Dating and historical circumstances:
The piece dates from shortly after the election of Boniface de Montferrat as leader of the crusaders at Soissons in early August 1201 (see stanza I). It was probably not composed in France, however: as Linskill argues (p. 222), Raimbaut did not accompany Boniface to Soissons, but took the cross later and sailed east, probably from Marseille (see Epic letter, 30 and the note), in the spring of 1203, according to Linskill (p. 224). The dedication to Bel Cavallier may support a place of composition in Italy (at the court of Montferrat?).