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A Crusade song (, , ) is any
vernacular
Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...
lyric poem
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, th ...
about the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
. Crusade songs were popular in the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
: 106 survive 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 ...
, forty in
, thirty in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, and one in
Old Castilian
Old Spanish (, , ; ), also known as Old Castilian or Medieval Spanish, refers to the varieties of Ibero-Romance spoken predominantly in Castile and environs during the Middle Ages. The earliest, longest, and most famous literary composition in O ...
. The study of the Crusade song, which may be considered a Literary genre">genre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
of its own, was pioneered by Kurt Lewent. He provided a classification of Crusade songs and distinguished between songs which merely mentioned, in some form, a Crusade from songs which were "Crusade songs". Since Lewent, scholars have added several classifications and definitions of Crusade songs. Scholars have argued for three different classifications of Crusade songs which include songs of exhortation, love songs, and songs which criticize the Crusading movement.
The Crusade song was not confined to the topic of the Latin East, but could concern the Reconquista in Spain, the Albigensian Crusade in Languedoc, or the political crusades in Italy. The first Crusade to be accompanied by songs, none of which survive, was the
Crusade of 1101
The Crusade of 1101, also known as the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted, was launched in the aftermath of the First Crusade with calls for reinforcements from the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and to rescue the famous Bohemond of Taranto fr ...
, of which
William IX of Aquitaine
William IX ( or , ; 22 October 1071 – 10 February 1126), called the Troubadour, was the Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitou (as William VII) between 1086 and his death. He was also one of the leaders of the Crusade of 1101.
Thoug ...
wrote, according to
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...
. From the
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...
survive one French and ten Occitan songs. The
Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system
Places
* 3rd Street (di ...
and
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
s generated many songs in Occitan, French, and German. Occitan
troubadours
A troubadour (, ; ) 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 equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''.
The tro ...
dealt especially with the Albigensian campaigns in the early thirteenth century, but their decline thereafter left the later Crusades—
Fifth,
Sixth,
Seventh, and
Eighth
Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight.
Eighth may refer to:
* One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole
* Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet)
* Octave, an interval b ...
—to be covered primarily by the German ''
Minnesänger
(; "love song") was a tradition of German lyric- and song-writing that flourished in the Middle High German period (12th to 14th centuries). The name derives from '' minne'', the Middle High German word for love, as that was ''Minnesangs m ...
'' and French ''
trouvère
''Trouvère'' (, ), sometimes spelled ''trouveur'' (, ), is the Northern French ('' langue d'oïl'') form of the '' langue d'oc'' (Occitan) word ''trobador'', the precursor of the modern French word '' troubadour''. ''Trouvère'' refers to po ...
s''.
List of Occitan crusading songs
The following list is only of those songs defined as "''Kreuzlied''" in Lewent, "Das altprovenzalische Kreuzlied" (Berlin: 1905). It is important to note that Lewent only lists the Crusade songs that have a call to crusade. For a more complete list, see the new database by Paterson.
List of French crusading songs
The following table is adapted from Smith, ''Age of Joinville'', p. 17, who cites ''Les chansons de croisade'', eds J. Bédier and P. Aubry (Paris, 1909), p. xxxv.
German crusade songs
The following ''Minnesänger'' are known to have composed crusade songs:
*
Walther von der Vogelweide
Walther von der Vogelweide (; ) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs ('' Sprüche'') in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundred or s ...
: ''
Palästinalied
The ''Palästinalied'' ("Palestine Song") is a crusade song written in the early 13th century by Walther von der Vogelweide, the most celebrated lyric poet of Middle High German literature. It is one of the few songs by Walther for which a melod ...
'', ''Elegy''
*
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265.
His name ...
: ''Kreuzlied''
*
Friedrich von Hausen Friedrich may refer to:
Names
*Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
*Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
Other
*Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...
*
Albrecht von Johansdorf
Albrecht von Johansdorf () was a Minnesänger and a minor noble in the service of Wolfger of Erla. Documents indicate that his life included the years 1185 to 1209. He may have known Walther von der Vogelweide and is believed to have participat ...
*
Heinrich von Rugge
*
Hartmann von Aue
Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including '' Erec'', '' Iwein'', '' Gregorius'', and '' Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthu ...
*
Freidank Freidank (''Vrîdanc'') was a Middle High German didactic poet of the early 13th century. He is the author of ''Bescheidenheit'' ("practical wisdom, correct judgement, discretion"), a collection of rhyming aphorisms in 53 thematic divisions, extend ...
: ''Akkonsprüche''
*
Neidhart
Castilian crusade songs
Only one vernacular crusade song is known from the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
. Discovered in the second half of the twentieth century, ''Ay, Jherusalem!'' is a ''
planto'' or lament in
Castilian.
[Schreiner 2006.] It is recruitment propaganda probably connected either with the
First Council of Lyon
The First Council of Lyon (Lyon I) was the thirteenth ecumenical council, as numbered by the Catholic Church, taking place in 1245. This was the first ecumenical council to be held outside Rome's Lateran Palace after the Great Schism of 1054. ...
in 1245
[Franchini 2007.] or the
Second Council of Lyon
The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arles (in modern France), in 1274. Pope Gregory X presided over the council, called to ...
in 1274.
[ The anonymous poet laments the plight of the Christians and the cruelty of the Muslims. In form, it consists of stanzas of five lines (two ]dodecasyllable
Dodecasyllable Verse (poetry), verse () is a Meter (poetry), line of verse with twelve syllables. 12 syllable lines are used in a variety of poetic traditions.
Dodecasyllabic meter was invented by Jacob of Serugh (d. 521), a Miaphysitism, Miaphy ...
s and three hexasyllable
The hexasyllable or hexasyllabic verse is a line of verse with six syllables.
The orphan hexasyllable is a metric specificity of certain French epic poems. This kind of verse in the Garin de Monglane's Song in a 14th-century manuscript turns ou ...
s) with the last line always ending in the refrain (''estribillo'') "Iherusalem".[
]
Notes
Bibliography
*
*Cammarota, Maria Grazia
"Tannhäuser's ''Crusade Song'': A Rewriting of Walther's ''Elegy''?"
In M. Buzzoni and M. Bampi (eds.), ''The Garden of Crossing Paths: The Manipulation and Rewriting of Medieval Texts''. Venice: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina, 2005. pp. 95–118.
*Choin, Victoria. ''The Poets, the Popes, and the Chroniclers: Comparing Crusade Rhetoric in the Songs of the Troubadours and Trouvéres with Crusade Literature, 1145–1291''. Master's thesis. Arizona State University, 2019.
*Dijkstra, Cathrynke (1995). ''La chanson de croisade: étude thématique d'un genre hybride''. Amsterdam: Schiphouwer en Brinkman.
*
* Jordan, W. C. (1998)
« Amen ! » Cinq fois « Amen ! ». Les chansons de la croisade égyptienne de Saint Louis, une source négligée d'opinion royaliste
''Médiévales'' 34: 79–90 .
*Lewent, Kurt (1905). "Das altprovenzalische Kreuzlied." ''Romanische Forschungen'', 21(2):321–448.
*Paterson, Linda M. (2003)
"Lyric allusions to the crusades and the Holy Land."
Colston Symposium.
*Paterson, Linda M. "Occitan Literature and the Holy Land." ''The World of Eleanor of Aquitaine: Literature and Society in Southern France between the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries'', edd. Marcus Bull and Catherine Léglu. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2005. .
*Paterson, Linda (2018). ''Singing the Crusades. French and Occitan Responses to the Crusading Movements, 1137–1336''. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
*Routledge, Michael (2001). "Songs". ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades'', ed. Jonathan Riley-Smith
Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith (27 June 1938 – 13 September 2016) was a historian of the Crusades, and, between 1994 and 2005, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. He was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Ea ...
. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .
*{{cite encyclopedia , first=Elisabeth , last=Schreiner , title=Spanish and Portuguese Literature , encyclopedia=The Crusades: An Encyclopedia , editor=Alan V. Murray , publisher=ABC-CLIO , year=2006 , volume=4 , pages=1118–1120
*Smith, Caroline. ''Crusading in the Age of Joinville''. Routledge, 2016.
*