Since Frederick is referred to as king but not emperor the piece must postdate 25 July 1215, when he received the crown of king of the Romans in Aachen and took the cross for the first time (see stanza V and Levy, p. 2; Kurt Lewent, «Das altprovenzalische Kreuzlied», Romanische Forschungen, 21, 1905, pp. 321-448, on p. 33; also David Abulafia, Frederick II: a Medieval Emperor, London 1988, pp. 120-122), and must surely precede his coronation as emperor on 22 November 1220. De Bartholomaeis (p. 209) may be right to date the piece to shortly after the first of these dates. The troubadour’s repeated emphasis on beginnings is concordant with this initial crusading commitment, subsequently subject to postponement, though a later date cannot be ruled out. However, De Bartholomaeis’s declaration (Poesie, II, p. 98) that Guillem was in Toulouse, which he did not leave until April 1229, is questionable. Why does the troubadour refer to Frederick as ‘my lord’ (34)? Does the tornada imply that he was sending the song in c. 1215 to this powerful figure who was only to become his patron after 1229? Levy (p. 1, n. 2) had already expressed his adherence to the view advanced by the HLF, XVIII, 652 that quan li Frances agron Tolosa of Guillem’s Vida refers to the capture of Toulouse after the battle of Muret and that the troubadour left home at the beginning of 1215, when Bishop Folquet held power there. He reported that Pio Rajna (Giornale di filologia romanza, 2, 1879, p. 88) concluded the reference was to 12 April 1229 when Louis IX concluded peace with Raimon VII of Toulouse, under whose terms the town lost most of its possessions and the walls were sleighted. Levy’s preference rests on the fact that after 1229 Toulouse itself remained in Raimon’s possession, whereas in 1215 the town had to pay homage to Simon de Montfort and Raimon VI had to take refuge in Marseille. «Es scheint mir auch, dass die Herschaft des verhassten Feindes für den Dichter eher ein Grund sein konte seine Heimat zu verlassen als die Verminderung des tolosanischen Gebietes und die Schleifung der Mauern.» De Bartholomaeis’s note (Poesie, II, p. 98) does not take account of Levy’s argument. He says that vv. 89-96 of D’un sirventes far (BdT 217.2) shows that he was writing while Raimon VII was defending Toulouse against the French, which is right; but he continues simply with «G.F. si trovava in Tolosa, che non abbandonò se non dopo la resa. Scrive infatti la biografia provenzale del trovadore: “G. F. si fo de Tolosa...e quant il Frances agron Tolosa, el s’en venc en Lombardia” (Chabaneau, Biogr., 283)». But there seems no reason to presume that Guillem was composing his powerfully Ghibelline invective in Toulouse rather than in Lombardy. It makes much better sense to see him already in Frederick’s entourage. And it also makes more sense to see Guillem composing the present piece in Italy, at Frederick’s request or at least in the hope of his favour.