Identity, Space, and Song in Crusading Occitania

In conceptualizing Holy War, Pope Urban II’s message transformed Christian ideals and shaped attitudes toward violence and geography. His rhetoric and agenda inspired Occitanian people to newly encounter space in ways—including through song—whose legacies continue to resound. Many songs written in response to crusading were born in the area of modern-day southern France known as Occitania, particularly in the form of troubadour song and Aquitanian versus. Within the context of crusading, these songs reveal Occitanian attitudes regarding Christianity and Islam, dualistic (us-versus-them) ideologies, regional community, perceptions of Crusade goals, and concepts of distance—both spatial and metaphoric. This chapter outlines methodologies employed throughout the book, including philosophical and geographic understandings of space and place. Engaging with previous scholarship on these repertories, this chapter defines a repertory of Crusade songs; it overviews characteristics and representative examples of various genres, including songs of pilgrimage, exhortation, sirventes, pastorela, laments, and love song.