ABSTRACT
Just as the troubadour had the sirvente to bring his patron to terms, so the later medieval author wielded with no uncertain hand the weapon of satire and lampoon. Retention or reward of some kind was generally an expected thing in return for literary favors, and when it was not forth-coming the grumblings of the slighted author were not always slight. Even Dante heaves a sigh as he represents his ancestor Cacciaguida in Paradise telling him: Thou shalt make proof what salt and bitter fare Is bread of others, and what toils attend The going up and down another’s stair, 1
