ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a brief overview of the forms and intentions of twelfth-century historiography, and discusses how Bechada positioned his work in this context. It highlights that Bechada was a trailblazer in Occitan historiography, and that vernacular historiography was not a purely Anglo-Norman phenomenon in the twelfth century. Several factors however suggest that he may have used the chanson de geste format. Firstly, the preserved fragment is in epic style, as is the Old French Antioche; however this is not conclusive, since works were frequently adapted across genres. Secondly the subject-matter revolved around battles, specifically Christian against Moslem: this places it squarely in the same field as the chanson de geste and at a remove from hagiography. Finally the much later allusions in Guerau de Cabrera's sirventes-ensenhamen and the Crozada indicate that the Canso was in epic format at least by the end of the twelfth century.
