There is no doubt they betook themselves to poetry not merely | preferred to go to regions where they had less to fear in the for their own pleasure, but for the sake of the gifts to be obtained way of competition. from the nobles whose courts they frequented. A very different position was occupied by such important persons as William of Poitiers, Raimbaut of Orange, the viscount of Saint Antonin, William of Berga and Blacatz, who made poetry for their own amusement, but contributed not a little, by thus becoming troubadours, to raise the profession.

society in the 13th century. We know that novels were in great favour in the south of France, although the specimens preserved are not very numerous. Statements made by Francesco da Barberino (early part of 14th century), and recently brought to light, give us a glimpse of several works of this class which have been lost. From the south of France the novel spread into Catalonia, where we find in the 14th century a number of novels in verse very similar to the Provençal ones, and into Italy, where in general the prose form has been adopted.

Didactic and Religious Poetry-Compositions intended for

south of France as well as elsewhere, and, in spite of the enormous losses sustained by Provençal literature, much of this kind still remains. But it is seldom that such works have much originality or literary value. Originality was naturally absent, as the aim of the writers was mainly to bring the teachings contained in Latin works within the reach of lay hearers or readers. Literary value was not of course excluded by the lack of originality, but by an unfortunate chance the greater part of those who sought to instruct or edify, and attempted to substitute moral works for secular productions in favour with the people, were, with a few exceptions, persons of limited ability. It would be out of question to enumerate here all the didactic treatises, all the lives of saints, all the treatises of popular theology and morals, all the books of devotion, all the pious canticles, composed in Provençal verse during the middle ages; still some of these poems may be singled out. Daude de Prades (early 13th century), a canon of Maguelone, and at the same time a troubadour, has left a poem, the Auzels cassadors, which is one of the best sources for the study of falconry. Raimon d'Avignon, otherwise unknown, translated in verses, about the year 1200, Rogier of Parme's "Surgery" (Romania, x. 63 and 496). We may mention also a poem on astrology by a certain G. (Guilhem?), and another, anonymous, on geomancy, both written about the end of the 13th century (Romania, xxvi. 825). As to moral compositions, we have to recall the Boethius poem (unfortunately a mere fragment) already mentioned as one of the oldest documents of the language, and really a remarkable work; and to notice an early (12th century?) metrical translation of the famous Disticha de moribus of Dionysius Cato (Romania, xxv. 98, and xxix. 445). More original are some compositions of an educational character known under the name of ensenhamens, and, in some respects, comparable to the English nurture-books. The most interesting are those of Garin le Brun (12th century), Arnaut de Mareuil, Arnaut Guilhem de Marsan, Amanieu de Sescas. Their general object is the education of ladies of rank. Of metrical lives of saints we possess about a dozen (see Histoire littéraire de la France, vol. xxxii.), among which two or three deserve a particular attention: the Life of Sancta Fides, recently discovered and printed Romania, xxxi.), written early in the 12th century; the Life of St Enimia (13th century), by Bertran of Marseilles, and that of St Honorat of Lerins by Raimon Feraud (about 1300), which is distinguished by variety and elegance of versification, but it is almost entirely a translation from Latin. Lives of saints (St Andrew, St Thomas the Apostle, St John the Evangelist) form a part of a poem, strictly didactic, which stands out by reason of its great extent (nearly thirty-five thousand verses) and the somewhat original conception of its scheme the Breviari d'amor, a vast encyclopaedia, on a theological basis, composed by the Minorite friar Matfre Ermengaut of Béziers between 1288 and 1300 or thereabout.

vassal the Burgundian Gerard of Roussillon. It is a literary pro- | duction of rare excellence and of exceptional interest for the history of civilization in the 11th and 12th centuries. Girart de Roussillon belongs only within certain limits to the literature of southern France. The recension which we possess appears to have been made on the borders of Limousin and Poitou; but it is clearly no more than a recast of an older poem no longer extant, probably either of French or at least Burgundian origin. To Limousin also seems to belong the poem of Aigar and Maurin (end of the 12th century), of which we have unfortunately only a fragment so short that the subject cannot be clearly made out. Of less heroic charac-instruction, correction and edification were very numerous in the ter is the poem of Daurel and Beton (first half of the 13th century), connected with the cycle of Charlemagne, but by the romantic character of the events more like a regular romance of adventure. We cannot, however, form a complete judgment in regard to it, as the only MS. in which it has been preserved is defective at the close, and that to an amount there is no means of ascertaining, Midway between legend and history may be classified the Provençal Chanson of Antioch, a mere fragment of which, 700 verses in extent, has been recovered in Madrid and published in Archives de l'Orient latin, vol. ii. This poem, which seems to have been composed by a certain Gregoire Bechada, mentioned in a 12thcentury chronicle and written in Limousin (see G. Paris, in Romania, xxii. 358), is one of the sources of the Spanish compilation La gran conquista de Ultramar. To history proper belongs the Chanson of the crusade against the Albigensians, which, in its present state, is composed of two poems one tacked to the other: the first, containing the events from the beginning of the crusade till 1213, is the work of a cleric named William of Tudela, a moderate supporter of the crusaders; the second, from 1213 to 1218, is by a vehement opponent of the enterprise. The language and style of the two parts are no less different than the opinions. Finally, about 1280, Guillaume Anelier, a native of Toulouse, composed, in the chanson de geste form, a poem on the war carried on in Navarre by the French in 1276 and 1277. It is an historical work of little literary merit. All these poems are in the form of chansons de geste, viz. in stanzas of indefinite length, with a single rhyme. Gerard of Roussillon, Aigar and Maurin and Daurel and Beton are in verses of ten, the others in verses of twelve syllables. The peculiarity of the versification in Gerard is that the pause in the line occurs after the sixth syllable, and not, as is usual, after the fourth. Like the chanson de geste, the romance of adventure is but slightly represented in the south; but it is to be borne in mind that many works of this class must have perished, as is rendered evident by the mere fact that, with few exceptions, the narrative poems which have come down to us are each known by a single manuscript only. We possess but three Provençal romances of adventure: Jaufré (composed in the middle of the 13th century and dedicated to a king of Aragon, possibly James I.), Blandin of Cornwall and Guillem de la Barra. The first two are connected with the Arthurian cycle: Jaufré is an elegant and ingenious work; Blandin of Cornwall the dullest and most insipid one can well imagine. The romance of Guillem de la Barra tells a strange story also found in Boccaccio's Decameron (2nd Day, viii.). It is rather a poor poem; but as a contribution to literary history it has the advantage of being dated. It was finished in 1318, and is dedicated to a noble of Languedoc called Sicart de Montaut. Connected with the romance of adventure is the novel (in Provençal novas, always in the plural), which is originally an account of an event "newly" happened. The novel must have been at first in the south what, as we see by the Decameron, it was in Italy, a society pastime the wits in turn relating anecdotes, true or imaginary, which they think likely to amuse their auditors. But before long this kind of production was treated in verse, the form adopted being that of the romances of adventure-octosyllabic verses rhyming in pairs. Some of those novels which have come down to us may be ranked with the most graceful works in Provençal literature; two are from the pen of the Catalan author Raimon Vidal de Besalú. One, the Castia-gilos (the Chastisement of the Jealous Man), is a treatment, not easily matched for elegance, of a frequently-handled theme-the story of the husband who, in order to entrap his wife, takes the disguise of the lover whom she is expecting and receives with satisfaction blows intended, as he thinks, for him whose part he is playing; the other, The Judgment of Love, is the recital of a question of the law of love, departing considerably from the subjects usually treated in the novels. Mention may also be made of the novel of The Parrot by Arnaut de Carcassonne, in which the principal character is a parrot of great eloquence and ability, who succeeds marvellously in securing the success of the amorous enterprises of his master. Novels came to be extended to the proportions of a long romance. Flamenca, which belongs to the novel type, has still over eight thousand verses, though the only MS. of it has lost some leaves both at the beginning and at the end. This poem, composed in all probability in 1234, is the story of a lady who by very ingenious devices, not unlike those employed in the Miles gloriosus of Plautus, succeeds in eluding the vigilance of her jealous husband. No analysis can be given here of a work the action of which is highly complicated; suffice it to remark that there is no book in medieval literature which betokens so much quickness of intellect and is so instructive in regard to the manners and usages of polite

Drama.-The dramatic literature of southern France belongs entirely to the religious class, and shows little originality. It consists of mysteries and miracle plays seldom exceeding two or three thousand lines, which never developed into the enormous dramas of northern France, whose acting required several consecutive days. Comic plays, so plentiful in medieval French literature (farces, sollies), do not seem to have found favour in the south. Specimens which we possess of Provençal drama are comparatively few; but researches in local archives, especially in old account books, have brought to light a considerable number of entries concerning the acting, at public expense, of religious plays, called, in Latin documents, ludus, historia, moralitas, most of which seem to be irretrievably lost. As all the Provençal plays, sometimes mere fragments, which have escaped destruction, are preserved in about a dozen manuscripts, unearthed within the last forty or fifty years, there is hope that new texts of that sort may some day be published. Generally those plays belong to the 15th century or to the 16th Still, a few are more ancient and may be ascribed to the 14th century or even to the end of the 13th. The oldest appears to be the Mystery of St Agnes (edited by Bartsch, 1869), written in Arles. Somewhat more recent, but not later than the beginning of the 14th century, is a Passion of Christ (not yet printed) and a mystery of the Marriage of the Virgin, which is partly adapted from a French poem of the 13th century, (see Romania xvi. 71). A manuscript, discovered in private archives (printed by Jeanroy and Teulié, 1893), contains not less than sixteen short mysteries, three founded on the Old Testament, thirteen on the New They were written in Rouergue and are partly imitated from French mysteries. At Manosque (Basses Alpes) was found a fragment of a Ludus sancti Jacobi, inserted in a register of notarial deeds (printed by C. Arnaud.

of some kind. In 1513 French poems were first admitted in the competitions, and under Louis XIV. (from 1679) these were alone held eligible. This unfair arrangement, by which some of the leading poets of northern France profited, held good till 1893, when the town very properly transferred its patronage to a new Escolo moundino, but very soon restored its support to the older institution, on learning that Provençal poetry was again to be encouraged.] In the two centuries that followed the glorious medieval period we have a succession of works, chiefly of a didactic and edifying character, which scarcely belong to the realm of literature proper, but at least served to keep alive some kind of literary tradition. This dreary interval was relieved by a number of religious mystery plays, which, though dull to us, probably gave keen enjoy-has been deep and lasting. The fame of Jean Michel, of Nimes, ment to the people, and represent a more popular genre; the latest that have come down to us may be placed between the years 1450-1515. Not only did the literature deteriorate during this period, but dialects took the place of the uniform literary language employed by the troubadours, while the spoken tongue yielded more and more to French. In 1539 François I. forbade the use of Provençal in official documentsa fact that is worthy of note only as being significant in itself, not as an important factor in the decadence of Provençal letters.

On the contrary, just about this time there are signs of a revival. In 1565 the Gascon, Pey de Garros, translated the Psalms into his dialect, and two years later published a volume of poems. His love for his native tongue is genuine, and his command over it considerable; he deplores its neglect, and urges others to follow his example. Auger Gaillard (c. 1530-1595) does infinitely less credit to his province: the popularity of his light pieces was probably due to their obscenity. More in the spirit of Garros is the charming trilingual Salut composed by the famous du Bartas in honour of a visit of Marguerite de Valois to Nérac (1579): three nymphs dispute as to whether she should be welcomed in Latin, French, or Gascon, and the last, of course, wins the day. Provence proper gave birth to a poet of consider-| able importance in Louis Bellaud de la Bellaudière (1532-1588), of Grasse, who, after studying at Aix, enlisted in the royal armies, and was made a prisoner at Moulins in 1572. During his captivity he wrote poems inspired by real love of liberty and of his native country (Don-Don internal, 1584 or 1585). At Aix Bellaud subsequently became the centre of a literary circle which included most of the local celebrities; all of these paid their tribute to the poet's memory in the edition of his works published by his uncle, Pierre Paul, himself the author of pieces of small value, included in the same volume (Lous Passatens, obros et rimos, &c., Marseilles, 1595). Even when Bellaud is wholly frivolous, and intent on worldly pleasures only, his work has interest as reflecting the merry, careless life of the time.

A writer very popular in Provence for the light-hearted productions of his youth was Claude Brucys (1570-1650), remarkable chiefly for comedies that deal largely with duped husbands (Jardin deys musos provensalos, not published till 1628). There is a certain charm, too, in the comedies of Claude's disciple, Gaspard Zerbin (La Perlo deys musos et coumedies prouvensalos, 1655); and those critics who have read the plays of Jean de Cabanes (1653-1712) and of Seguin (of Tarascon, c. 1640), still in MS., speak highly of them. The most consistently popular form of poetry in the south of France was always the noël. There has been no limit to the production of these; but very rarely does the author deserve special mention. An exception must be made in the case of Nicholas Saboly (16141675), who produced the best pieces of this class, both as regards beauty of language and the devotion they breathe. They have deservedly maintained their popularity to the present day. In Languedoc four poets have been cited as the best of the ageGoudelin, Michel, Sage and Bonnet. This is certainly so in the case of Pierre Goudelin (province Goudouli, 1579-1649), of Toulouse, the most distinguished name in south French literature Moundino, ie. of Toulouse: a common designation, derived from Raymond, the familiar name of the counts of Toulouse.

between the period of the troubadours and that of Jasmin. He had a good classical education, traces of which appear in all his poetry, his language and his manner being always admirable, even where his matter is lacking in depth. He is often called "the Malherbe of the South," but resembles that writer only in form: his poetry, taken as a whole, has far more sap. Goudelin essayed and was successful in almost every short genre (Lou Ramelet Moundi, 1617, republished with additions till 1678), the piece of his which is most generally admired being the stanzas to Henri IV., though others will prefer him in his gayer moods. He enjoyed enormous popularity (extending to Spain and Italy), but never prostituted his art to cheap effects. His influence, especially but not exclusively in Provence, rests on the Embarras de la foire de Beaucaire, a poem of astonishing vigour, but deficient in taste. Daniel Sage, of Montpellier (Las Foulics, 1650), was a man of loose morals, which are reflected in nearly all his works: his moments of genuine inspiration from other causes are rare. More worthy of being bracketed with Goudelin is the avocat Bonnet, author of the best among the open air plays that were annually performed at Béziers on Ascension Day: a number of these (dated 1616-1657) were subsequently collected, but none can compare with the opening one, Bonnet's Jugement de Pâris. Another very charming poet is Nicolas Fizes, of Frontignan, whose vaudeville, the Opéra de Frontignan (1670), dealing with a slight love intrigue, and an idyllic poem on the fountain of Frontignan, show a real poetic gift. A number of Toulouse pocts, mostly lauréats of the Academy, may be termed followers of Goudelin: of these François Boudet deserves mention, who composed an ode, Le Trinfe del Moundi (1678), in honour of his native dialect. The classical revival that may be noted about this time is also generally ascribed to Goudelin's influence. Its most distinguished representative was Jean de Valès, of Montech, who made excellent translations from Virgil and Persius, and wrote a brilliant burlesque of the former in the manner of Scarron (Virgile deguisat, 1648; only four books published). He also composed a pastoral idyll, which, though too long and inclined to obscenity, contains much tender description. The greatest of the pastoral poets was François de Cortete (1571-1655), of Prades, whose comedies, Ramounel and Miramoundo (published, unfortunately with alterations, by his son in 1684), are written with such true feeling and in so pure a style that they can be read with real pleasure. A comedy of his dealing with Sancho Panza in the palace of the Duke has been edited. It is difficult to understand the enormous popularity of Daubasse (16641727), of Quercy, who belonged to the working classes; he was patronized by the nobility in exchange for panegyrics. Gascony produced two typical works in the 17th century; Ader's Gentilhomme gascoun (1610) and Dastros's Trinfe de la langue gascoune (1642). The former depicts a regular boasting Gascon who distinguishes himself in everything; while the latter is a plea in favour of the Gascon tongue, inspired by a genuine love of country. Gabriel Bedout (Parterre gascoun, 1642) is chiefly noted for his amorous solitari, called forth by the sufferings he endured from a hardhearted mistress. Louis Baron (b. 1612), living peacefully in his native village of Pouyloubrin, celebrated it with great tenderness,

In the 18th century the number of authors is much larger, but the bulk of good work produced is not equally great in proportion. The priests are mainly responsible for the literary output of Languedoc. Claude Peyrot (1709-1795) one of them, celebrates his county with true rural spirit in the Printemps rouergat and Quartre sosous. But the chief of the band is the Abbé Favre (1727-1783), the prior of Celleneuve, whose Sermoun de moussu sistre, delivered by a drunken priest against intemperance, is a masterpiece. He also wrote a successful mock-heroic poem (Siège de Caderousse) travesties of Homer and Virgil, a prose novel depicting the country manners of the time (Histoire de Jean l'ont pris), and two comedies, which likewise give a vivid picture of the village life he knew so well. Two genuine poets are the brothers Rigaud of Montpellier: Auguste's (1760-1835)

description of a vintage is deservedly famous; and Cyrille (1750- | and determined thenceforth to write in his native dialect only,

1824) produced an equally delightful poem in the Amours de Mounpeié. Pierre Hellies of Toulouse (d. 1724) a poet of the people, whose vicious life finds an echo in his works, has a certain rude charm, at times distantly recalling Villon. In the Province Toussaint Gros (1698-1748), of Lyons, holds undisputed sway. His style and language are admirable, but unfortunately he wasted his gifts largely on trivial pièces d'occasion. Coye's (1711-1777) comedy, the Fiancé paré, is bright and still popular, while Germain's description of a visit paid by the ancient gods to Marseilles (La Bourrido dei Dious, 1760) has considerable humour. In Gascony the greatest poet is Cyrien Despourrins (1698-1755), whose pastoral idylls and mournful chansons, which he himself set to music, are imbued with tenderness and charm (most of them were collected at Pau, in 1828). The Revolution produced a large body of literature, but nothing of lasting interest. However, it gave an impetus to thought in the south of France, as elsewhere; and there, as elsewhere, it called forth a spirit of independence that was all in favour of a literary revival. Scholars of the stamp of Ray-siastic circle that had gathered round J. B. Gaut at Aix, and nouard (1761-1863), of Aix, occupied themselves with the brilliant literary traditions of the middle ages; newspapers sprang up (the Provençal Bouil-Abaisso, started by Désanat, and the bilingual Lou Tambourin et le menestrel, edited by Bellot, both in 1841); poets banded together and collected their pieces in volume form (thus, the nine troubaire who published Lou Bouquet prouvençaou in 1823). Much has been written about the précurseurs de Félibrige, and critics are sorely at variance as to the writers that most deserve this appellation. We shall not go far wrong if we include in the list Hyacinthe Morel (1756-1829), of Avignon, whose collection of poems, Lou Saboulet, has been republished by Mistral, Louis Aubanel (17581842), of Nimes, the successful translator of Anacreon's Odes; Auguste Tandon, "the troubadour of Montpellier," who wrote Fables, contes et autres pièces en vers (1800); Fabre d'Olivet (1767-1825), the versatile littéralcur who in 1803 published Le Troubadour: Poésies occitaniques, which, in order to secure their success, he gave out as the work of some medieval poet Diouloufet (1771-1840), who wrote a didactic poem, in the manner of Virgil, relating to silkworm-breeding (Leis magnans); Jacques Azais (1778-1856), author of satires, fables, &c.; D'Astros (17801863), a writer of fables in Lafontaine's manner; Castil-Blaze (1784-1857), who found time, amidst his musical pursuits, to compose Provençal poems, intended to be set to music; the Marquis de Fare-Alais (1791-1846), author of some light satirical tales (Las Castagnados). While these writers were all more or less academic, and appealed to the cultured few, four poets of the people addressed a far wider public: Verdié (1779–1870), of Bordeaux, who wrote comic and satirical pieces; Jean Reboul (1796-1864), the baker of Nimes, who never surpassed his first effort, L'Ange et l'enfant (1828); Victor Gelu (1806-1885), relentless and brutal, but undeniably powerful of his kind (Fenian et Grouman; dix chansons provençales, 1840); and, greatest of them all, the true and acknowledged forerunner of the félibres, Jacques Jasmin (1798-1864), the hairdresser of Agen, whose poems, both lyrical and narrative, continue to find favour with men of the highest culture and literary attainments, as with the villagers for whom they were primarily intended.

These poems revealed a new world to young Mistral, and spurred him on to the resolve that became the one purpose of his lifede remettre en lumière et conscience de sa gloire cette noble race qu'en plein '89 Mirabeau nomme encore la nation provençale. There is no doubt that Mistral's is the more puissant personality and that his finest work towers above that of his fellows; bu | in studying the Provençal renaissance, Roumanille's grea. claims should not be overlooked, and they have never been put forward with more force than by Mistral himself (in the preface to his Isclos d'oro). Roumanille's secular verse cannot fail to appeal to every lover of pure and sincere poetry (Li Margaritedo, 1836-1847; Li Sounjarello, 1852; Li Flour de Sauvi, 18501859, &c.), his noëls are second only to those of Saboly, hi prose works (such as Lou mege de Cucugnan, 1863) sparkling with delightful humour. He it was who in 1852 collected anc published Li Prouvençalo, an anthology in which all the names yet to become famous, and most of those famous already (such as Jasmin), are represented. In 1853 he was one of the enthu

While much of this literature was still in the making, an event took place which was destined to eclipse in importance any that had gone before. In 1845 Joseph Roumanille (1818-1891), a gardener's son, of Saint-Remy (Bouches-du-Rhône), became usher in a small school at Avignon, which was attended by Frédéric Mistral (q.v.), a native of the same district, then fifteen years of age. The former, feeling the germs of poetry within him, had composed some pieces in French; but, finding that his old mother could not understand them, he was greatly distressed,

One of his chief titles to fame is that, together with Alphonse Dumas, he drew the attention of Lamartine to Mistral's Mirèio. Roumanille and Mistral showed their gratitude by republishing the best pieces of these two précurseurs, together with those of Castil-Blaze and others, in Un Liame de Rasin (1865).

At

whose literary output is contained in the Roumavagi dei Trou-
baire and in the shortlived journal Lou gay saber (1854). At the
same time the first attempt at regulating the orthography of
Provençal was made by him (in the introduction to his play,
La Part dou bon Dieu, 1853). And in 1854 he was one of the
seven poets who, on the 21st of May, foregathered at the castle of
Fontségugne, near Avignon, and founded the Félibrige. [The
etymology of this word has given rise to much speculation:
the one thing certain about the word is that Mistral came across
it in an old Provençal poem, which tells how the Virgin meets
Jesus in the Temple, among the seven félibres of the law. The
outlines of the constitution, as finally settled in 1876, are as
follows: The region of the Félibrige is divided into four manten-
enço (Provence, Languedoc, Aquitaine and Catalonia 2).
the head of all is a consistori of fifty (called majourau), presided
over by the Capouliè, who is chief of the entire Félibrige. The
head of each mantenenço is called sendi (who is at the same time
a majourau); and at the head of each "school" (as the sub-
divisions of the mantenenço are called) is a cabiscòu. The
ordinary members, unlimited in number, are mantenèire. Annual
meetings and files are organized. The most widely read of the
Félibrige publications is the Armana prouvençau, which has
appeared annually since 1855, maintaining all the while its
original scope and purpose; and though unpretentious in form,
it contains much of the best work of the school.3] The other
six were Mistral, Aubanel, A.Mathieu (a schoolfellow of Mistral's
at Avignon), E. Garcin, A. Tavan and P. Giera (owner of the
castle). Of these, Théodore Aubanel (1829-1886, of Avignon,
son of a printer and following the same calling) has alone proved
himself worthy to rank with Mistral and Roumanille.
"Zani,"
the girl of his youthful and passionate love, took the veil; and
this event cast a shadow over his whole life, and determined the
character of all his poetry (Lou mióugrano entre-duberto, 1860;
Li Fiho d'Avignoun, 1883). His is, without a doubt, the deepest
nature and temperament among the félibres, and his lyrics are
the most poignant. He has a keen sense of physical beauty in
woman, and his verse is replete with suppressed passion, but
he never sinks to sensuality. His powerful love drama Lou pau
dou peccat was received with enthusiasm at Montpellier in 1878,
and successfully produced (some years later in Arène's version)
by Antoine at his Théâtre Libre-no mean criterion. It is
the only plav of real consequence that the school has yet
produced.

We need not do more than glance at the work of the fourth of the group of poets who alone, amidst the numerous writers of lyrics and other works that attain a high level of excellence.

One of the most pleasing features of the movement is the spirit of fraternity maintained by the félibres with the poets and literary men of northern France, Spain, Italy, Rumania, Germany and other countries.

In common with so many other productions of the Félibrige. this Almanac is published by the firm J. Roumanille, LibraireEditour, Avignon.