702 troubadours
Further reading:Monica H. Green, ed. and trans.,
The Trota: A Medieval Compendium of Women’s Medicine
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001);
John F. Benton, “Trota, Women’s Problems, and the Pro-
fessionalization of Medicine in the Middle Ages,” Bulletin
of the History of Medicine59 (1985); 30–53; Joan Cadden,
Meanings of Sexual Difference in the Middle Ages: Medicine,
Science, and Culture(Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1993).
troubadours (trouvères, trobairitz) From the begin-
ning of the 12th century among aristocratic circles of
southern France, a distinctive style of lyric poetry and
songs in the Provençal or Occitan language was com-
posed (or “invented”) by the troubadours, a class of
courtly poets. They were, mostly men but some women
(the trobairitz), with an ideal of life based on courtesy,
which to them meant “generosity, distinction of manners,
and COURTLY LOVE.” Some of their work was bawdy. They
also wrote devotional poems about the Virgin MARY. The
songs and poems of the troubadours were usually based
on the veneration or ritual glorification of a particular
woman. Among the first of these troubadours were
William IX, duke of AQUITAINE(r. 1086–1127); JAUFRÉ
RUDEL,a KNIGHTBERTRAN DEBORN, a knight and later a
monk; and even a few clerics. The troubadours composed
both the words and the melody for love poetry and
poems on political, literary, and religious questions, all
following strict poetic rules. By 1150 CHRÉTIEN DE
TROYES,RICHARDI LIONHEART, the counts of Champagne,
and a king of Navarre, among others, were attempting to
compose in this genre.
The troubadours of northern France, now sometimes
called minstrels, more reserved in their expressions of
love, added satirical and narrative elements and anecdotal
and personal material. By the 13th century, such poets
were concentrated in the rich towns of the north and
often tied to CONFRATERNITIES who even held regular
competitions. Some 2,500 songs survive with 250
melodies from this genre.
Further reading: F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M.
Davis, eds., A Handbook of the Troubadours(Berkeley: Uni-
versity of California Press, 1995); Elizabeth Aubrey, The
Music of the Troubadours(Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1996); Magda Bogin, The Women Troubadours(New
York: Paddington Press, 1976); William E. Burgwinkle,
Love for Sale: Materialist Readings of the Troubadour Razo
Corpus(New York: Garland, 1997); Fredric L. Cheyette,
Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Toubadours
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2001); Simon
Gaunt and Sarah Kay, eds., The Troubadours: An Introduc-
tion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999);
Linda M. Paterson, The World of the Troubadours: Medieval
Occitan Society, c. 1100–c. 1300(Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1993); Leslie Topsfield, “Troubadours
and Trouvères,” in European Writers: The Middle Ages and
the Renaissance.Vol. 1, Prudentius to Medieval Drama,ed.
William T. H. Jackson and George Stade (New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983), 161–185.Truce of God SeePEACE ANDTRUCE OFGOD.Tudor, house of The Tudors were the dynasty who
took the English throne in 1485 and held it into the 17th
century. After 1471, the last surviving member of the
Lancastrian lineage was Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509).
She first married Edmund Tudor (ca. 1430–56), the earl
of Richmond, who was the son of Catherine de Valois
(1401–37), the widow of HENRYV, when Henry died, she
subsequently secretly married a Welsh soldier charged to
guard her, Owen Tudor (d. 1461), in about 1432. Owen
was Edmund’s father. The Tudor family had been Welsh
soldiers, often working for the English Crown. This mar-
riage was kept secret essentially up to Margaret’s death in
1437, when Owen was imprisoned for a short period. In
1439 he received a pension from his half brother, King
Henry VI (r. 1422–61, 1470–71), and died fighting for
him in 1461. Owen’s two sons, Edmund and Jasper (ca.
1431–95), were knighted by Henry, who also granted
them titles. Edmund married Margaret Beaufort in 1455,
died of an illness the following year, but left a son, Henry,
who was born in 1457 and with his mother fled to BRIT-
TANYafter the failure of the Lancastrian restoration of- There he waited for an opportunity to return to
ENGLANDand even claim the throne. Henry fulfilled that
opportunity when he defeated RICHARDIII (YORK) at the
Battle of BOSWORTHFIELD on August 22, 1485. Henry,
now Henry VII (r. 1457–1509), took the Crown and mar-
ried Elizabeth of York (1465–1503), the daughter of
EDWARDIV, giving his descendants ties to both the house
of Lancaster and the house of York, the contending fami-
lies in the WARS OF THEROSES. The Tudors occupied the
throne of England until 1603.
See alsoEDWARDIV, KING OFENGLAND; WALES.
Further reading:Michael Van Cleave Alexander, The
First of the Tudors: A Study of Henry VII and His Reign
(London: Croom Helm, 1980); Alexander Grant, Henry
VII: The Importance of His Reign in English History(Lon-
don: Methuen, 1985); S. J. Gunn and P. G. Lindley, eds.,
Cardinal Wolsey: Church, State, and Art(Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1991); Roger Lockyer, Henry VII,
2d. ed. (London: Longman, 1983); Alison Plowden, The
House of Tudor (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
1976).
Tughrul Beg (Tughril, Toghril) (r. 1037–1063) founder
of the Seljuk Empire, sultan
Tughrul first appeared in history when he imposed his
authority on several Turkish tribes who had been auxiliary