trouvères, medieval poet-musicians of central and N France, fl. during the later 12th and the 13th cent. The trouvères imitated the troubadours of the south. Written in the dialect called langue d'oïl, their songs include love lyrics, romances, and the heroic chansons de geste. Chief among the trouvères were Conon de Béthune, Le Châtelain de Coucy, Colin Muset, Renaut de Beaujeu, and Adam de la Halle.