William of Tudela

Who is William of Tudela?

William of Tudela was the author of the first part of the Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise or Song of the Albigensian Crusade, an epic poem in Occitan giving a contemporary account of the crusade against the Cathars.

According to his own account in the first lines of his poem, William was born in Tudela in Navarre. 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. He specifically states that he studied geomancy.

In or around 1199, William of Tudela went to Montauban and lived there for 11 years. He claims that his knowledge of the future through geomancy impelled him to move in 1210 to Bruniquel, which had then just been bestowed on Baldwin, estranged brother of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. The result of this move was that William entered Baldwin's service. He became canon at Saint-Antonin. 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.