Troubadours

CHRETIEN DE TROYES:the oldest known trouvère with work closely
Academics will freely admit that this man was arelated to that of the Old Provençal
troubadour. But what is a Troubadour? Theytroubadours). {The region is also known as
were important to the genesis of the CatharLangue d'Oc or Languedoc. Occamy is 'alchemy' in
mystique for a certainty and the Princeton peopleone translation so we can see the importance of
I will shortly quote will say that Chrétienthe Troubadour to Bairdic or Peryllat spiritual quest
was one of the first Troubadours in this region.is the tongue or language and codes of alchemy.}
Surely they do not think it would be one of theCertain works said by him to belong to his
first involved in these arts. In point of fact theyoeuvre--they are listed in the opening verses to
are very very ancient arts in the training of aCligés--have not survived; these include,
Druid, who would become a minstrel and jesterespecially, a romance entitled Du roi Marc et
before taking up the involved study to be a Bardd'Iseut la Blonde. One of the Ovidian poems given
or Baird. Druids, Bairds and Ovates are the bestin the Cligés list appears as part of an early
known appellations for those who completed14th-century compilation called the Ovide
these long and arduous studies which weremoralisé.
already suffering and shortening by the time ofOf the above-mentioned titles two were left
Pythagoras who was part of the last known Deanincomplete by Chrétien: the Charrette was
of Studies in the Mediterranean region. Abarisbrought to a close by Godefroi de Leigni, under
(Rabbi) the Druid was that Dean and his nameChrétien's supervision (according to
gives us a clue as to one of the branches orGodefroi); the Graal was (almost certainly)
systems which took over some of their training.interrupted by the poet's death.
The Cathars were very Gnostic and open to theNot only did each of our poet's works undergo
Pharisaic Rabbinical message. In Caesar's Journalscopying throughout the 13th century (all eight
we are told the period of study was 20 years butmanuscripts of the Charrette were produced in
it was 25 a millennium earlier and there were stillthat century), they were each subject to myriad
other specialties one could study throughout theirreworkings, in verse and, especially, in prose.
lives. One of those might lead to being called aPerceval underwent a number of "continuations"
Peryllat or 'alchemist'. Many members of theand inspired many textual "spin-offs" before the
family of Jesus were alchemists and it is quiteGrail story it told came to be incorporated into
likely that Yeshua bar Joseph studied withthe vast Prose Lancelot (along with the Charrette,
Comarius who also tutored Cleopatra. Apolloniuswhich constitutes the midpoint text of this great
of Tyana is part of the Jesus amalgam and thecompilation). Post-World War II scholarship has
Cathars kept most of the Gaedhil/Gnostic learningdemonstrated that Chrétien's oeuvre was
alive. One of the charges that the Inquisitionfully integrated into the system of textual
leveled against the Cathars had to do withreferences and allusions underlying many
Dianistic or Tantric sexual practices and I believeimportant 13th-century texts--a series of "epigonal
the sexual or Bhakti 'union' (Yoga) was part ofromances" (e.g., Fergus, Le Bel Inconnu) and a
their training and system which highly valuedwork like the Roman de la Rose (Guillaume de
women including giving them high priestly functionsLorris's Narcissus episode, as M.A. Freeman has
and leadership roles including Esclarmonde de Foixshown, "re-reads/re-writes" Ovid through a
who is reminiscent of Hypatia of Alexandria, whoprocess of refraction involving Chrétien's
both should be studied as a great heroine for allBlood Drops on the Snow scene in Perceval
time.[Freeman 1976-77]). A romance composed as late
The Bairdic Educational system had included aas Froissart's 14th-century Méliador
seven year specialty in developing languages for"revives" Chrétien de Troyes's Arthurian
their far flung colonies in the second millenniummanner and matter, as P.F. Dembowski has
BCE and they developed such codes anddemonstrated (1983).
Gematria as you see in Hebrew and theChrétien himself utilized a similar network of
Aymará of Peru. I have delved into thesetextual allusion in his own romances. Scholars
Oghamic studies in many other books includinginterested in sources have for generations pointed
one with the title From OM to Ogham. Platoto such "first-generation" romances as the
observed that knowledge was declining due to theromans antiques (Énéas, Troie, and
written word after the Phoenicians gave themThèbes) and Wace's Brut and Rou, not to
their refined alphabet. Some scholars think a fewmention the Tristan corpus (especially Thomas),
of the poems attributed to Orpheus (a lesseras constituting a kind of quarry from which
Bard or Troubadour) are in fact the writing ofChrétien extracted materials which he
Pythagoras. The Grail myths are rich repositoriesutilized in his own constructions. Chrétien's
of the pre-Christian traditions.bookish learning--he was clearly a clerc fully
"Little concerning the person we calltrained in the arts curriculum of his day--is evident
"Chrétien de Troyes" (fl. ca. 1160-1191) canin his love of such figures of ornamentation as
be affirmed with certainty. What we know mustadnominatio, rich rhyme, and chiasmus, and, as
largely be inferred from the writings attributed towell, in the particularly fertile manner in which he
him. These include five romance narratives writtenrefracted the Arthurian materials he borrowed
in rhyming octosyllabic couplets during the finalfrom Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace through
third of the 12th century (Érec etthe lens of such works of late Antiquity as
Énide [ca. 1165], Cligés [ca. 1176], LeMartianus Capella's De Nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae
Chevalier de la Charrette (Lancelot), Le Chevalier(in Érec et Énide) or the writings of
au Lion (Yvain) [ca. 1177? 1179-80?], and Le ConteMacrobius. As he states in the Prologue to
du Graal (Perceval) [ca. 1190]); a sixth narrative,Érec et Énide, he--and he proudly
Guillaume d'Angleterre, has been attributed to himnames himself--and his work must be distinguished
by some, although many scholars find thisfrom the fragmented and vulgar tales hawked
doubtful. At least two surviving lyric songs arebefore kings and counts by uneducated minstrels.
said to have been composed by him (if so, he is