"The poetry of the troubadours was essentially social in character. Unlike Goethe's minstrel, who sang as the bird among the branches, these bards exercised their art for the sake of applause and gain,—a recompense which could be won only by pleasing the knights and ladies gathered at the court of some wealthy and noble patron. Of the three classes into which feudal society was divided—commons, clergy and nobles—the last alone possessed either the means or the desire to reward literary and musical skill. It was to this class, therefore, to the Counts of Provence and Toulouse, to Eleanore of Aquitaine and Ermengarde of Narbonne, to Richard the Lionhearted and Alfonso of Aragon, that the Provençal lyric was addressed."
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Academics from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesColumbia University alumni
Original Language: English
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https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lewis_Freeman_Mott
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Lewis Freeman Mott
Lewis Freeman Mott (1863 – November 20, 1941) was an American literary scholar from New York. He served as president of the Modern Language Association in 1911.
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