Song of the Albigensian Crusade The Song of the Albigensian Crusade is an Old Occitan epic poem narrating events of the Albigensian Crusade from March 1208 to June 1219 . Modelled on the Old French " chanson de geste " , it was composed in two distinct parts : William of Tudela wrote the first towards 1213 , and an anonymous continuator finished the account . However , recent studies have proposed the troubadour Gui de Cavalhon as the author of the second part . It is one of three major contemporary narratives of the Albigensian Crusade , the " Historia Albigensis " of Pierre des Vaux - de - Cernay and the " Chronica " of William of Puylaurens being the others . Publication . There is a single surviving manuscript of the whole " Song " ( fr . 25425 in the Bibliothèque nationale ) , written in or around Toulouse about 1275 . The original title is Cansó de la crozada ( " song of the crusade " ) . The first critical edition was published with a French translation — Chanson de la croisade contre les albigeois — by Paul Meyer in two volumes ( 1875 – 79 ) . Eugène Martin - Chabot published another multi - volume French translation under the title Chanson de la croisade albigeoise . Henri Gougaud used the same title in his single - volume edition of 1992 . The " Song " was finally translated into English ( as " The Song of the Cathar Wars " ) by Janet Shirley in 1996 . Contents . First part . The first was written by William of Tudela ( he names himself in " laisses " 1 and 9 ) , probably in 1213 . It comprises the first 2749 lines , in 130 " laisses " ( rhymed stanzas of varying length ) , and takes the story to the beginning of 1213 . It is strongly partisan , in favour of the Crusaders and against their opponents , the Cathars and southerners in general . Second part . The second part comprises the remaining 6811 lines of the poem , in " laisses " 131 to 214 . The author ' s identity is not certain , although the name of Gui de Cavalhon has been recently proposed . This second part covers events from 1213 onwards and takes the opposite point of view , critical of the Crusaders and strongly in favour of the southerners ( though not of Catharism ) . To historians the " Song " is important for this whole period because it is the only major narrative source that takes the southern viewpoint ; it is especially important from April 1216 to June 1219 , because the prose narrative by Pierre des Vaux - de - Cernay becomes more sketchy and incomplete from 1216 onwards . The author was apparently an educated man , displaying some knowledge of theology and law , and belonged to the diocese of Toulouse ( since he calls bishop Folquet de Marselha " our bishop " ) . Michel Zink suggests that he was with Raymond VII of Toulouse in Rome and Provence during the years 1215 and 1216 . The poet mentions the death of Guy of Montfort , which actually took place in 1228 ; it is questionable whether the whole of part 2 was written after that date , or whether the reference to Guy ' s death was a later insertion . Saverio Guida has proposed that Gui de Cavalhon may be the author . Gui , besides being a troubadour , was also a noble , and one of the most faithful allies of Raymond VI of Toulouse .