The golden age of troubadours

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the troubadours were the pre-eminent arbiters of cultural taste: Dante and Petrarch studied their models, while the trouvères and minnesingers followed in their wake. Their compositions were preserved in manuscripts spanning the continent, from the Pyrenees to Greece. The names of Arnaut Daniel, Guiraut de Bornelh, and Jaufre Rudel were renowned even in regions where neither French nor Occitan was spoken.

The cansos and sirventes—miniature masterpieces by these poet-composers of the troubadours’ “Golden Age”—form the foundation of this programme. These works are presented alongside those of lesser-known yet equally compelling figures, such as Guillem Magret and Rigaut de Berbezilh