From approximately the year 1100, a phenomenon that represents a genuine cultural innovation began to spread across Europe: the troubadour lyric, which combines the characteristics of being of a cultured nature, of a profane theme, being composed in the vulgar language (and not in Latin) and be the work of authors who have an interest in preserving their name. The compositions harmoniously combined text and melody, because they were conceived to be sung; and, except in the satirical genre (which took advantage of the music of well-known songs to bring about a better bulresque effect), the melodies tried to be, as far as possible, original, although there are cases of imitation of famous pieces in order, in some way, to recognize implicitly a authority of their authors.

The first manifestations occur in the Occitan language, but towards the middle of the s. XII already produced songs in French and German, and, in the last decades of the same century, in Galician. In Italian there are early attempts, but the hatching will not take place until ca. 1230, in the Sicilian court of Federico II.

Kings and magnates play an important role in the promotion and spread of troubadour lyrics. Let's not forget that the first troubadour whose name and work have been preserved was Guilhem de Peitieu, a vassal of the King of France but much more powerful than him. And, among those who continued his work, it would be enough to mention Ricardo Corazón de León, Alfonso II of Aragon, Thibaut de Champagne (king of Navarre)... or, among us, Alfonso X and Don Denis.

Focusing on Galicia, the aristocracy of the kingdom of Galicia - León is the unifying nucleus of the first generations of troubadours, who formed around the 1170s. Among the oldest known names (listed in Coloccian table, but of which production has been lost) autochthonous lineages related to nobles of Occitan-Catalan origin who came to this land, probably accompanying Berenguela from Barcelona when she married Afonso VII, are represented. Souto Cabo has carefully studied a series of family relationships in which the Cabrera and the Urgells are appearing, mixing with groups settled in Galicia and in the north of Portugal among which, on many occasions, members of the all-powerful (in the 12th century) Traba family are appearing, descendant of the count of Galicia D. Pedro Froilaz, buried in the Compostela cathedral next to the monarchs Fernando II and Afonso IX. In the genealogical schemes consultable at http://bernal.cirp.gal/ords/meddb3/r/129/files/static/v49Y/esquemas_xenealoxicos.pdf it can be seen, for example, how Mr. Rodrigo Diaz dos Cameiros is the great-grandson of Pedro Froilaz (by his son Rodrigo Perez o Veloso), as well as Johan Velaz (grandson of his daughter Toda) or (and of this significant production is preserved) Osoir'Anes (grandson of Fernando Perez).

The historical data brought to light by Souto Cabo, Ron Fernández and other scholars confirm Resende de Oliveira's proposal that, in all probability, one of the first compilations of Galician-Portuguese troubadour lyrics corresponds to Galician magnates, many of them troubadours and others (or their wives) great patrons of this movement. We must not forget, in this sense, the women of that Traba family, cultured and fond of the songs that were interpreted for them by creators of their immediate environment or playboys at their service.

The texts of some of the oldest troubadours whose names we have preserved have not reached us, but the compositions transmitted by the Ajuda songbook - compiled approximately at the end of the s. XIII. , they also moved through various courts of the Galician-Leonese territory. An important focus of production in the first generations must have been the south of the province of Ourense, but also (and perhaps with a broader chronology) there must have been notable activity in Santiago de Compostela.

Another significant fact is that the language used in the Ajuda Songbook (just like that of the Vindel Scroll) shows certain scriptological features that bring it closer to that of the Songs of Santa Maria and they characterize it compared to changes that can be seen in the Italian copies of the beginning of the s. XVI of a lost Book of portughesi.