The influence of troubadour poetry
In the Crown of Aragon, poetry created by the troubadours was adapted to new cultural fashions via a process unique to Europe. The EU-funded project THE LAST SONG (The Last Song of the Troubadours: Linguistic Codification and Construction of a Literary Canon in the Crown of Aragon (14th and 15th centuries)) explored the paths of the recodification process to unveil new aspects of the cannon. Specifically, the work involved a simultaneous look at linguistic, literary and historical aspects in order to better grasp movements in Spanish Renaissance poetry and the discourse of the Catalan poet Ausiàs March. This involved three avenues of research. These included the edition and study of chansonnier VeAg and older sources as well as that of two seminal works on the grammar of poetics: Leys d’Amors and Doctrina d’Acort. Research also involved a study of the influence utilised by French and Occitan poetry on late medieval Catalan literature which included the editions of the Roman de Cardenois and of a Diplomatari collecting notices on musicians, jongleurs, musical instruments and manuscripts. Results included the successful completion of the transcription and edition of the Roman de Cardenois and a thorough linguistic study and the collation of all lyrical citations by Guillaume de Machaut. Additionally, archive research was completed to better understand how French poetry and music entered the Catalan court. Over 4,000 documents were transcribed and will be available on the project website. In addition to complementing previous data, the results can be useful for further research. It can also deepen the understanding of how the aesthetic and linguistic code of the troubadours helped form the mindset of courtly society. In so doing, an intellectual and stylistic background in which the literary culture of Europe is deeply rooted was established.