2 - After Damascus: Reconquest, Sttlement and Pilgrimage

Summary

After the failure of the Second Crusade, armed and unarmed pilgrims and small groups of crusaders continued to flow to the Holy Land, ‘demonstrating that although Christians had been demoralized by the failure of the Second Crusade and were not inspired to mount a major expedition, their faith and commitment to the Holy Land were not shaken’. To judge by the surviving records, this was not enough to inspire our lyric poets. For the next quarter of a century they had little to say about Palestine. However, the troubadours continued to be interested in the Reconquista; then by the 1170s and 1180s we catch a glimpse of activity in the crusader states and see two troubadours travel to Outremer on pilgrimage.

In the immediate aftermath of the crusade Marcabru's famous Vers del lavador turned attention back towards the via de Hispania. A decade later, in 1157–1158, Peire d'Alvernhe, defending the reputation of his oft-maligned predecessor, also writes in support of the Reconquista (BdT 323.7):

Reis, per Cristians faillis,

quar Masmutz nos faun sobransa:

coms ni dux non senh sentura

mieils de vos feira de lansa;

per l'emperador me dol

c'a moutas gens fai fraitura:

tals en plora que n'a iais.

Vostre coratges s'esclarzis

quar n'avetz bon'esperansa:

sobre paguans, gen tafura,

cavalguatz cenes duptansa;

premiers penres Labadol,

e si anatz ab dreitura,

tro a Marroc faran lais. (vv. 8–21)

King, you are missed by the Christians [?], since Muslims are overpowering us: there is no count or duke girding his sword who could strike better than you with a lance. I grieve for the emperor, who is missed by a great many people: there is one who weeps over it who is delighted.

Your heart brightens because you have good hope: against the host of pagan ruffians, ride without hesitation; first you will capture Labadol [Badajoz?], and if you go with rectitude [on your side], they will lament as far as Morocco.

Probably addressed to King Sancho III of Castile, the song refers to the death of Sancho's father, Alfonso VII, and, probably, King Sancho VII ‘the Wise’ (1150–1194) of Navarre, who took advantage of Alfonso's death to enlarge the boundaries of his kingdom.