And so by degrees professional men of letters arose-men of letters, professional in a sense, which had not existed since the days of the travelling jongleurs of the early Middle Ages.
"A History of English Literature Elizabethan Literature"
George Saintsbury
These were sung or recited by the minstrels, who were among the retainers of every great feudal baron, or by the jongleurs, who wandered from court to castle.
"Brief History of English and American Literature"
Henry A. Beers
Thence by the Aleppo road he went to Karak of the Knights, thence again, after a rest of two days, he started-he, the knights and esquires of his body in cloth of gold, with scarlet housings for the mules, litters for his womenkind; with his poets, his jongleurs, his priest, his Turcopoles and favourites; all this gaudy company, for the great ascent of Mont-Ferrand.
"The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay"
Maurice Hewlett