his De vulgari eloquentia defined the troubadour lyric as fictio rethorica musicaque poita: rhetorical, musical, and poetical fiction. After the "classical" period around the turn of the 13th century and a mid-century resurgence, the art of the troubadours declined in the 14th century around the time of the Black Death (1348) and since died out.

The texts of troubadour songs deal mainly with themes of chivalry