Poet, Musician. His humor and direct language made him a popular troubadour in his day and one of the more frequently revived in modern times. Vidal was born in Toulouse, France, where he began his career under the patronage of Viscount Raimon V. He travelled widely and was associated with King Alfonso II of Aragon, King Emmerich of Hungary, Viscount Barral of Marseille, and Manfred I Lancia; he may have followed Richard the Lionheart on part of the Third Crusade (1189 to 1192). He was also a welcome visitor at the Italian court of Boniface I of Montferrat, though he probably did not accompany him on the Fourth Crusade in 1202 as some have suggested. (A wise move: two famous troubadours who did, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras and Gaucelm Faidit, never came back). He was in Malta in 1205, where he composed his last known song, "Pus ubert ai mon ric thesaur", to celebrate their victory in a recent sea battle; he then vanishes from history. Vidal appears to have been a character and all sorts of zany antics were attributed to him. For instance, he once proclaimed himself King of Cyprus and lugged a throne with him on his journeys; out of love for a noblewoman named Wolf, he dressed in a wolfskin and allowed himself to be hunted down by her dogs. When a patron died he not only shaved his head in mourning, but those of his servants and horses. These and other anecdotes were based on literal readings of his songs, which were meant to be funny and show a restless imagination. His specialties were the "canso-sirventes", a sub-genre mixing themes of courtly love with satires of current events, and the "gab", a mock boast. In one gab he brags of his sexual prowess: "A thousand greetings come to me every day...the King nearly dies of envy, for I have my fun and pleasure with the ladies". Vidal's musicianship is superb, with accessible melodies and complex meters. 45 of his songs survive, 12 with their music.