Jaufre Rudel, Contrarian

The poems of troubadour Jaufre Rudel (fl. 1120-1147) took exception to the earlier songs of Guilhem IX; they burlesqued the commonplace associations of springtime and love and of love with joy; they took issue with monks; they even critiqued themselves. In short, as this article argues, Jaufre - or, at least, the persona invoked by his poems - was a contrarian, disposed to refute, deny, and oppose his elders and his contemporaries. But he did so subtly, ambiguously, often using the very vocabulary of those from whom he dissented.