Trouvère. Blondel is celebrated for having carolled across Europe a strain known to the missing Richard I and himself, until he heard his master sing it from a dungeon whence the faithful minstrel rescued the monarch--a pretty but entirely fictitious story ; he was however one of the most important early trouvères. His melodies, which show the influence of Gregorian chant, were well known and popular all over Europe, and were often used for contrafacta.