The origin of the bard

On the busy streets of major cities in Europe and the United States, we can often see some people singing with lute or guitar. If they sing lyrics or melodies of their own composition, we call them modern-day nomadic poets. Sometimes, they put on ancient costumes that remind us of a bygone era. Modern nomadic poets yearn for the romance of the pioneers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and they also emphasize the joyful manners, the unfettered life, and the fantasy of thought. In fact, the Italian root 'trovare' and the French root 'trouver' of the poet both mean invention and creation. Therefore, the term nomadic singer was originally very objective and not romantic at all. (Cui Weiju novel)

The first nomadic poets in history were Provence, who rose to provence at the southern tip of France at the end of the 11th century. These poets, who composed poems in the southern dialects of France, were called 'troubadours'. Later, their art spread to other European countries, and their names were called differently in different places. For example, in northern France it is called trouveres (the first e has a skimming on it), in Spain it is called trovadores, in Italy it is called trovatori, and in Germany it is called minnesanger (there are two dots on the a). That is, the German love poets, who rose a century later than the French poets, and after the middle of the fourteenth century, they were succeeded by the famous singers (meistersanger [two points above a]), and did not decline until the eighteenth century.

The first nomadic singers were all from aristocratic families. For who could be engaged in artistic activity at that time but them?Who could ride away from that house and take with him a group of servants and wander from castle to castle? Yet, among the entourage of the itinerant singers was a servant singer who, though of a lowly social figure, was courteous to his master, whom in France he called menestrels (the first e had a skimming on it). In England it is called minstrels, and in Germany it is called spielmanner (two points on the top of the a are accented). Since these people were often indispensable companions of itinerant singers, their social status increased greatly after the popularity of itinerant singers in the Middle Ages. When the master of the servant singer has no time to compose, they will carefully follow the inspiration and philosophy of the master to compose a unique song. But history is often unfair. All the glorious deeds are attributed to the poet. The role of the servant singer was not taken seriously, just as the name of the army commander was handed down, but the soldiers who actually fought were unknown.

However, Blondeldenesle, the servant singer of Richard (Thelion-Hearted, r. 1157-99) of England, made an exception. Forever. It turns out that when King Richard led his troops to the Crusades and returned to England from Palestine, he was captured and imprisoned in Austria and became a prisoner of the Holy Roman Empire, Heinrichvivon Hohenstaufen (r. 1165-97). At this time. One day, King Richard finally sang the second verse from prison, so Blondell knew the right place for King Richard to be held, and quickly summoned the British army to rescue King Richard.

The romance of the traveling poet

The first nomadic poets were very chivalrous, they advocated loyalty to their friends and bravery in war. Giving aiqing to a woman worthy of adoration. And because of the Crusades, they increased their desire to learn about the folklore of distant places. The knights of the time represented a bridge between medieval humanity and the devotion of God to a new concept of life. The new concept still acknowledges God as the source of hope for mankind, but on the other hand, it also advocates appreciating the beauty of nature and enjoying the emotional exchange between people.

From the pictures and stories that have been handed down in the past, depicting the performances of the traveling poets in the castle, we can feel the idyllic life of their poets. They always hold a lute or hold a lute to accompany their singing. Singer competition scene in Wagner's opera Don Wyser and the famous singers of Nuremberg. It's a picture that makes a deep impression on us.

The castle where the early nomadic singers sang is now gone, leaving only romantic ruins on the hills of some river valleys. Now there was no longer a girl in the castle looking out of the window at the knight of his dreams. The dream was one in which the poet came from the flower-covered avenue outside the castle (sometimes on horseback in the drizzle) and the gate at the end of the moat was opened. The poet walked into the castle accompanied by an attaché and was warmly welcomed by the people of the city.

Evening. The Wandering Singer has sung or played musical instruments to entertain the castle owner and his family, as well as invited neighbors. In winter, when the snow is at its heaviest, the singers tend to stay in the castle for weeks or even months. During his time as a guest, he would constantly compose new songs to entertain his listeners, and he would even compete with singers from other places. Because of the singer's extraordinary singing skills, he often won the heart of the castle girl, and the two later married, and brought his wife back to their castle to live a happy life.

Singing the music of the poet

The singing of itinerant singers is simple and easy to understand, and their tunes are all taken from folk music, so they have aroused the research interest of musicologists. Soon after the first millennium AD, the church's gregory chant prevailed in Europe, but folk songs and dances also persisted far from monasteries and churches. The music of the ancient peoples of the Mediterranean, together with the gregorian chants composed according to the dogma of the Old Testament of the Bible, did not allow secular music to exist. The church has such hymns that call for people to worship God in a devout manner in the hope that they will be able to live a sinless life and then ascend to heaven. At that time, the joyful singing of Hallelujah for the exalted glory of God resounded in the sky, representing the proclamation of God's victory over demons, and this music never mentioned earthly happiness. (Cui Weiju novel)

On the other hand, folk songs and dances that existed in the shadows also developed rapidly because they successfully avoided the censorship of the church. The content is nothing more than a celebration of the beauty of nature, such as: winter goes to spring, birds sing and flowers are fragrant. and the refreshing blue sky, the quiet sunlight shining on the lake, the stream flowing down from the flower-covered hills, or the praise of the happiness and aiqing of the world.

The nomadic singer re-created these simple folk music with deep feelings into a new form, and this musical form structure shows rich variation and innovation. It reached its peak in the 12th century. It became the cornerstone of the later development of Western music. The music of the traveling singers teaches people to enjoy the beauty of the shijie created by God, but it is not opposed to the dogma of belief in God.

How happy it is to express happy feelings from the bottom of your heart! There are many beautiful things to sing about on this shijie, such as: the loyalty of friends, the noble sentiment of fighting for a noble goal. The joy of youth, the dignity of old age. While appreciating the beauty of nature, you can praise the summer blue sky, the fragrant flowers and green forests. In the square outside the castle, in the meadow by the trees by the lake in the countryside. People hold hands with each other and dance in circles, and everyone enjoys the joy of life without worry. Suddenly, the music of the nomadic singer came everywhere, fearlessly from one region to another, from parents to children, from children to grandchildren.

The rise and fall of the traveling poets

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the music and poetry of the poets contributed greatly to the culture and economy of Europe, especially the poet King Alfonso II (1162-96) of Aragon, Spain, who hired many famous poets, and turned his court into the poetic center of the poets at that time. Later, Pedroiv patronized traveling poets from England, France, Flanders in western Belgium, Italy, Germany, and Arabia. As a result, the music of the Arragon dynasty flourished unprecedentedly. The history of Spanish music records the names and deeds of more than 600 itinerant poets, church singers and organists of the Aragonian dynasty at that time.

In June 1675, King Alfonsox (r. 1221-84) of Casstilla of Spain announced the rank of the artist in order to maintain the social status of the itinerant singer. Since then, bouffons and jongleurs have been abandoned from high-class social gatherings.

But by the end of the thirteenth century. These romantic poets, who spread the message of freedom everywhere, were persecuted by the Catholic Church as heretics. From then on, the social status of the itinerant poets began to decline, and the glory they once had ceased to exist. Some of the developing city-states of the time even banned itinerant singers from entering the country. or before they are allowed to enter the city, they are to discharge their weapons. Some city-states did not allow them to wear the same clothes as their citizens in order to identify and mock them. Outside the new city-state, the old castles that had been the life of the poets were deserted because they were uninhabited, and the old castles became dangerous as the peasants, who had long been oppressed revolted.

As for the servant singers of the wandering poets, they were more lucky, because society was in need of good musicians at all times, so that they later found work in churches or in the army, and even sang and played in the royal palace or at the citizens' balls, even without the help of their masters. But when they reminisce about the past, they can't help but sadly mention the glorious days of the past to their children and grandchildren.

The existence of a group of itinerant poets is only a symbol of the imminent extinction of cultural traces. Like those excommunicated from church and society, they either died in the old castle, became ordinary citizens by marrying the daughter of a burgher, or spent their lives in the twilight of a feudal aristocratic court. Some itinerant poets, like the Spanish writer Miguel decer vantessaavedra (1547-1616) Donquixote, still considered themselves knights for the first day of their lives.

In addition, in the history of Western music, the status of the loiter (bard) is relative to that of the church musician, and the style he represents and expresses is folk music, especially in the Middle Ages, when the society of Western Europe was in the hands of the church, and the loiter was one of the influencing factors that opened the humanistic revival movement for the future of Europe.

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