The Poetry of the Medieval Troubadour, William IX of Aquitaine: The Songs that Built Europe offers a new edition, translation, and critical discussion of the songs of the first European troubadour, William IX, Duke of Aquitaine. This book argues that William and his poetic works manifest the economic, political, and cultural forces that laid the foundations of modern Europe, including the subjectivities of modern westerners and the concerns and motifs of what later became the national literatures of France, Spain, England, Germany, and Italy. Encouraging personal freedoms, self-definition, and the pursuit of love and happiness, the culture of courtly love that William initiated is distinctly modern but can also be seen to have played a key role in the subjection of medieval Europeans to the then-emergent market economy, imperialist ambitions of the Church, and authority of proto-national kingdoms. As such subjection affected even the highest-ranking aristocrats, such as William, the road of liberation of desire appears to have been a fast lane to serfdom for everyone, perhaps the most pre-modern feature of the modern and postmodern conditions.
Fidel Fajardo-Acosta is professor of English at Creighton University.
List of Figures Acknowledgments Preface and Disclaimer Introduction. William IX of Aquitaine, the Premodern and Postmodern Conditions William IX, First of the Moderns The Dialectic of Unreason: Romans, Christians, and Germanic Barbarians The New Subjects of Love Traveling to the Past Neither Past, Nor Other Women, Wealth, and Power Courtly Culture The Divinity of Love: Dante as a Troubadour Caveat Evangelista Chapter 1. The Life of William IX of Aquitaine Carolingian Period Capetians, Church, and Empire Aquitaine William IX of Aquitaine Crusade of 1101-1102 Robert d'Arbrissel Anjou and Other Affairs Two-Faced William Chapter 2. The Songs of William IX Manuscripts Manuscript C Manuscript D Manuscript E Manuscript I Manuscript K Manuscript N Manuscript R Manuscript V Manuscript a1 Song 1: "Companho, farai ieu un vers covinen" (My friends, I will make a proper song) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 1 Text Song 2: "Companho, non puosc mudar qu'ieu non m'esfrei" (My friends, I cannot help but be upset) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 2 Text Song 3: "Companho, tant ai agutz d'avols conres" (My friends, I have suffered so much ill treatment) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 3 Text Song 4: "Farai un vers de dreit nien" (I will make a song exactly about nothing) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 4 Text Song 5: "Farai un vers, pos me somelh" (I will make a song, since I am sleepy) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 5 Text Song 6: "Ben vueill que sapchon li pluzor" (I very much want for most people to know) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 6 Text Song 7: "Pos vezem de novel florir" (Since we see the flowers blooming again) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 7 Text Song 8: "Farai chansoneta nueva" (I will make a new little song) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 8 Text Song 9: "Mout iauzens me prenc en amar" (Full of joy, I give myself over to loving) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 9 Text Song 10: "Ab la dolchor del temps novel" (With the sweetness of the new season) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 10 Text Song 11: "Pos de chantar m'es pres talenz" (Since I feel a desire to sing) Standard Bibliographic Text Identification Topic/Argument Date of Composition Primary Sources Genre Form and Versification Other Editions Base Manuscript Song 11 Text Chapter 3. The Economy of Love All in Love: Production and Reproduction, Commerce and Capitalism Women as Capital Courtly Love and the Medieval Economy Love is Green and Natural Desiring Freedom, Choosing Subjection All the Lord's Horses, and All the Lord's Women and Men Too The First and One Thousand Other Nights: The Real Rights of the Lord Nothing's Not for Sale Inexhaustible Resources: Drill, Baby, Drill Private Property but Profitable Use: The Strange Communism of Capitalism The Leis de Con: Demand and Supply Modern Capitalism in Premodern Times The Downsides of Economic Progress Self-Interest in Disguise The Cheater Cheated Chapter 4. The Red Cat of Desire The Taming of the Lord Cat Disciplines Varieties of Courtly Cats Cat Caveats How England Got its Royal Arms Chapter 5. Riddles of Self and Others A Riddle at Heart Agnes and Ermessen Geographical Riddles Mon Esteve The Ring of Love The Sign of the Cross The Riddle of the Self At the Crossroads Conclusion. The Legacy of William IX Glossary Bibliography
