Austorc d'Aorlhac or Aurilhac ( fl. 1250) was an

Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a vas ...

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

from whom only one '' sirvente'' survives. He was from

Aurillac Aurillac (; oc, Orlhac ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aurillacois'' or ''Aurillacoises''. Geography Aurillac is at above sea leve ...

. Austorc's only piece, "Ai! Dieus! Per qu'as facha tan gran maleza", was composed after the defeat in 1250 of the Seventh Crusade under

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

. It was Hermann Schindler who first proposed that the piece referred to the Crusade of 1250 and not that of 1270, on which Louis died. Whatever the Crusade, Kurt Lewent, whose dissertation was the first major study of

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

Crusading songs, believed that Austorc was a combatant in it. Austorc was surprised that God would allow the Crusade's defeat, but not surprised that

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

would therefore convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. An excerpt goes like this: Five stanzas in length, the ''sirventes'' stands incomplete: the first and last stanza contain lacunae and the final words of the '' tornada'' are lost. It is a ''

contrafactum In vocal music, contrafactum (or contrafact, pl. contrafacta) is "the substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music". The earliest known examples of this procedure (sometimes referred to as ''adaptation''), date back ...

'' of a ''

canso The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) is a representative body of companies that provide air traffic control. It represents the interests of Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). CANSO members are responsible for supporting ov ...

'' by

Peirol Peirol or PeiròlIn Occitan, ''peir'' (French "pierre") means "stone" and ''-ol'' is a diminutive suffix, the name Peirol being understood as the equivalent of "Little Stone" but also "Petit Pierre" (Lil' Peter) or "Pierrot" (Pete or Petey); howev ...

, "M'entencio ai tot'en un vers mesa." Only a few years earlier another ''sirventes'' and

Crusade song A Crusade song ( oc, canso de crozada, ca, cançó de croada, german: Kreuzlied) is any vernacular lyric poem about the Crusades. Crusade songs were popular in the High Middle Ages: 106 survive in Occitan, forty in Old French, thirty in Middle High ...

, "Ir'e dolors s'es dins mon cor asseza", by Ricaut Bonomel had been composed as a ''contrafactum'' of Peirol's ''canso''. There was an Austorc d'Ornac who served as a

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

in 1252.While T.-B. Émeric-David declared Austorc "completely unknown", Camille Chabaneau identified this Austorc with the troubadour. Jeanroy, p. 86, rejects this identification, though ''d'Orlhac'' was an acceptable spelling of ''d'Aorlhac''.

Notes

External links

Lyric allusions to the crusades and the Holy Land
{{authority control Christian critics of Islam Crusade literature 13th-century French troubadours People from Aurillac