Marsile (variously spelled Marsilie, Marsilius, Marsilion, Marcilie, Marsille, Marsilies, Marsilun, or Marsiluns) is a character in the French
heroic poem ''
The Song of Roland''. He is the Muslim king of the
Saracens and of Saragossa. He first appears in Stanza 1, asking his barons for counsel because he is losing the war against
Charlemagne. He readily accepts
Blancandrin's proposal of surrender (Stanzas 1–6), and agrees to
Ganelon's scheme after testing his worth and persuasion from his wife
Bramimonde and his nobility (32–52). He takes part in the
Battle of Roncevaux Pass, kills Bevon, Lord of Beaune and Dijon, Yvoire, Yvon and Gerald of Roussillon, before
Roland
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
cuts off Marsile's right hand and the head of his son, Jurfaleu the Blond, and Marsile is forced to flee (142) to Saragossa (187). Bound to his bed with his injuries, he summons help from
Baligant
In ''The Song of Roland'', Baligant is the Emir of Babylon (i.e., Cairo, not the Mesopotamian Babylon), who tries to aid the defense of Zaragoza (sometimes spelled "Saragossa") from Charlemagne. He is sometimes described as a man from ancient time ...
(189), places Spain in Baligant's care (202), and later dies of his wounds, his army having been destroyed.
There is no historical evidence for King Marsile's existence. He is possibly only a petty king but said to be the last of the Spaniards to make a stand against the Franks. The battle of Roncevaux appears in very few historical records.
[Narbaitz, Pierre. ''Orria, o la batall de Roncesvalles. 778''.]
References
*
La Chanson de Roland
Characters in The Song of Roland
Fictional kings
Legendary Arab people
Fictional Muslims
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