It has been computed that to the middle and lower classes twenty-two troubadours owe their origin, to which number probably many of those must be added of whose circumstances no record has been left. The clergy furnished no less than thirteen poets, some of whom confined themselves to religious and didactic subjects, and therefore, strictly speaking, ought not to be called troubadours. Others, however, had no such conscientious scruples, and one of the most daring and outspoken satirists in Provençal literature was a monk. Uc de St. Cyr, destined by his father for the clerical profession, escaped from the university of Montpellier and became a troubadour, while in other cases gay poets turned monks and closed a wild career with repentance and holy exercise. Of Gui d’Uisel, a canon of Brioude and Montferrand, it is told that he dutifully abandoned the muse by command of the Papal legate. By far the largest proportion of the troubadours known to us—fifty-seven in number—belong to the nobility, not to the highest nobility in most cases, it is true. In several instances poverty is distinctly mentioned as the cause for adopting the profession of a troubadour. It almost appears, indeed, as if this profession, like that of the churchman and sometimes in connection with it (see the Monk of Montaudon), had been regarded by Provençal families as a convenient means of providing for their younger sons. Bertran de Born, on the other hand, owed the successful enforcement of his claims to the heritage he held in common with his unfortunate brother Constantine as much to his song as to his sword. It remains to refer to no less than twenty-three reigning princes of more or less importance of whose poetic efforts we have cognisance. With a few exceptions the contributions to literature of these distinguished amateurs are but slight. But that does not diminish the significance of the fact of these powerful men entering into competition with the sons of tailors and pedlars.