Fabliau is a form of early French literature consisting of short versified tales of the Trouveres, or early poets of the Langue d'Oil, comic in spirit and intended primarily for recitation. They were mainly written between the 12th and 14th centuries in northern France, and caricature every subject, but particularly women, having as their principal subjects the current gossip and news of the day, which were treated in a witty and sarcastic way. The fabliaux lashed not only the clergy and nobility in their degeneracy, but even mocked the religious chivalrous spirit, and the religious and knightly doctrines and ceremonies. Research Fabliau
Troubadour is a name given to a class of mediaeval poets, chiefly from the Languedon and Provence regions. They flourished from about 1090 until about 1290, and composed lyrical poetry in the langue d'oc, thereby being distinct from the trouveres who used the langue d'oil. Research Troubadour
The Trouveres were the court poets of north and central France in the Middle Ages. Their invariable theme was the trials undergone by a lover at the hands of his lady, who is already married to another. Research Trouveres
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Abbreviations
Research Fabliau
