The Troubadour Revival: A Study of Social Change and Traditionalism in Late Medieval Spain (Routledge Revivals)

First published in 1978, this book argues that the troubadour revival in late medieval Spain was a conservative reaction to social crisis by those who belonged, or were affiliated, to a powerful, expanding and belligerent aristocracy.The crisis was produced by a discrepancy between social theory and social reality which could never be resolved, because the theory was based on the belief in a divinely pre-ordained system of social stratification in which change was inconceivable. The study falls into four parts. The first part analyses the aristocratic theory of medieval society with special reference to Spain.The second part places the troubadour revival in its historical perspective.The third part brings together some relevant documents and the fourth part consists of various appendices.The author applies the insights of history, sociology and economics to problems of literature and demonstrates the importance of the period to late medieval culture both Spanish and European.Although t