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Toulousites

Toulousites (Version A: Cathars)

There is little record of Toulouse prior to 118 BCE when that area became Roman. That lasted until 418 CE, when Visigoths ruled Toulouse, followed by Merovingian Franks, then Carolinian Franks. All were Christian in some form, as was the Cathar religion, which dominated Toulouse for a while in the 13th century.

However, some of the Cathars’ views were regarded as heretical by Catholic Rome, and were the subject of a dispute involving St. Dominic.

Ultimately Catharism was destroyed in the Albigensian crusade which began in July 1209. (A crusade is a military expedition under the banner of the cross.)

The Cathars chanted famously. As their castle walls were torn down by the “Catholic crusaders,” they chanted hymns. After their defeat, condemned to death by fire, they chanted hymns as they threw themselves into the flames.

If “as the ancient Toulousites defined it” refers to these extraordinary acts of faith by the Cathars. The meaning of “wholly manifested intonation” is clear.

(There is little record of Toulouse prior to 118 BCE when that area became Roman. That lasted until 418 CE, when Visigoths ruled Toulouse, followed by Merovingian Franks, then Carolinian Franks. All were Christian in some form, as was the Cathar religion, which dominated Toulouse for a while in the 13th century.

Toulousites (Version B:  Troubadors)

Toulouse is the capital of Occitania, formerly of Languedoc, land of the Holy Grail it is believed that M. Magdalene with at least her unborn child (if not more), the mother of Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea (possibly Jesus as well, if he survived the crucifixion–as some insist?).

In the Middle Ages Troubadours with their “Minnesang” were cultivated at this royal court, which later spilled over to other courts in Europe.

Minnesang: to minne, the worship of a woman, usually of high rank; from middle-high German minne “loving remembrance,” is the name given to the written, highly ritualized form of sung love poetry practiced by the Western European nobility from about the middle of the 12th to the middle of the 13th century.

Chrétien de Troyes 12 century, known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien’s works, including Erec and Enide, Lancelot, Perceval and Yvain, represent some of the best-regarded medieval literature. His use of structure, particularly in vain, has been seen a as a step towards the modern novel.

Johannes de Grocheio, a Parisian musical theorist of the early 14th century, believed that trouvère songs inspired kings and noblemen to do great things and to be great: “This kind of song is customarily composed by kings and nobles and sung in the presence of kings and princes of the land so that it may move their minds to boldness and fortitude, magnanimity and liberality…”

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