Marcabru

Marcabru (fl.1130-1150) is an exception among troubadours. He is described as having been deposited on the door of a rich family, and this cuckoo's egg history is perhaps an apt metaphor for his place among the troubadours. He also had a reputation for being a difficult person.

Rather than celebrating courtly love, he takes a more Augustine view of love. He in fact uses troubadour phrasing to extoll more traditional Christian and classical values. He is best known for his entertaining songs, which nonetheless sounded like sermons, and his development of the obscure trobar clus style.

Perhaps surprisingly Marcabru experimented with the pastorela, both of which he uses to point out the futility of lust. One tells of how a lord's advances are reviled by a shepherdess on the basis of class. Another tells of how a mans attempt to seduce a woman whose husband was at the crusades is firmly rebuffed.