Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Author's Note
- Map
- Introduction
- 1 Early Expeditions
- 2 After Damascus: Reconquest, Sttlement and Pilgrimage
- 3 The Third Crusade (1187–1192)
- 4 The Aftermath of the Third Crusade
- 5 The Fourth Crusade and its Aftermath
- 6 The Fifth Crusade, of Damietta, and the Albigensian Crusade
- 7 Frederick II and the Sixth Crusade
- 8 The ‘False Crusade’: the Albigensian war of 1224–1233
- 9 The Barons’ Crusade, or the crusade of Thibaut de Champagne
- 10 The Seventh Crusade, or the First Crusade of Saint Louis
- 11 The Eighth Crusade, or the Second Crusade of Saint Louis
- 12 After Saint Louis
- Conclusion
- Appendix A The Words To Say It: The Crusading Rhetoric of the Troubadours and Trouvères – Marjolaine Raguin-Barthelmebs
- Appendix B Chronology of events and texts
- Appendix C Melodies attested in the MSS
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - After Damascus: Reconquest, Sttlement and Pilgrimage
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 July 2019
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Author's Note
- Map
- Introduction
- 1 Early Expeditions
- 2 After Damascus: Reconquest, Sttlement and Pilgrimage
- 3 The Third Crusade (1187–1192)
- 4 The Aftermath of the Third Crusade
- 5 The Fourth Crusade and its Aftermath
- 6 The Fifth Crusade, of Damietta, and the Albigensian Crusade
- 7 Frederick II and the Sixth Crusade
- 8 The ‘False Crusade’: the Albigensian war of 1224–1233
- 9 The Barons’ Crusade, or the crusade of Thibaut de Champagne
- 10 The Seventh Crusade, or the First Crusade of Saint Louis
- 11 The Eighth Crusade, or the Second Crusade of Saint Louis
- 12 After Saint Louis
- Conclusion
- Appendix A The Words To Say It: The Crusading Rhetoric of the Troubadours and Trouvères – Marjolaine Raguin-Barthelmebs
- Appendix B Chronology of events and texts
- Appendix C Melodies attested in the MSS
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
After the failure of the Second Crusade, armed and unarmed pilgrims and small groups of crusaders continued to flow to the Holy Land, ‘demonstrating that although Christians had been demoralized by the failure of the Second Crusade and were not inspired to mount a major expedition, their faith and commitment to the Holy Land were not shaken’. To judge by the surviving records, this was not enough to inspire our lyric poets. For the next quarter of a century they had little to say about Palestine. However, the troubadours continued to be interested in the Reconquista; then by the 1170s and 1180s we catch a glimpse of activity in the crusader states and see two troubadours travel to Outremer on pilgrimage.
In the immediate aftermath of the crusade Marcabru's famous Vers del lavador turned attention back towards the via de Hispania. A decade later, in 1157–1158, Peire d'Alvernhe, defending the reputation of his oft-maligned predecessor, also writes in support of the Reconquista (BdT 323.7):
Reis, per Cristians faillis,
quar Masmutz nos faun sobransa:
coms ni dux non senh sentura
mieils de vos feira de lansa;
per l'emperador me dol
c'a moutas gens fai fraitura:
tals en plora que n'a iais.
Vostre coratges s'esclarzis
quar n'avetz bon'esperansa:
sobre paguans, gen tafura,
cavalguatz cenes duptansa;
premiers penres Labadol,
e si anatz ab dreitura,
tro a Marroc faran lais. (vv. 8–21)
King, you are missed by the Christians [?], since Muslims are overpowering us: there is no count or duke girding his sword who could strike better than you with a lance. I grieve for the emperor, who is missed by a great many people: there is one who weeps over it who is delighted.
Your heart brightens because you have good hope: against the host of pagan ruffians, ride without hesitation; first you will capture Labadol [Badajoz?], and if you go with rectitude [on your side], they will lament as far as Morocco.
Probably addressed to King Sancho III of Castile, the song refers to the death of Sancho's father, Alfonso VII, and, probably, King Sancho VII ‘the Wise’ (1150–1194) of Navarre, who took advantage of Alfonso's death to enlarge the boundaries of his kingdom.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Singing the CrusadesFrench and Occitan Lyric Responses to the Crusading Movements, 1137–1336, pp. 39 - 46Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2018