Peire Vidal, with the majority of the troubadours, shows himself a vigorous supporter of Alfonso. Referring to this same expedition of 1183 he asserted "Had I but a speedy horse, the king might sleep in peace at Balaguer: I would keep Provence and Montpelier in such order that robbers and freebooters should no longer plunder Venaissin and Crau. When I have put on my shining cuirass and girded on the sword that Guigo lately gave me, the earth trembles beneath my feet; no enemy so mighty who does not forthwith avoid out of my path, so great is their fear of me when they hear my steps." These boasts in the style of Captain Matamoros are, of course, not serious: the poet's personal appearance seems to have been enough to preclude any suppositions of the kind. In another poem he sings the praises of Sancha, daughter of Alfonso VIII. of Castile, who married Alfonso II. of Aragon in 1174. With the common sense in political matters which is so strangely conjoined with the whimsicality of his actions, he puts his finger upon the weak spot in Spanish politics when he refers to the disunion between the four kings, Alfonso II. of Aragon, Alfonso IX. of Leon, Alfonso VIII. of Castile and Sancho Garcés of Navarre: "little honour is due to the four kings of Spain for that they cannot keep peace with one another; since in other respects they are of great worth, dexterous, open, courteous and loyal, so that they should direct their efforts to better purpose and wage war elsewhere against the people who do not believe our law, until the whole of Spain professes one and the same faith."
The Monk of Montaudon, Peire Raimon of Toulouse, Uc de San Circ, Uc Brunet and other troubadours of less importance also enjoyed Alfonso's patronage. Guiraut de Bornelh sent a poem to the Catalonian court in terms which seemed to show that the simple style of poetry was there preferred to complicated obscurities. The same troubadour was sufficiently familiar with Alfonso's successor, Pedro II., to take part in a tenso with him.
Pedro II. (1196-1213) was no less popular with the troubadours than his father. Aimeric de Pegulhan, though more closely connected with the court of Castile, is loud in his praises of Pedro, "the flower of courtesy, the green leaf of delight, the fruit of noble deeds." Pedro supported his brother-in-law, Raimon VI. of Toulouse, against the crusaders and Simon de Montfort during the Albigeois crusade and was killed near Toulouse in the battle of Muret. The Chanson de la Croisade does not underestimate the impression made by his death.
Mot fo grans lo dampnatges e·l dols e·l perdementz
Cant lo reis d'Arago remas mort e sagnens,
E mot d'autres baros, don fo grans l'aunimens
A tot crestianesme et a trastotas gens.
"Great was the damage and the grief and the loss when the King of Aragon remained dead and bleeding with many other barons, whence was great shame to all Christendom and to all people."
The Court of Castile attracted the attention and the visits of the troubadours, chiefly during the reign of Alfonso VIII. (or III.; 1158-1214) the hero of Las Navas de Tolosa, the most decisive defeat which the Arab power in the West had sustained since the days of Charles Martel. The preceding defeat of Alfonso's forces at Alarcos in 1195 had called forth a fine crusade sirventes from Folquet of Marseilles appealing to Christians in general and the King of Aragon in particular to join forces against the infidels. The death of Alfonso's son, Fernando, in 1211 from an illness contracted in the course of a campaign against the infidels was lamented by Guiraut de Calanso, a Gascon troubadour.
Lo larc e·l franc, lo valen e·l grazitz,