Background
References
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The record of troubadour poetry survives through posthumous manuscripts that medievalists have transcribed into print anthologies. Due to the enormous scope of the work, authors often choose to focus on a single author, genre, or characteristic of troubadour songs, creating a repertoire disseminated across multiple sources. Only a small amount of this information is accessible online - the vast majority lies in assorted books.
This database is a digital tool to link three influential print anthologies. Pillet and Carsten's 1933 seminal work* in alphabetically cataloguing all known troubadour songs provided an organizational framework for searching and referencing poems by giving them a unique ID number. Frank's ambitious compilation*** identifies and sorts the versification pattern of all these songs. The specific songs chosen for this database are found in Goldin's anthology**, which neatly displays their Occitan lyrics and English translation. Using this database with a song in mind, one can quickly know where to go to find its full lyrics and versification, as well as Pillet and Carsten's "BdT" number, which is essential when navigating different sources. This database also allows a user to find songs containing a particular word, or quickly look up a troubadour's vida. Try it here. *Pillet, A. & Carstens, H. (1933), Bibliographie der Troubadours. Halle: Niemeyer. **Goldin,F. (1983) Lyrics of the Troubadours and Trouvères. An anthology and a History, Peter Smith, Gloucester, Mass ***Frank, I. (1953–1957). Répertoire métrique de la poésie des troubadours. Vol 1. Paris: Champion. |