Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
military leader under
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the
Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the
Breton March
The Marches of Neustria (french: Marches de Neustrie; br, Marz Neustria; Norman: ''Maurches de Neûtrie'') were two marches created in 861 by the Carolingian king of West Francia Charles the Bald. They were ruled by officials appointed by the Mo ...
, responsible for defending
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
's frontier against the
Bretons
The Bretons (; br, Bretoned or ''Vretoned,'' ) are a Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brittonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwall and Devon, mo ...
. His only historical attestation is in
Einhard's ''
Vita Karoli Magni
''Vita Karoli Magni'' (''Life of Charlemagne'') is a biography of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, written by Einhard.Ogg, p. 109 The ''Life of Charlemagne'' is a 33 chapter long account starting with the full of the Mero ...
'', which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed in retribution by the
Basques in Iberia at the
Battle of Roncevaux Pass
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, ''Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on t ...
.
The story of Roland's death at
Roncevaux Pass
Roncesvalles Pass, Ronceval Pass or Roncevaux Pass (; ; ; elevation 1057 m) is a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees near the border between France and Spain. The pass itself is entirely in Spain.
Location
The pass is located between the towns of ...
was embellished in later
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and
Renaissance literature. The first and most famous of these epic treatments was the
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
''
Chanson de Roland
''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is ...
'' of the 11th century.
Two masterpieces of Italian Renaissance poetry, the ''
Orlando Innamorato
''Orlando Innamorato'' (; known in English as "''Orlando in Love''"; in Italian titled "''Orlando innamorato''" as the " I" is never capitalized) is an epic poem written by the Italian Renaissance author Matteo Maria Boiardo. The poem is a rom ...
'' and ''
Orlando Furioso'' (by
Matteo Maria Boiardo
Matteo Maria Boiardo (, ; 144019/20 December 1494) was an Italian Renaissance poet, best known for his epic poem ''Orlando innamorato''.
Early life
Boiardo was born in 1440, and
Ludovico Ariosto respectively), are even further detached from history than the earlier ''Chansons'', similarly to the later ''
Morgante
''Morgante'' (sometimes also called , the name given to the complete 28-canto, 30,080-line edition published in 1483See Lèbano's introduction to the Tusiani translation, p. xxii.) is an Italian romantic epic by Luigi Pulci which appeared in ...
'' by
Luigi Pulci. Roland is poetically associated with his sword
Durendal
Durendal, also spelled Durandal, is the sword of Roland, a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature. It is also said to have belonged to young Charlemagne at one point, and, passing through Sara ...
, his horse
Veillantif
Veillantif (French), Vielantiu (Old French); Vegliantin, Vegliantino or Brigliadoro ( Italian) is the name of Roland the paladin's trustworthy and swift steed in the stories derived from the '' chansons de geste''. The French name comes from ...
, and his
oliphant horn.
In the late 17th century, French
Baroque composer
Jean-Baptiste Lully wrote an opera titled ''
Roland'', based on the story of the title character.
History
The only historical mention of the actual Roland is in the ''
Vita Karoli Magni
''Vita Karoli Magni'' (''Life of Charlemagne'') is a biography of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, written by Einhard.Ogg, p. 109 The ''Life of Charlemagne'' is a 33 chapter long account starting with the full of the Mero ...
'' by
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
's courtier and biographer
Einhard. Einhard refers to him as ''Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus'' ("Roland, prefect of the borders of Brittany"), indicating that he presided over the
Breton March
The Marches of Neustria (french: Marches de Neustrie; br, Marz Neustria; Norman: ''Maurches de Neûtrie'') were two marches created in 861 by the Carolingian king of West Francia Charles the Bald. They were ruled by officials appointed by the Mo ...
,
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
's border territory against the
Bretons
The Bretons (; br, Bretoned or ''Vretoned,'' ) are a Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brittonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwall and Devon, mo ...
. The passage, which appears in Chapter 9, mentions that ''Hroudlandus'' (a Latinization of the Frankish ''*Hrōþiland'', from ''*hrōþi'', "praise"/"fame" and *''land'', "country") was among those killed in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass:
Roland was evidently the first official appointed to direct Frankish policy in
Breton affairs, as local
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
under the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
dynasty had not previously pursued any specific relationship with the Bretons. Their frontier castle districts such as
Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine
Vitré (; br, Gwitreg; gallo ''Vitræ'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton of 17,798 inhabitants (2015). It lies on the edge of Br ...
, south of
Mont Saint-Michel, are now divided between Normandy and Brittany. The distinctive culture of this region preserves the present-day
Gallo language
Gallo is a regional language of eastern Brittany. It is one of the langues d'oïl, a Romance sub-family that includes French. Today it is spoken only by a minority of the population, as the standard form of French now predominates in this are ...
and legends of local heroes such as Roland. Roland's successor in ''Brittania Nova'' was
Guy of Nantes, who like Roland, was unable to exert Frankish expansion over
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
and merely sustained a Breton presence in the
Carolingian Empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...
.
According to legend, Roland was laid to rest in the basilica at
Blaye
Blaye (; oc, Blaia ) is a commune and subprefecture in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. For centuries, Blaye was a particularly convenient crossing point for those who came from the north and went to Bordea ...
, near
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
, on the site of the citadel.
Legacy
Roland was turned into a popular and iconic figure of medieval Europe and its
minstrel
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...
culture. Many tales made him a nephew of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
and turned his life into an
epic tale of the noble
Christian killed by hostile forces, which forms part of the medieval
Matter of France.
The tale of Roland's death is retold in the 11th-century poem ''
The Song of Roland
''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century '' chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It i ...
'', where he is equipped with the
olifant (a signaling horn) and an unbreakable sword, enchanted by various Christian relics, named
Durendal
Durendal, also spelled Durandal, is the sword of Roland, a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature. It is also said to have belonged to young Charlemagne at one point, and, passing through Sara ...
. The ''Song'' contains a highly romanticized account of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and Roland's death, setting the tone for later fantastical depiction of Charlemagne's court.
![Blason imaginaire Roland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Blason_imaginaire_Roland.svg)
It was adapted and modified throughout the Middle Ages, including an influential Latin prose version ''
Historia Caroli Magni'' (latterly known as the ''Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle''), which also includes Roland's battle with a Saracen giant named
Ferracutus who is only vulnerable at his navel. The story was later adapted in the anonymous Franco-Venetian epic ''L'Entrée d'Espagne'' ( 1320) and in the 14th-century Italian epic ''La Spagna'', attributed to the Florentine Sostegno di Zanobi and likely composed between 1350 and 1360.
Other texts give further legendary accounts of Roland's life. His friendship with
Olivier and his engagement with Olivier's sister
Aude are told in ''
Girart de Vienne
''Girart de Vienne'' is a late twelfth-century (c.1180Hasenohr, 547-548.) Old French ''chanson de geste'' by Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube. The work tells the story of the sons of Garin de Monglane and their battles with the Emperor Charlemagne, and ...
'' by
Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube
Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube (i.e. Bertrand from Bar-sur-Aube) (end of the 12th century – early 13th centuryHasenohr, 170.) was an Old French poet from the Champagne region of France who wrote a number of '' chansons de geste''. He is the author of ...
. Roland's youth and the acquisition of his horse
Veillantif
Veillantif (French), Vielantiu (Old French); Vegliantin, Vegliantino or Brigliadoro ( Italian) is the name of Roland the paladin's trustworthy and swift steed in the stories derived from the '' chansons de geste''. The French name comes from ...
and sword are described in ''
Aspremont''. Roland also appears in ''
Quatre Fils Aymon
''The Four Sons of Aymon'' (french: esQuatre fils Aymon, nl, De Vier Heemskinderen, german: Die Vier Haimonskinder), sometimes also referred to as ''Renaud de Montauban'' (after its main character) is a medieval tale spun around the four sons ...
'', where he is contrasted with
Renaud de Montauban
Renaud de Montauban (; also spelled ''Renaut'', ''Renault'', Italian: ''Rinaldo di Montalbano'', Dutch: ''Reinout van Montalba(e)n'') was a legendary hero and knight which appeared in a 12th-century Old French ''chanson de geste'' known as ''Th ...
against whom he occasionally fights.
In
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, the tales of Roland are part of the 13th-century ''
Karlamagnús saga''.
In the ''
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...
''
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...
sees Roland, named Orlando as is usual in Italian literature, in the Heaven of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
together with others who fought for the faith.
Roland appears in ''
Entrée d'Espagne'', a 14th-century Franco-Venetian chanson de geste (in which he is transformed into a
knight errant
A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective ''errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric v ...
, similar to heroes from the
Arthurian
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
romances) and ''
La Spagna'', a 14th-century Italian epic.
From the 15th century onwards, he appears as a central character in a sequence of Italian verse romances as "Orlando", including ''Morgante'' by
Luigi Pulci, ''
Orlando Innamorato
''Orlando Innamorato'' (; known in English as "''Orlando in Love''"; in Italian titled "''Orlando innamorato''" as the " I" is never capitalized) is an epic poem written by the Italian Renaissance author Matteo Maria Boiardo. The poem is a rom ...
'' by
Matteo Maria Boiardo
Matteo Maria Boiardo (, ; 144019/20 December 1494) was an Italian Renaissance poet, best known for his epic poem ''Orlando innamorato''.
Early life
Boiardo was born in 1440, , and ''
Orlando furioso'' by
Ludovico Ariosto. (See below for his later history in Italian verse.) The ''Orlandino'' of
Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his time and a ...
then waxed satirical about the "cult of personality" of Orlando the hero. The Orlando narrative inspired several composers, amongst whom were
Claudio Monteverdi,
Jean-Baptiste Lully,
Antonio Vivaldi and
George Frideric Handel, who composed an Italian-language
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
with ''
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
''.
In
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, Roland gradually became a symbol of the independence of the growing cities from the local nobility. In the late Middle Ages many cities featured defiant
statues of Roland in their marketplaces. The Roland in
Wedel was erected in 1450 as symbol of market and
Hanseatic
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...
justice, and the
Roland statue in front of
Bremen City Hall
The Bremen City Hall (german: Bremer Rathaus) is the seat of the President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. It is one of the most important examples of Brick Gothic and Weser Renaissance architecture in Europe. Sin ...
(1404) has been listed together with the city hall itself on the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
list of
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s since 2004.
In
Aragón
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises th ...
there are several placenames related to Roldán or Rolando, including the mountain pass
Roland's Breach and the rock formation
Salto de Roldán
Salto de Roldán (English: 'Roland's Leap') is a rock formation about north of Huesca in High Aragon, northern Spain, in the foothills of the central Pyrenees. It lies in the westernmost part of Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park. It cons ...
.
In
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
Roland (or ''Rotllà'', as it is rendered in Catalan) became a legendary giant. Numerous places in Catalonia (both North and South) have a name related to ''Rotllà''. In step with the trace left by the character in the whole Pyrenean area, Basque ''Errolan'' turns up in numerous legends and place-names associated with a mighty giant, usually a heathen, capable of launching huge stones. The
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
word ''erraldoi'' (giant) stems from ''Errol(d)an'', as pointed out by the linguist
Koldo Mitxelena
Koldo Mitxelena Elissalt () (also known as ''Luis Michelena''; 1915, Errenteria, Gipuzkoa – 11 October 1987, San Sebastián) was an eminent Basque linguist. He taught in the Department of Philology at the University of the Basque Country, ...
.
In the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
, Roland appears in the ballad o
"Runtsivalstríðið" (Battle of Roncevaux)
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duke of Montebello, Prince of Siewierz (10 April 1769 – 31 May 1809), was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was one of Napoleon's ...
, a Marshal of the First French Empire, was given the nickname ''Roland de l'Armée d'Italie,'' which later became ''Roland de la Grande Armée'' for his braveness and charisma.
A statue of Roland also stands in the city of
Rolândia
Rolândia is a municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil. Rolândia was settled by German immigrants who named it after (and erected a statue to) the medieval hero Roland, a symbol of freedom in Germany.
See also
*Li ...
in Brazil. This city was established by German immigrants, many of whom were refugees from Nazi Germany, who named their new home after Roland to represent freedom.
Figure of speech
The English expression "to give a Roland for an Oliver", meaning either to offer a or ''to give as good as one gets'', recalls the ''Chanson de Roland'' and Roland's companion
Oliver.
References
Sources
* Lojek, A. – Adamová, K.: "About Statues of Rolands in Bohemia", ''Journal on European History of Law'', Vol. 3/2012, No. 1, s. 136–138. (ISSN 2042-6402).
* Adriana Kremenjas-Danicic (Ed.): ''Roland's European Paths''. Europski dom Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik 2006 ().
* Susan P. Millinger, "Epic Values: The Song of Roland", in Jason Glenn (ed), ''The Middle Ages in Texts and Texture: Reflections on Medieval Sources'' (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2012).
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
778 deaths
Anglo-Norman folklore
Fictional knights
8th-century Frankish people
Frankish warriors
French folklore
French legends
Matter of France
Medieval legends
Year of birth unknown
Characters in The Song of Roland