Richard the Lionheart. The Background to "Ja nus homs pris"

In December 1192, on his way back from the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart was captured by Duke Leopold of Austria, who bore him several grudges on account of a number of events that had taken place during the Crusade, and who later sold him on to his enemy the Emperor Henry VI. Richard was finally released in February 1194 after nearly a year and a half in captivity, following the payment of a sizeable ransom. During this time he wrote many letters to encourage his subjects to collect the funds needed to pay the ransom, one of which took the form of a song, Ja nus homs pris ne dira sa raison. This song has been called a rotrouenge, referring to the French musical genre on which it is based, but it might be better termed a sirventes-canso or even a post Crusade song, since, unlike Crusade songs, it does not seek to encourage men to leave to fight a Crusade, but rather describes the aftermath of the Crusade for its author. However, as occurs in many Crusade songs, Richard uses the language of the love song to make a political statement, here describing or alluding to events taking place in his kingdom during his absence, while appealing to his loyal barons to provide for the ransom. Though an apparently simple poem, Ja nus homs pris has a far from simple manuscript tradition, surviving as it does in 10 manuscripts, seven of which are French and three Occitan. In this paper I will provide a reading of the song against the background of events before and after Richard's captivity and consider whether some of the many textual problems posed by the poem and its manuscript tradition may be solved by taking into account the historical references within the text. In this way I will attempt to lay the basis for a new critical edition of the song based on all ten manuscripts and not just on the French group, or alternatively the Occitan group, which has been the tendency so far.