Bertran de Born

(c. 1140 - c. 1212)

Bertran de Born cemented his name as a French soldier and medieval troubadour. He helped the English duke Richard the Lionheart and his brothers in their uprising against their father, Henry II. After Richard’s succession to the throne, Bertran accompanied him on a crusade and wrote militant poetry meant to incite wars between England and France. These acts earned him a place in hell in Dante’s Inferno, where he is portrayed carrying his severed head.