Austorc de Segret or Austau de Segret ( fl. 1270) 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 va ...

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 ''trobairi ...

with only one surviving ''

sirventes The ''sirventes'' or ''serventes'' (), sometimes translated as "service song", was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry practiced by the troubadours. The name comes from ''sirvent'' ('serviceman'), from whose perspective the song is allegedly wr ...

'', "No sai quim so, tan sui desconoissens". Written in a

rime Rime may refer to: *Rime ice, ice that forms when water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, such as trees Rime is also an alternative spelling of "rhyme" as a noun: *Syllable rime, term used in the study of phonology in ling ...

mimicking that of the Italian troubadour Sordello's "Aitant ses plus viu hom quan viu jauzens", Austorc's ''sirventes'' is almost a ''

planh A genre of the troubadours, the or (; "lament") is a funeral lament for "a great personage, a protector, a friend or relative, or a lady."Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker, "Topoi", in F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, eds., ''A Handbook of the T ...

'' for Louis IX of France, who died in 1270 on the

Eighth Crusade The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see any ...

. Besides lamenting Louis, the troubadour laments the defeat suffered by the Crusaders against the " Saracens,

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

, and

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

". He concludes that either

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

or Satan is misleading Christians: there is no other possible explanation for the power of the Muslims. But among the humans Austorc is nonetheless willing to excoriate for the failed Crusade is Louis's brother

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...

, the (head and guide)—in Austorc's words—of the infidels because he convinced Louis to attack

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, not the Holy Land, and he immediately negotiated a peace with the Muslims after Louis's death.

Sources

*Cabré, Miriam. "'En breu sazo aura.l jorn pretentori' (BDT 434A,20): Jaume I i Cerverí interpreten els fets de 1274." ''Actes del X Col·loqui de l'Associació Hispànica de Literatura Medieval''. Alicante, 2003. *Throop, Palmer A
"Criticism of Papal Crusade Policy in Old French and Provençal."
'' Speculum'', Vol. 13, No. 4. (Oct., 1938), pp 379–412. ;External links
"Aitant ses plus viu hom quan viu jauzens"
with notes by Saverio Guida (2005).
Lyric allusions to the crusades and the Holy Land
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austorc De Segret 13th-century French troubadours Christians of the Eighth Crusade Medieval writers about the Crusades Writers from Auvergne