th century can be cited – a chivalric romance of an “Arthurian style” with parodic aspects (the only known Occitan truly Arthurian romance is an anonymous text Jaufre written in the 12th or 13th century) called Blandin de Cornoalha e Guilhot Ardit de Miramar (Blandin of Cornwall and Guilhot Ardit of Miramar). The second example is Lo Rosari (The Rosary), an anonymous Occitan translation (written probably between 1370 and 1410) of the practical part of Rosarius philosophorum (The Rosary of the philosophers), an alchemistic work attributed to Catalan physician Arnaut de Villanova:
Dic jeu doncas que la ententio de tota esta obra es que tu pregas la peyra de la qual en los capitols te ay parlat et que am gran cura tu la asubtilies en lo premier gra en manieyra que torne mercure. Apres per la putrefactio torne en ortura de puritat. […] Quar adonx es elixir complit a tot veray aur et a tot veray argent. Et adonx es complit lo secret et pres non presable tresaur de totz los philosophes.
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