Académie des Jeux floraux ("Academy of the Floral Games"), or Collège de la gaie science ("College of the Happy Science"), is the most ancient literary institution of the western world. It was founded in 1323 by Clémence Isaure as the Consistori del Gay Saber

Consistori del Gay Saber

The Consistori del Gay Saber , commonly called the Consistori de Tolosa today, was a poetic academy founded at Toulouse in 1323 to revive and perpetuate the lyric school of the troubadours.-Foundation:...

 with the goal of encouraging Occitan poetry. The best verses were given prizes at the floral games

Floral Games

Floral Games were any of a series historically related poetry contests with floral prizes. In Occitan, their original language, and Catalan they are known as Jocs florals . In French they became the Jeux floraux...

 in the form of different flowers, made of gold or silver, such as violets, rose hips, calendula officinalis

Calendula officinalis

Calendula officinalis is a plant in the genus Calendula , in the family Asteraceae. It is probably native to southern Europe though its long history of cultivation makes its precise origin unknown, and may possibly be of garden origin...

, amaranths or lilium

Lilium

Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though the range extends into the northern subtropics...

. The Consistori eventually became gallicised. It was renewed by Louis XIV in 1694 and still exists today.