vapid sentimentalities.

This was Beatrice, Countess of Die and the wife of Count William of
Poitiers. The names, at least, of seventeen poetesses are known to us
and of these the Countess of Die is the most famous. Like the rest of
her sex who essayed the troubadour's art, the Countess knows nothing of
difficult rhymes or obscurity of style. Simplicity and sincerity are the
keynotes of her poetry. The troubadour sang because he was a
professional poet, but the lady who composed poetry did so from love of
the art or from the inspiration of feeling and therefore felt no need of
meretricious adornment for her song. The five poems of the Countess
which remain to us show that her sentiment for Raimbaut was real and
deep. "I am glad to know that the man I love is the worthiest in the
world; may God give great joy to the one who first brought me to him: [66]
may he trust only in me, whatever slanders be reported to him: for often
a man plucks the rod with which he beats himself. The woman who values
her good name should set her love upon a noble and valiant knight: when
she knows his worth, let her not hide her love. When a woman loves thus
openly, the noble and worthy speak of her love only with sympathy."
Raimbaut, however, did not reciprocate these feelings: in a _tenso_ with
the countess he shows his real sentiments while excusing his conduct. He
assures her that he has avoided her only because he did not wish to
provide slanderers with matter for gossip; to which the Countess replies
that his care for her reputation is excessive. Peire Rogier whose
poetical career lies between the years 1160 and 1180, also spent some
time at Raimbaut's court. He belonged to Auvergne by birth and was
attached to the court of Ermengarde of Narbonne for some years: here
there is no doubt that we have a case of a troubadour in an official
position and nothing more: possibly Peire Rogier's tendency to
preaching--he had been educated for the church--was enough to stifle any
sentiment on the lady's side. On leaving Narbonne, he visited Raimbaut
at Orange and afterwards travelled to Spain and Toulouse, finally
entering a monastery where he ended his life.

Auvergne produced a far more important troubadour in the person of Peire [67]
d'Auvergne, whose work extended from about 1158 to 1180; he was thus
more or less contemporary with Guiraut de Bornelh and Bernart de
Ventadour. He was, according to the biography, the son of a citizen of
Cler