a troubadour who fell upon evil days might sink to the profession of
joglar. Hence there was naturally some confusion between the troubadour
and the joglar, and poets sometimes combined the two functions. In
course of time the joglar was regarded with some contempt, and like his
forbear, the Roman joculator, was classed with the jugglers, acrobats,
animal tamers and clowns who amused the nobles after their feasts. Nor,
under certain conditions, was the troubadour's position one of dignity; [12]
when he was dependent upon his patron's bounty, he would stoop to
threats or to adulation in order to obtain the horse or the garments or
the money of his desire; such largesse, in fact, came to be denoted by a
special term, _messio_. Jealousy between rival troubadours, accusations
of slander in their poems and quarrels with their patrons were of
constant occurrence. These naturally affected the joglars in their
service, who received a share of any gifts that the troubadour might
obtain.

The troubadours who were established more or less permanently as court
poets under a patron lord were few; a wandering life and a desire for
change of scene is characteristic of the class. They travelled far and
wide, not only to France, Spain and Italy, but to the Balkan peninsula,
Hungary, Cyprus, Malta and England; Elias Cairel is said to have visited
most of the then known world, and the biographer of Albertet Calha
relates, as an unusual fact, that this troubadour never left his native
district. Not only love, but all social and political questions of the
age attracted their attention. They satirised political and religious
opponents, preached crusades, sang funeral laments upon the death of
famous patrons, and the support of their poetical powers was often in
demand by princes and nobles involved in a struggle. Noteworthy also is
the fact that a considerable number retired to some monastery or [13]
religious house to end their days (_se rendet_, was the technical