Essay/Term paper: Minstrels

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Music

Minstrels


Minstrels, or traveling thespians, thrived throughout Europe in medieval
times. The term minstrel referred to a professional entertainer of any kind
from the 12th century to the 17th century. Minstrels were instrumentalist, but
were also often jugglers, acrobats, and storytellers. Although minstrels no
longer exist, they played an important role in medieval history and, at one time,
could be found, in one form or another, throughout the entire continent of
Europe.
Different countries had different names for minstrels. In Germany, they
were called minnesingers. In France, they were known as troubadours and
joungleurs. The Scandinavian minstrels were called skalds. The Irish called
their minstrels bards, while the English minstrels were referred to as scops.
Minstrels were primarily singers and musicians. These wandering
performers were also story tellers, jugglers, clowns, and tumblers. Often
minstrels were an important part of prominent house holds providing
entertainment for the upper class of society. Those minstrels who were not part
of a noble's homestead, traveled from town to town providing entertainment not
only to noble classes but also to common village folk as well.
There were not many forms of entertainment, nor was there a means for
people to learn about news events. There was no television or radio in medieval
times. Even books were very scarce. Minstrels served to entertain the public.
They made up songs, stories, and repeated ballads and folk tales popular during
this time. Traveling from town to town minstrels were also a source of news.
This would share information with the townspeople of the village. The
townspeople would share this news with the minstrels who would then share this
news with the townspeople in the next village in which they performed.
Each country in medieval Europe had their own type of minstrel. Each,
while similar in their general role of entertainer, they were different in many
ways. Troubadour's, French minstrels, flourished in from the 11th century
through the 13th century. Troubadours were found in the southern part of France.
The troubadours were among the first minstrels to use their native tongue
rather than Latin. The Latin language was considered the literary language of
the middle ages. There were approximately 400 troubadours who were known to
have lived. The majority of them were nobles and some were even kings
(Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia.)
Originally troubadours sang their poems, later they were accompanied by
jongleurs who played musical instruments. The musical instruments the jongleurs
played were the fiddle and the lute. The subject of their songs were based on
topics such as love ,politics, religion, war, and death. Approximately 400
melodies and 4000 poems have been preserved from medieval troubadours (Microsoft
Encarta 96 Encyclopedia.)
The German version of the Troubadour was the meistersinger. The meaning
of meistersinger is master singer. The meistersingers were a group of poet
musicians and were given the status of tradesmen. The first German minstrels
were called minnesingers. These were primarily wandering poet-musicians. The
word minnesinger means love singer.
The meistersingers began in the late middle ages, attempting to revive
the older minstrel art of the minnesingers. From 1200 to 1400 the
meistersingers began to develop rules for the composition of songs and even had
schools to teach the art of being a meistersinger. Like music schools today,
meistersingers had to study and pass exams before being considered a
meistersinger.
The Celtic lands of Ireland, Scotland , and Wales also had their
minstrels called bards. Bards were professional poets who sang about heroic
accomplishments and national pride. They accompanied themselves with harps.
Their chief form of expression was poetic alliteration or rhyme. By the 1700's
the bards were no longer popular. A famous playwright, William Shakespeare, is
often called the Bard of Avon (World Book Encyclopedia pp. 109.) Today bards
are often seen and heard at folk festivals.
The decline of minstrels was due to that of modernization. The printing
press created news papers, books, and other media, so the need for minstrels
simply depleted. Now folktales could be written down, books and songs published,
etc. There was just no more need for minstrels.
Minstrels were the beatniks of medieval Europe. They were a huge part
of European culture, until modernization brought on their demise. Poetry was,
and continues to be a huge part of every societies culture, so it would not be
100 percent accurate to say they were completely wiped out. Although minstrels
no longer exist, they played an important role in medieval history and, at one
time, could be found, in one form or another, throughout the entire continent of
Europe.