Medieval Goliards: The Boorish Scholars

Those secular medieval musicians that shook up monophony

I’ve decided to submit essays from my past studies as writing samples. If you would like receive a list of resources, please reach out to me on twitter (@trevormolag) or elsewhere. This was one of my first essays from my time at the University of Lethbridge. (2011)

Monophonic music is a type of music that contains the simplest melody — one without any sort of harmony. It is played one note after the other, and was the principal type of music played in the early medieval ages of Western Europe. There are two primary subdivisions of medieval music: sacred and secular. Sacred refers to music that was performed in the church, carrying religious significance, and secular music can be defined as any music that was not a part of the church. Unfortunately, knowledge of monophonic music in medieval Western Europe is somewhat limited; this is due to the fact that the majority of the people of the time were unable to read or write, and resources were not principally allocated by officials to the mass reproduction of music.

Of our knowledge, sacred music, or music performed for religious reasons, is relatively well known; this is because much of it was notated by the educated monks and other religious officials of the time. Before around 850 C.E., sacred music was preserved only in its lyrical form, giving no indication whatsoever of melody or rhythm. Songs were transmitted by rote (orally). From the mid-8th century on, however, notation of songs’ melodies arose, in the form of neumes, enabling popes and secular rulers to more easily standardize the liturgy of the church across Europe. Sacred monophonic music was mostly chanted, and there were many dialects of chant, including Mozarabic, Byzantine, Beneventan, Ambrosian, and (primarily) Gregorian chant. The main forms of sacred monophonic music from Western Europe during the medieval era were from the Catholic mass. They consisted of the mass proper: texts that occurred at a specific time such as Christmas or Easter; and the mass ordinary: texts that happened each and every day. Sung texts of the mass proper included the Indroit, the Gradual, the Alleluia, the Sequence, the Gospel, and the Communion. Texts of the mass ordinary included the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Santus, the Agnus Dei, and the Ite Missa Est, or Benedictus. Other sacred songs included the Latin Versus. Because of written records, our knowledge of the lyrical and melodic qualities of sacred music from medieval Western Europe is substantial in comparison to the amount we know about the secular music of the time.

Secular (non-religious) music is not very well known by modern day scholars; this is because we have very little written documentation of it. The record of secular music that does exist is also biased, as it was only recorded by the sacred, economic, and scholarly elite. This means that we have very little music that was preserved by the middle and lower class social divisions. It is known, however, that the secular music was quite different from the sacred music of the era, as the songs had no issue with providing those performing and listening with pleasure. (The Church preferred to see music as a “servant” of religion, and discouraged any music that was not solely focused on God and/or Christian teachings). In addition, because the church so adamantly denied instrumental music in the medieval ages, we can also infer that the secular, non-religious music of the time must have been rich with instruments. Forms of monophonic secular song in the medieval era included the canitgas, epics, songs by the troubadours and trouvères, songs of the Minnesingers and Meistersingers, and Geisslerlieder, or Flaggellant songs. Songs would also be sung for war, celebration, work and funerals. Among the most intriguing secular songs of the time were those by the goliards, a group of somewhat self-misrepresented students and clerics.

To this day, there is much debate concerning the identity of a “goliard”. The standard definition is one of a scholar traveling from school to school, committed to entertaining and learning. As it is, the etymology of the word cannot be properly traced, and this leads to conflicting views on exactly who they were; select research leads us to believe that they may even have been “entertainers, part of the array of diversified types involved in the productions at the court, church and monastery intended to amuse those who could pay”[1] Nevertheless, there was indeed a wandering “brotherhood” or group of scholars and poets that shall be referred to as the goliards, responsible for the works we hold today in resources such as the Carmina Burana. Modern understanding tells us that the goliards defined themselves as rebellious scholars and clerics (with no fixed home) who preferred to riot and gamble over engaging in the affairs of a responsible citizen. However, they were unquestionably well-educated and skilled musicians, and it is unclear as to exactly how many of them were, as they attributed themselves to, social rebels. In fact, it is more likely that many used their portrayal of self merely to support the subject matter of their songs; and thus their “self-confessed boorishness is [regarded as] rhetorical embellishment rather than biographical fact”.[2]

Indeed, many of the goliardic poems are of a secular nature, addressing earthly pleasures and serenities. Prevailing themes include eating, drinking, loving, gambling, self-pity, and flattery — general debauchery. Despite this, however, the goliards would also use their songs and poems as a medium for sharp religious (and political) satire, as well as debate. Showing off their deep understanding of social and religious structures, the goliards adopted a carefree and witty attitude; detachedly yet relevantly attacking many of society’s ideals and specifically Christian morals. Their poetry was written for a well-educated audience, and the goliards prided themselves by decorating their songs with several poetic devices, commonly including sophisticated verse forms, internal rhyme and rhythm, and intricate wordplay. To great advantage, the “poets adapted their language to the exigencies of tune, [taxed] the fertility of Latin rhymes, and [set] off long sonorous words.”[3] Their songs were additionally characterized by auditory allure and simplicity. The goliards’ charming, graceful, and sensual language is also poetically reflective of much of their own subject matter, especially in love songs, conveying tender and erotic feelings.

Active in medieval England, France, Germany, and Northern Italy, the goliards wrote scurrilously of the earth’s pleasures, and their poems were certainly meant to be sung. Unfortunately, there is quite a lack of notated music for their poems, though some portrayals of melody in the form of diastematic neumes survive to this day. Overall, however, due to inadequate documentation, a precise understanding of the common musical attributes of goliard songs is not attainable. It is known, however, that the songs certainly stayed within the monophonic tradition of the liturgy, and that instruments such as the vielle, the harp, the psaltery, the flute, the shawm, the bagpipe, and the drums were probably used as accompaniment. One of the best known collections of goliardic songs is the Carmina Burana, a 13th century manuscript in which can be found many examples of poems and even several plays attributed to the goliards. Stylistic qualities of its contents are quite varied, but the majority of the songs are written in “goliardic stanzas”, or Vagantenstrophen, of rhyming, thirteen syllable lines. In addition, many songs contain some sort of refrain (songs with were refrains were often associated with dancing). Consequently, the goliard songs tend to be cast in a direct metrical form, with syllabic style and a repetitive structure — especially in comparison to the poems of the trouverès, a school of French poets active around the same time.

The goliards, a group of wandering scholars, were a unique group of students. Active in Western Europe from the 10th to mid-13th century. They travelled far from their homes in search of both knowledge and pleasure, while composing some of the most incendiary secular songs of their time. They wrote intelligently of earthly pleasures such as food, wine, and love; they also enjoyed satirizing the institutions of the day, primarily the Church. Despite the stereotypical types of character their culturally marginal subject matter may evoke, they were certainly well educated, and their use of Latin was intricate and creative. While no one is positive of exactly who the goliards were, their contributions to Western European monophonic secular music are among the earliest we have testimony to — and among the most enthralling.

[1] Bryan R. Gillingham, “Turtles, Helmets, Parasites, and Goliards,” The Music Review 55, no. 4 (November 1994): 252.

[2] Gordon A. Anderson and Thomas B. Payne. “Goliards.” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://0-www.oxfordmusiconline.com.darius.uleth.ca/subscriber/article/grove/music/11402 (accessed September 24, 2011).

[3] John Addington Symonds, Wine, Women, and Song. (New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1966), 32.