Minstrels versus Troubadours

Most people interchangeably use the words minstrel and troubadour to denote the same thing, a wandering musician who sang or recited poetry, typically on themes of love of heroic deeds.  In fact, they were similar, but two different things.  A troubadour would've had resented being called a minstrel.

Minstrels were wandering musicians, usually solo, but sometimes in pairs or small groups, who wandered from castle to tournament to county fair, playing music for whatever fee they would receive.  They were entertainers hoping for a place to stay and steady wages for a few days, at most.  A minstrel usually came from the lower classes of society.  He would sing songs, recite poetry or stories and play one or more instruments.  The songs were rarely of his own composition, but usually ones he'd heard from others and passed along to his listeners.

A troubadour was a specific and highly specialized form of minstrel, originating in Southern France.  The word itself is Occitan, the language spoken in Aquitaine, and refers to a composer and performer of Medieval Occitan poetry, either on the subject of love or heroic deeds.  These ballads, known as chansons de geste or canso, were the most common stock in trade for troubadours, though there were other forms, such as sirventes and tenso.  Troubadours originally came from noble families.  Duke William X of Aquitaine, grandfather of Eleanor, was himself a troubadour, writing under the alias of Guilhelm de Pietieus.  Other well-born troubadours were the Jean de Nesle father and son, who went by the alias Blondel.  Unlike ministrels, who wandered from place to place hoping for someone to take them in, troubadours composed and performed music for its own sake.  Nobles such as Duke William didn't have to perform for anyone if they didn't wish to.  Others would have traveled from one royal or noble court to another, seeking patronage, rather like scholars or artists.  Minnesingers in Germany were similar.

There are over 400 troubadours known to history.  While the earlier ones were nobles, later troubadours came from other walks of life.  Some were failed priests or students, whose knowledge of music and history would've given them plenty of material for their compositions.  A female troubadour was known as a trobairitz, and almost two dozen female troubadours are known to have gained acceptance among the noble and royal courts.  In later centuries, troubadours and minstrels gave way to other forms of itinerant professional musicians, sometimes performing for wealthy patrons, or whoever wished entertainment and could pay for it.