The figure of the troubadour combines the ideals of knighthood with the inspiration of the poet and musician. It created a cultural explosion which influenced the whole course of Western art and civilization. This history traces the story from the birth of the first troubadour in 1071 to the execution of the last Cathar Good Man in 1231 and the close of the distinctive southern French culture that had given rise to it. The tale incorporates the Crusades to the Holy Lands and the Albigensian crusades through the Languedoc as well as the regular incursions from the English.