Dating and historical circumstances:
It is difficult to know when this lyric was composed as it contains no references to historical events or figures. Diez (Friedrich Diez, Leben und Werke der Troubadours; ein Beitrag zur näheren Kenntnis des Mittelalters, Zwickau 1829; enlarged edition Leipzig 1882, p. 214) believed that the three crusading lyrics were composed at roughly the same time, and Lewent (Kurt Lewent, «Das altprovenzalische Kreuzlied», Romanische Forschungen, 21, 1905, pp. 321-448 on p. 352) to an extent supports this hypothesis, arguing that the timelessness of the piece suggests it may be the earliest of his three crusade songs.