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 * For the article about the night club in West Hollywood, California, see: Troubadour (nightclub).

A troubadour was a composer and performer of songs during the High Middle Ages in Europe. The tradition began to flourish during the 11th century. The earliest troubadour whose work survives is Guilhem de Peitieus (Guillaume d'Aquitaine or William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, 1071 - 1127). However, Peter Dronke, author of The Medieval Lyric, notes that "[his] songs represent not the beginnings of a tradition but summits of achievement in that tradition." His name has been preserved because he was a Duke, but his work plays with already established structures; Eble le chanteur is often credited as a predecessor, though none of his work survives. The style flourished in the eleventh century and was often imitated in the thirteenth. Many troubadours traveled for great distances, aiding in the transmission of trade and news.

The texts of troubadour songs deal mainly with themes of chivalry and courtly love. Many songs addressed a married lover, perhaps due to the prevalence of arranged marriages at the time. The aubade formed a popular genre.

Etymology
The etymology of the word troubadour is controversial. In general, the argument breaks into two camps. Romanists argue that the root of the word can be found either in the Occitan verb trobar, 'to compose, invent, or devise', or in the Vulgar Latin tropare, 'to say with tropes'. By contrast, Arabists posit an Arabic origin in the word tarrab, 'to sing'.

The word is used to designate poet-musicians who spoke Occitan (or langue d'oc); their style spread to the trouvères in the north of France, who spoke langues d'oïl.

Works
Some of the troubadours' works have survived, and is currently preserved in manuscripts known as chansonniers (songbooks).Troubadours with surviving works include Bernart de Ventadorn, Arnaut Daniel and Jaufré Rudel.

Troubadour songs were usually monophonic. Fewer than 300 melodies out of an estimated 2500 survive—most of which were composed by the troubadours themselves. Other troubadours set their poems to already existing pieces of music; Raimbaut de Vaqueyras wrote his Kalenda maya (The Calends of May) to music composed by Montferrat, fiddle players.

Troubadours usually followed some form of "rules", illustrated in Leys d'amors (compiled in 1340). The commonly used verse form of the troubadours was the canso, consisting of five or six stanzas with an envoi. Other variances of verse form seen in surviving works include


 * Dansa, or balada, a dance song with a refrain
 * Pastorela, telling the tale of the love request by a knight to a shepherdess
 * Jeu parti, tenso, partimen or débat, a debate on love between two poets
 * Alba (morning song), lovers are warned by a watchman that morning approaches and that their spouse may discover them.
 * Escondig, a lover's apology
 * Gap, a challenge
 * Planh, a lament
 * Sirventes, a satirical poem devised to a melody
 * Descort, discordant in verse form or feeling

Similar art forms and artists
A complementary role was filled at the same period by performers known as joglares in Occitan, jongleurs in French (minstrels in English). Jongleurs are often addressed in troubadour lyrics. Their profession was that of popular entertainer; as such jongleurs sometimes performed troubadour compositions but more often other genres, notably chansons de geste (epic narratives).

The German Minnesingers are closely related to, and inspired by, troubadours, but have distinctive features of their own.