Goliards, Jongleurs, and Troubadours, Oh My!
By: Troy D.
11/20/13
Music History 1
Goliards, Jongleurs, and Troubadours, Oh My!
The medieval period was a time of death, tyranny, and utter chaos. The Catholic Church controlled everything and religious law rampaged the lands. Plagues and wars took countless lives and slowed the progression of human kind. Luckily not all was lost. Music sprang up from the deeps of medieval darkness and changed the way music was played forever. The church controlled the music of the mass which slowly develop into what we listen to today. All the music in the church was mainly chant that was sang by monks or priest, but what happened to people who did not like singing chant? What about the musicians who were not religious and owned nothing but a flute? What about music outside the church? During the Medieval period, Goliards, Jongleurs, and Troubadours took the role of musicians outside the liturgical mass. To discuss these medieval secular musicians, I will use various sources and notes from my music history class.
Goliards were wandering scholar minstrels devoted to adventure, making ends meet, and the good life. The Goliards lasted for a really long time. They first appeared in France during the ninth century, during the reign of Charlemagne also known as Charles the great (Snell). The Goliard name came from Bishop Golias, who was a fictional character made up by the group. Bishop Golias was a symbol for the corrupt church. He was a renegade priest who had more interest in rioting and gambling (Britannica). The Goliards were made up of students, unemployed clerics, defrocked priests, artists, singers, and minstrels. The scholars that traveled were usually looking for specific knowledge from each university that they encountered, while the other Goliard traveled in search of women, wine, money, and song (Snell). The minstrels and the defrocked priest were kicked out of the church for not sticking to their...