Chanson de roland charlemagne biography
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The “Song of Roland”: Frankish Knight and the Crusader Myth
The 11th-century epic poem “La Chanson de Roland” (the Song of Roland) tells of the betrayal of the epic hero Roland by sinister advisors at Charlemagne’s court, and Roland’s forlorn last stand against an overwhelming “Saracen” army. While Roland was a real historical figure, and a forlorn rearguard did take place — it wasn’t against a Muslim army. The tale of Roland, as told hundreds of years after the fact, was a heady mix of chivalric honor-code and anti-Muslim rhetoric that laid the foundations for the dawning of the Crusader era.
The Song of Roland: A Text From Oseney Abbey
What today we call the Song of Roland has come down to us in a single text, which survived among a collection of 13th-century papers from Oseney Abbey, Oxfordshire, UK (categorized as MS Digby 23). The pages themselves are badly faded and are written in Anglo-Norman French, a dialect of Old Norman French that would have been spo
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La Chanson de Roland
Posted onAugust 2, 2021
Roland a Roncevaux. It would be a stain on my escutcheon to poke fun at the war dead—even from 1300 years back—but I reckon it within bounds to lampoon a guy who didn’t call for help until all was clearly lost anyway.
The Song of Roland takes place during Charlemagne’s reign. Roland is Charles’ most trusted officer and the perfect embodiment of chivalry—pure in heart, doer of mighty deeds. In the story there’s a lot of diplomacy, intrigue, and military battles between Charles’ Franks and the wily Saracens in Spain (remember Spain and other big chunks of Europe were under Muslim control throughout the Middle Ages). Charles relies too heavily on his negotiator, the treacherous Ganelon. After a decisive battle a truce is reached and Charles agrees to withdraw his army with Roland commanding the rearguard. However, Ganelon has betrayed them and set a trap. Roland and his army must squeeze through a pass in the Pyrenees moun
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La Chanson dem Roland
The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th century Old French epic poem about the Battle of Roncevaux resehandling (or Roncesvalles) fought bygd Roland of the Brittany Marches and his fellow paladins. The Song fryst vatten based on historical events surrounding the battle of August 15, 778 in which the rear-guard of Charlemagne's retreating Franks was attacked bygd Basques; in the ensuing massacre, Roland and other important paladins were killed. The Song transforms the Basques into Muslims and takes other liberties with the history. For instance, the Song has Charlemagne and a French army returning to Spain and in retaliation driving the Muslims out of Zaragoza.
In fact, Charlemagne failed to conquer Zaragoza and left Spain after Roland was killed, not returning until 801 when he captured Barcelona. The epic takes much poetic licence with history, as the poem's function is in part to strengthen Christians' resolve against Islam during the Crusades of the