especially the harp, lute and viol, though none of these was yet technically advanced. We do not know precisely how accompaniments were played, whether giving detached tones or chords merely to sustain the voice, or doubling the melody of the song itself, or here and there giving an additional melody, or supplying enrichment by preludes, interludes and cadenzas. But we may infer that the fresh genius that expressed itself in words and song was not wanting in the accompaniment.
The period of the Troubadours proper came to an end in the 13th
century, primarily because of the political turmoils over the Albigensian
heresy—that strange revolt against the abuses and the autocracy of the
Church which reached such proportions about 1200 that Innocent III. proclaimed
a crusade against it. From 1208 to 1220 a furious war ensued,
into which most of the nobles of southern France were drawn in self-defense,
whether or not interested in Albigensian views, and which
resulted in the total spoliation of the country. This practically destroyed
the wealthy class that sustained the Troubadours and ruined the entire
civilization of which they were a part. By the middle of the 13th century
what traces remained of literary life in Provence and Languedoc
had begun to be absorbed into the rising current of French literature
proper.
39. The Trouvères.—The Trouvères of northern France
seem to have caught their first inspiration from the Troubadours
and to have imitated them largely in choice of themes,
treatment and general spirit. But the differences were also
notable. The Trouvères, for example, loved to compile and set
forth the rich treasures of legend in Brittany and Normandy, to
accumulate the myths of Charlemagne and other traditional
heroes, and to exalt the romantic tales of the Crusades. The
language of the north was not so varied and musical as that of
Provence, and the warmth of passion and vivacity of fancy
were also slighter. There was less organization of effort
among the Trouvère poets, less competition among themselves
for technical approbation, and less class-exclusiveness. Around
them, too, were many strong monasteries and abbeys, where
ecclesiastics were leaders in literature and art, and where poetry
and music had long been valued in religious worship. Naturally,
then, the Trouvère poetry often turned to sacred themes,
and its melodies were not always sharply different from those
of the Church. From this it followed that while the Troubadours
stimulated poetic literature in general without much
