William Of Tudela

William of Tudela (in

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, spoken in parts o ...

, Guilhem de Tudela; in French, Guillaume de Tudèle; fl. 1199-1214) was the author of the first part of the '' Canso de la Crozada'' or ''Song of the Albigensian Crusade'', an epic poem in

Old Occitan Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label= Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries. Old ...

giving a contemporary account of the crusade against the

Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. F ...

. According to his own account in the first lines of his poem, William was born in Tudela in the Kingdom of Navarre (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). He refers to himself as ''maestre'' and ''clerc'', indicating that his studies entitled him to the title of Master and that he had taken

minor orders Minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders —priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders—acolyte, exorcist, lec ...

. He specifically states that he studied

geomancy Geomancy ( Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy in ...

. In or around 1199, William of Tudela went to

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

) and lived there for 11 years. He claims that his knowledge of the future through geomancy impelled him to move in 1210 to

Bruniquel Bruniquel (; Languedocien: ''Borniquèl'') is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Geography The tiny fortified village of 561 inhabitants is at an altitude of by the river Aveyron. The river V ...

, which had then just been bestowed on Baldwin, estranged brother of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. The result of this move (and possibly one of its aims) was that William entered Baldwin's service. He became canon at Saint-Antonin (which, in the course of the Albigensian Crusade,

Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester {{Infobox noble , name = Simon de Montfort , title = 5th Earl of Leicester , image = File:Simon4demontfort.gif , caption = Seal of Simon de Montfort, depicting him riding a horse and blowing a h ...

had just captured and given to Baldwin). More importantly, William now began to compose the ''Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise''. Work on the first part of this poem began in 1210, William implies, though in the form now known it seems to have been written in its entirety in 1213. Our knowledge of William's life ends in 1213 or 1214. One date is that of the capture (on 17 February 1214) and subsequent execution of Baldwin by his brother Raymond. William's poem speaks of Baldwin as still alive. Moreover, William's poem ends before the Battle of Muret on 12 September 1213: Baldwin's participation on the winning side in that battle, in which Raymond lost

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

and Raymond's feudal overlord Peter II of Aragon was killed, was the excuse for his execution as a traitor. If William survived these events, he was at any rate impelled by them to stop writing. The second part of the ''Chanson'' is written by another, unknown, poet. {{DEFAULTSORT:William Of Tudela Spanish poets Occitan poets People of the Albigensian Crusade French male poets Occitan-language poets