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Troubadours have traditionally been classified as either aristocratic amateurs or professionals known as 'joglars.' However, evidence supporting the existence of professionals among the early generation of troubadours is questionable. For example, the information gleaned from later biographies or 'vidas' is often unreliable, and the term 'joglar' was a general term that did not necessarily refer to a professional performer. It seems likely that many troubadours held other positions at court, but were simply remembered for their talents as poets and performers. Information concerning the troubadour Cercamon is explored as a demonstrative example., It has long been an accepted critical commonplace that there were two main types of troubadour: the talented, aristocratic amateurs for whom the art of trobar was a serious hobby, [...]

History of William Marshal, ed. A. J. Holden, with English translation by S. Gregory and historical notes by D. Crouch, Vol. I: Text and Translation (ll. 1-10031), Anglo-Norman Text Society [...]

William E. Burgwinkle, Love for Sale: Materialist Readings of the Troubadour Razo Corpus, The New Middle Ages 5 (New York and London: Garland, 1997). x + 336 pp.; 1 map. [...]

Edward Armstrong Monographs on Medieval Literature 11 (Lexington, Ky: French Forum, 2000). 307 pp. ISBN 0-917058-93-3. $34.50. This lively and erudite book is essentially a study of a particular case [...]

G. Lavis and M. Stasse, (Liege: Faculte de Philosophie et Lettres de l'Universite de Liege, 1991). iii + 338 pp. B. fr. 700. This concordance, based on the 1905 edition [...]

Les Albas occitanes, etude et edition par Christophe Chaguinian, transcription musicale et etude des melodies par John Haines, Classiques francais du Moyen Age 156 (Paris: Honore Champion, 2008). 556 pp. [...]

Re-examines the distinctions traditionally drawn between troubadour and `joglar,' the two main types of poets in the early 12th century. Four principal types of available evidence regarding the troubadours; Little essential difference between the two types; Effect of patchy factual knowledge about these poets.