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Minstrel |
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minstrel, professional secular musician of the Middle Ages. The modern application of the term is general and includes the jongleurs jongleurs , itinerant entertainers of the Middle Ages in France and Norman England. Their repertoire included dancing, conjuring, acrobatics, the feats of the modern juggler, singing, and storytelling. Many were skilled in playing musical instruments.
..... Click the link for more information. . Certain very able jongleurs ceased their wanderings and were attached to a court to play or sing the songs of the troubadours troubadours , aristocratic poet-musicians of S France (Provence) who flourished from the end of the 11th cent. through the 13th cent. Many troubadours were noblemen and crusader knights; some were kings, e.g. ..... Click the link for more information. or trouvères trouvères , medieval poet-musicians of central and N France, fl. during the later 12th and the 13th cent. The trouvères imitated the troubadours of the south. ..... Click the link for more information. who employed them. To these and to some itinerant musicians was applied in the 14th cent. the term ménétrier and later ménestrel, from which the word minstrel is derived, to indicate a higher social class than jongleur. Increasing in number and influence, these minstrels were organized and given protection of the law. Their function was at times similar to that of the Welsh bard bard, in Wales, term originally used to refer to the order of minstrel-poets who composed and recited the poems that celebrated the feats of Celtic chieftains and warriors. The term bard in present-day usage has become synonymous with poet, particularly a revered poet. ..... Click the link for more information. . BibliographySee E. Duncan, The Story of Minstrelsy (1907, repr. 1969). minstrelWandering musician of the Middle Ages, often of low status. The term (and equivalents such as Latin ioculator and French jongleur) was applied in medieval times to people ranging from singing beggars to traveling musicians hired by towns for special occasions to court jesters. The modern folksinger is a descendant. See also minstrel show. minstrel 1. History a medieval wandering musician who performed songs or recited poetry with instrumental accompaniment 2. a performer in a minstrel show Minstrel (1) A professional singer and musician in feudal France and England, sometimes a storyteller and reciter, often both a poet and composer. In the late 12th and the 13th century, with the world of poetry and music centering on the feudal court, minstrels were primarily in the service of a seignior, whom they would accompany in military campaigns. Many trouveres and troubadours were among the court minstrels. From the 14th to the 18th century, folk musicians who lived in towns or strolled around fairs and rural areas were also called minstrels. In the cities fraternities of minstrels were set up. Folk minstrels often circulated political news, participated in many popular movements, and were often persecuted by the authorities and the church. In western European romantic literature the name “minstrel” was given to an idealized image of the medieval poet-singer. (2) In the metaphorical, poetic sense, a minstrel is a singer or poet (obsolete). REFERENCEChambers, E. K. The Medieval Stage, vol. 1, book 1. Oxford, 1903.A. I. DROBINSKII Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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