 The trobairitz ( Occitan pronunciation : [ <unk> ] ) were Occitan female troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries , active from around 1170 to approximately 1260 . The word trobairitz was first used in the 13th @-@ century romance <unk> . It comes from the Provençal word <unk> , the literal meaning of which is " to find " , and the technical meaning of which is " to compose " . The word trobairitz is used very rarely in medieval Occitan , as it does not occur in lyrical poetry , grammatical treatises , or in the biographies of the trobairitz or troubadours . Trobairitz composed , wrote verses , and performed for the Occitan noble courts . They are exceptional in musical history as the first known female composers of Western secular music ; all earlier known female composers wrote sacred music . The trobairitz were part of courtly society , as opposed to their lower class counterparts the <unk> . Although troubadours sometimes came from humble origins — <unk> de Ventadorn may have been the son of a castle 's baker — the trobairitz were nobly born . The most important trobairitz are <unk> de Castelnau , Azalais de <unk> , Maria de Ventadorn , <unk> , <unk> , <unk> de Proença , <unk> de <unk> , and the <unk> de <unk> . 
