Troubadour Canso

Bernart de Ventadour (Ventadorn)(c.1125 - 1195) Troubadour, born in Ventadorn. The son of a kitchen scullion, he served Eleanor of Aquitaine (for whom many of his best and most expressive songs were written) at the court of her husband, Henry II of England, and also Raimon of Toulouse, before entering the monastery where he ended his life. Few other troubadours left so many melodies which have survived; there are eighteen, and many of them became well known all over medieval Europe, some being given German texts by Minnesingers such asFriedrich von Husen and Dietmar von Aist. Some of his songs, including the especially famous Quan veil'aloete,show the melodic influence of Gregorian chant.