The lady then replies in her own Genoese dialect: she knows nothing of
the conventions of courtly love, and informs the troubadour that her
husband is a better man than he and that she will have nothing to do
with him. The poem is nothing but a _jeu d'esprit_ based upon the
contrast between troubadour sentiments and the honest but unpoetical
views of the middle class; it is interesting to philologists as
containing one of the earliest known specimens of Italian dialect. An
example of the Tuscan dialect is also found in the _descort_ by
Raimbaut. This is a poem in irregular metre, intended to show the
perturbation of the poet's mind. Raimbaut increased this effect by
writing in five different languages. He found a ready welcome from
Bonifacio II. at the court of Montferrat which Peire Vidal also visited.
The marquis dubbed him knight and made him his brother in arms. Raimbaut
fell in love with Beatrice, the sister of the marquis, an intimacy which
proceeded upon the regular lines of courtly love. He soon found an
opportunity of showing his devotion to the marquis. In 1194 Henry VI. [98]
made an expedition to Sicily to secure the claims of his wife,
Constance, to that kingdom: the Marquis Boniface as a vassal of the
imperial house followed the Emperor and Raimbaut accompanied his
contingent. He refers to his share in the campaign in a later letter to
the marquis.[30]

Et ai per vos estat en greu preyzo
Per vostra guerra e n'ai a vostro pro
Fag maynt assaut et ars maynta maiso
Et a Messina vos cobri del blizo;
En la batalha vos vinc en tal sazo
Que.us ferion pel pietz e pel mento
Dartz e cairels, sagetas e trenso.

"For your sake I have been in hard captivity in your war, and to do you
service I have made many an assault and burned many a house. At Messina
I covered you with the shield; I came to you in the battle at the moment
when they hurled at your breast and chin darts and quarrels, arrows and
lance-shafts." The captivity was endured in the course of the marquis's
wars in Italy, and the troubadour refers to a seafight between the
forces of Genoa and Pisa in the Sicilian campaign. In 1202 he followed
his master upon the crusade which practically ended at Constantinople.
He had composed a vigorous _sirventes_ urging Christian men to join the
movement, but he does not himself show any great enthusiasm to take the [99]
cross. "I would rather, if it please you, die in that land than live and
remain