preview

The First Crusades: Languedocian Bard Guilhem Figueira

Good Essays

The First Crusade was a moment of glory and righteousness for the Western Christians. The subsequent Crusades were far less successful, and as such, public support steadily dwindled, finally reaching an all-time low following the disastrous defeat that was the eighth and ninth crusades. This change in opinion was however not entirely dependent on military victories, but also on the perceived purpose of the crusades. Languedocian bard Guilhem Figueira was one of many who publicly criticised the papal crusade policy as early as the 1220’s, while 1274 saw even the most pious question the legitimacy of the crusade1.

Guilhem Figueira was a poet and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry. He and his contemporaries would write and perform tales of grand historical events and faraway places, which at this time, often focussed on the Crusades, be it the glory of the first, or the steady disenchantment of the following. Figueira followed this trend, with possibly his most famous work, …show more content…

The Fourth Crusade was fought between 1202 and 1204 in the Byzantine Empire. D’un sirventes far is thought to have been written sometime between 1227 and 1229. That is a significant period of time to wait in order to criticise the actions of the Crusaders and the support of the Papacy. Admittedly, there may have been factors that contributed to this 25 year lapse, including slow travel of information, immediate threats to safety should one question the word and actions of God’s representative on Earth, or lingering public support for the Crusades which would make a poem such as this wildly unpopular. However, I believe that it is far more likely that Figueira was using the Fourth Crusade as a shield of sorts from behind which to condemn the Albigensian Crusade, which was far more relevant for him

Get Access