Celebrated French minstrel of the twelfth century, and the favorite of Richard the Lion-Hearted, king of England. He was born in Nesle, Picardy, France; according to tradition (probably a folklore fable) he discovered the place of Richard’s imprisonment by singing under the tower of the castle of Dürrenstein, a song composed by the king and himself. A few of Blondel’s poems are preserved in the library of the arsenal of Paris.
