Background
The lyric poetry of the Carmina Burana may be seen as a response to the spirit of the times by virtue of its secularity as well as its lyricism. It may represent the response of only one sex and one social stratum, and leave untouched many aspects of their physical world. To the extent that contemporary beliefs and preoccupations contribute to their inspiration, so the songs may contribute to our understanding of twelfth-century society.
The Songs of Beuern are more than a cultural curiosity, more than sweepings from the floor of a proto-renaissance workshop. They are also both gripping and entertaining in their own right. Their composers are witty, urbane and charming, with no illusions about their own or their contemporaries' spiritual strengths and fleshly frailties, who find no subject too high or too low for their probing consideration and verbal dexterity. They write satires and panegyrics, hymns and pastorals, debates, drinking songs, gaming songs, eating songs and songs of ineffable silliness.
The Songs of Beuern are more than a cultural curiosity, more than sweepings from the floor of a proto-renaissance workshop. They are also both gripping and entertaining in their own right. Their composers are witty, urbane and charming, with no illusions about their own or their contemporaries' spiritual strengths and fleshly frailties, who find no subject too high or too low for their probing consideration and verbal dexterity. They write satires and panegyrics, hymns and pastorals, debates, drinking songs, gaming songs, eating songs and songs of ineffable silliness.