Jeux Floraux, Académie des

Jeux Floraux, Académie des (äkädāmē` dā jö flôrō`) [Fr.,=academy of floral games], one of the oldest known literary societies. It was founded (c.1323) at Toulouse, France, by seven troubadours to uphold the traditions of courtly lyricism. It promulgated (c.1355) a code of poetry known as the laws of love. With the decay of troubadour tradition, its literary contest (established 1324 and held in modern times in Toulouse on May 3) began to change. In place of langue d'oc, French became, after 1539, the sole language of contributions. The society received its present title from Louis XIV in 1694. The group supported romanticism; 19th-century winners of its traditional golden flower included Chateaubriand and Hugo. In 1895, on the urging of Frédéric Mistral, langue d'oc was readmitted on a par with French in its contests.