Belle musique and fin'amour: Thibaut de Champagne, Gace Brule and an aristocratic trouvere tradition

Many consider Gace Brule (c1160-c1213) and Thibaut IV, Count of Champagne, (1201-1253) to have been the greatest trouveres. Writers on this subject have not adequately examined this assumption, having focused their energies on such issues as tracking melodic variants of individual works as preserved in different song-books (or chansonniers), the interpretation of rhythm in performance, and creation of modern editions of these songs. This thesis examines the esteem enjoyed by Gace and Thibaut in both medieval and modern times which derives from their exemplarity of, rather than difference from their noble contemporaries.