A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word troubadour is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz.
Cercamon was one of the earliest troubadours. His true name and other biographical data are unknown. He was apparently a Gascony-born jester of sorts who spent most of his career in the courts of William X of Aquitaine and perhaps of Eble III of Ventadorn. He was the inventor of the planh, of the tenso and perhaps of the sirventes.
Peire Cardenal was a troubadour known for his satirical sirventes and his dislike of the clergy. Ninety-six pieces of his remain, a number rarely matched by other poets of the age.
Guillem or Guilhem Figueira or Figera was a Languedocian jongleur and troubadour from Toulouse active at the court of the Emperor Frederick II in the 1230s. He was a close associate of both Aimery de Pégulhan and Guillem Augier Novella.
Peire d'Alvernhe or d'Alvernha was an Auvergnat troubadour with twenty-one or twenty-four surviving works. He composed in an "esoteric" and "formally complex" style known as the trobar clus. He stands out as the earliest troubadour mentioned by name in Dante's Divine Comedy.
Uc de Saint Circ or Hugues (Hugh) de Saint Circq was a troubadour from Quercy. Uc is perhaps most significant to modern historians as the probable author of several vidas and razos of other troubadours, though only one of Bernart de Ventadorn exists under his name. Forty-four of his songs, including fifteen cansos and only three canso melodies, have survived, along with a didactic manual entitled Ensenhamen d'onor. According to William E. Burgwinkle, as "poet, biographer, literary historian, and mythographer, Uc must be accorded his rightful place as the 'inventor' (trobador) of 'troubadour poetry' and the idealogical trappings with which it came to be associated."
Bernart Sicart de Maruèjols was a Languedocian troubadour from Marvejols in Lozère. His lone surviving work, a sirventes entitled Ab greu cossire, is of historical interest for its commentary on the Albigensian Crusade and the lost culture of Languedoc from a native perspective.
Bertran d'Alamanon, also spelled de Lamanon or d'Alamano, was a Provençal knight and troubadour, and an official, diplomat, and ambassador of the court of the Count of Provence. Twenty-two of his works survive, mainly provocative tensos and sirventes, many dealing with Crusading themes.
Elias Cairel was a troubadour of international fame. Born in Sarlat in the Périgord, he first travelled with the Fourth Crusade and settled down in the Kingdom of Thessalonica at the court of Boniface of Montferrat (1204–1208/10) before moving back to western Europe, where he sojourned at the court of Alfonso IX of León (1210–11) and in Lombardy (1219–1222/24). He wrote fourteen surviving lyrics: ten cansos, one tenso, one descort, one sirventes, and one Crusade song. He was partial to refrain rhyming and coblas capfinidas.
Guilhem Peire Cazals de Caortz or Guilhem Peire de Cazals was a troubadour of the first half of the thirteenth century. He was born or lived in Cahors, Quercy, from which his name "de Caortz". Eleven of his works, including one tenso, survive.
Falquetde Romans was the most famous troubadour attached to the court of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, where he garnered a high reputation despite the fact that his career began as a jongleur. His surviving work consists of fourteen or fifteen pieces: seven sirventes, three tensos, two or three cansos on courtly love, a salut d'amor of 254 lines, and a religious alba. His poetry is, in general, clear and elegant, and he was apparently very religious.
Gui de Cavalhon, Cavaillo, or Gavaillo was a Provençal nobleman: a diplomat, warrior, and man of letters. He was probably also the Guionet who composed tensos and partimens with Cadenet, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, Mainart Ros, Pomairol, and a certain Guillem.
Austorc d'Aorlhac or Aurilhac was an Auvergnat troubadour from whom only one sirvente survives. He was from Aurillac.
Peire Lunel de Montech, also known as Cavalier Lunel or Peire de Lunel, was a lawyer, politician and author of Toulouse. His name indicates he was a knight from Montech.
Bertran de Gourdon or Bertram de Gordon was the lord of Gourdon, a knight and troubadour.
Bertran Folcon d'Avignon or Bertran Folco d'Avinhon was a Provençal nobleman and troubadour from Avignon. He was a faithful partisan of Raymond VI and Raymond VII of Toulouse in Provence, and participated in the wars against the Albigensian Crusade. He was inside the city during the siege of Beaucaire in 1216. In 1226 Raymond VII appointed him bailiff of Avignon.
Isnart or Iznart d'Entrevenas or d'Antravenas was a Provençal troubadour, the son of Raimon d'Agout, a patron of troubadours, and husband of Beatrice, daughter of Jaufre Reforzat de Trets.
The Consistori del Gay Saber was a poetic academy founded at Toulouse in 1323 to revive and perpetuate the lyric poetry of the troubadours.
Arnaut Plagues or Plages was a troubadour probably from Provence.
Duran Sartor de Paernas or Duran Sartre de Carpentras was a Provençal troubadour from Pernes near Carpentras. The nickname sartor means "tailor". Two sirventes have been attributed to him, both reflect opposition to the royal crusade in Occitania: "Vil sirventes leugier e venassal" was written towards 1210, certainly before 1220, and "En talent ai qu'un sirventes encoc," which was written in 1242, during the Saintonge War. Although Duran criticises the crusade against alleged heretics, he encourages further efforts at crusading against Muslims.