Agrican (or Agricane, Agri Khan) is a king of

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and emperor of Tartary who is a major character in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

chivalric poem ''

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,

. His primary appearance in the story is when he besieges

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

in the castle of Albracca in Cathay. She is defended by Count

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 ...

, who is in love with her and who changes the outcome of the battle in her favor. At one point in the story, Agrican and Orlando directly face off.Book I, Canto XVIII, stanzas 29-55 and Canto XIX, stanzas 3-17. The two fight well into the evening but, because of darkness, are forced to suspend hostilities. So they rest in the peace of the starry night and converse on subjects suited to their dignity. But when Agrican discovers that Orlando is in love with Angelica, and because he does not want to renounce his own love, he leaps into the saddle to resume the fight. The resulting clash, initially unfavorable to Orlando, ends with the death of the Tartar king who, during his death agony, asks to be baptized. He is heard and his conversion to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

is fulfilled before he closes his eyes forever. His body is then laid in arms, as in a funerary monument, near the water fountain from which he received baptism. In the sequel epic, the '' Orlando furioso'' of Ludovico Ariosto, Agrican's son Mandricardo is the subject of several adventures.

References

{{Matter of France Fictional characters introduced in the 12th century Characters in Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso Fictional kings Fictional Mongolian people Matter of France