The troubadours (called trouvères in Northern France) appeared in Southern France as early as the 11th century. They belonged to the society gathered at several small courts, where women held the supreme place. It was at these courts that the rules of the art of courtly love were established, and the songs of the troubadours were the first expression of the ideals of this art. They created their works using the dialect of the South, the Langue d'Oc.
In Northern France, the trouvères composed their songs in the northern dialect (Langue d’Oïl), the foremost among them beingChrétien de Troyes. Although the ideas of love in the romances of Chrétien are those found in the lyrics of the troubadours, his genius transformed them, through elaborate poetry, into something peculiarly his own.
Love was, for the troubadours, an art to be practised rather than a passion to be felt. A lover’s main concern was to act in strict accord with the courtly love rules. It is no surprise that the literature inspired by such strictures was devoid of spontaneity and real feeling.
http://www.medieval-spell.com/Troubadours-Trouveres.html
