ON

THE AGE AND POETRY

OF THE

MINNESINGERS, TROUBADOURS,

&c.

SECTION I.

Introductory remarks.-Provence.-Imperfect knowledge of the works of the Troubadours.-Writers on the subject.M. Raynouard.-Early monuments of Provençal poetry.— Its cultivation.-Decline of the art in the South.-Ascend'ancy of the North-French dialect or Romance.-Character of the Troubadours to be sought in their works.-Remarks on the question, whether the Troubadours confined themselves to lyric poetry, or like the Northern poets also com. posed Romances and Tales.-Remains of Provençal Romances and Tales.-Real extent of the literary productions of the Troubadours now uncertain.

THOUGH it is perhaps necessary to introduce the following selections by a few observations on the period of history which they serve in some measure to illustrate, and on the early poetic literature of the

B