Tomier and Palaizi (or Palazi) were two

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

s and

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 ...

s from

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Tarasc ...

, possibly brothers, and frequent comrades and co-composers ( fl. 1199–1226). Palaizi and Tomier were involved in the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

. In the ''

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 ...

'' ''De chantar farai'', written probably during

Louis VIII Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...

's siege of Avignon in 1226, they criticised the Albigensian Crusaders and the

Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

— "those who have turned the crusade" — for diverting "succour and valour" (aid and military support) from the "Sepulchre" (the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

), which was "disbelief", i.e. "a sin against the faith":

''Al Sepolcr'an tout'' ''socors e valenza'' ''cil q'an la croz vout,'' ''et es decredenza.''

The Albigensian Crusade was described as a ''falsa croisada'' and the song had a rhyming refrain which must have been intended to arouse Provenç passions for the fight against the French: ''Segur estem, seignors, / E ferm de ric socors!'' ("Lords, we are certain and confident of mighty aid"). Tomier and Palaizi blamed the church leadership, especially the

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

Romano of Sant'Angelo, for avarice. In an earlier, and less violent ''sirventes'', ''Si col flacs molins torneja'' (c. 1216), the two troubadours explain that the Albiensian venture ruins the roads and ports that lead to Acre, where the true Crusade is being waged. To them, the Crusaders ''pauc a en Deu d'esperanssa'' (have little hope in God). In the end Tomier and Palaizi attacked the Church for heresy and thus marked themselves out as heretics from the Church of Rome.Throop, 392.

Sources

*Graham-Leigh, Elaine. ''The Southern French Nobility and the Albigensian Crusade''. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2005. *Throop, Palmer A
"Criticism of Papal Crusade Policy in Old French and Provençal."
'' Speculum'', Vol. 13, No. 4. (Oct., 1938), pp 379–412. *Puckett, Jaye
"'Reconmenciez novele estoire': The Troubadours and the Rhetoric of the Later Crusades."
''MLN'', Vol. 116, No. 4, French Issue. (Sep., 2001), pp 844–889.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomier And Palaizi 13th-century French troubadours Writing duos People from Tarascon Albigensian Crusade