Girart de Roussillon, also called ''Girard'', ''Gérard II'', ''Gyrart de Vienne,'' and ''Girart de Fraite'', (c. 810–877/879?) was a Frankish Burgundian leader who became

Count of Paris Count of Paris () was a title for the local magnate of the district around Paris in Carolingian times. After Hugh Capet was elected King of France in 987, the title merged into the crown and fell into disuse. However, it was later revived by the ...

in 837, and embraced the cause of Lothair I against

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ...

. He was a son of Leuthard I, Count of Fézensac and of Paris, and his wife Grimildis. Girart is not described as being from Roussillon in authentic historical sources. The placename in his title is derived from a castle he built on Mont Lassois, near

Vix VIX is the ticker symbol and the popular name for the Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index, a popular measure of the stock market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index options. It is calculated and disseminated ...

and

Châtillon-sur-Seine Châtillon-sur-Seine (, ) is a commune of the Côte-d'Or department, eastern France. The Musée du Pays Châtillonnais is housed in old abbey of Notre-Dame de Châtillon, within the town, known for its collection of pre-Roman and Roman relic ...

( Côte-d'Or). Girart de Roussillon also is an epic figure in the cycle of Carolingian

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

s, collectively known as the '' Matter of France.'' In the genealogy of the cycle's legendary heroes, Girart is a son of

Doon de Mayence Doon de Mayence also known as Doolin de Maience, Doon de Maience or Doolin de Mayence was a fictional hero of the Old French ''chansons de geste'', who gives his name to the third cycle of the Charlemagne romances dealing with the feudal revol ...

and appears in various irreconcilable events.

Biography

Girart fought at the Battle of Fontenay in 841, and followed Lothair I to Aix-en-Provence. In 843, Girart married Bertha. They had two children: Thierry and Ava. In 855, Girart became governor of Provence for Lothair's son

Charles of Provence Charles of Provence or Charles II (845 – 25 January 863) was the Carolingian King of Provence from 855 until his early death in 863. Charles was the youngest son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. His father divided Middle Fra ...

. Bertha defended

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Lothair II until that prince's death in 869. He retired with his wife to Avignon where he died probably in 877, certainly before 879.

Romance

The legend of Girart's piety, the heroism of his wife Bertha, and of his wars with Charles passed into the genre of literary romance; however, the historical facts are so distorted that, in the epic ''Girart de Roussillon'', he became an opponent of

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesm ...

who was married to Bertha's sister. The legendary narrative ''Girart de Roussillon'' was long held to be a Provençal work, but its Burgundian origin has been proven. Accounts of Girart are found in several early manuscripts. The earliest ''

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th c ...

'', called ''Le Chanson de Girart de Roussillon'', dates from the second half of the 12th century. The original text, written in rhymed

decasyllable Decasyllable (Italian: ''decasillabo'', French: ''décasyllabe'', Serbian: ''десетерац'', ''deseterac'') is a poetic meter of ten syllables used in poetic traditions of syllabic verse. In languages with a stress accent (accentual ...

s, is preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). It was translated the first time by Paul Meyer in 1884, (Paris: Champion). A recent translation into modern French with notes by Micheline Combarieu du Grès and Gérard Gouiran was published in 1993 (Paris: Librairie générale française). A romance written in rhymed

alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French ''Roman ...

s was written between 1330 and 1349 by

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s in the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

of Pothières, which was founded in about 860 by Girart. It was dedicated to

Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy Odo IV or Eudes IV (1295 – 3 April 1349) was Duke of Burgundy from 1315 until his death and Count of Burgundy and Artois between 1330 and 1347, as well as titular King of Thessalonica from 1316 to 1320. He was the second son of Duke Robe ...

(ca. 1295–1350), and Jeanne de Bourgogne (called "Joan the Lame"), queen of France (1293–1349). The text is composed in a dialect midway between French and

Old Occitan Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label= Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries. Old ...

. Five manuscript copies of this version survive; two in Montpellier, France at the Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire (section médecine), one in Troyes (now held at the

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal The Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal (''Library of the Arsenal'', founded 1757) in Paris has been part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1934. History The collections of the library originated with the private library of Marc-René, 3rd ...

in Paris), one in Paris at the BnF, and one in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

at the

Bibliothèque royale de Belgique The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...

. This version was printed by

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1939 (New Haven: Yale University Press, Yale Romanic Studies, 16). The version in Alexandrines was the source for a romance in prose by

Jehan Wauquelin Jean Wauquelin ( active in the 15th century), born in Picardy, was a writer and translator in French, active in the County of Hainaut in the Burgundian Netherlands, a county now located in Belgium near the border with France. Wauquelin died on 7 S ...

in 1447 (Paris: éd. L. de Montille, 1880). Southern French traditions concerning Girart, in which he is called the son of Garin de Monglane, are embodied in the 13th century narrative in rhymed

verses about the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.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 ...

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-l'Aube. The same traditions also are embraced in ''Aspramonte'' by

Andrea da Barberino Andrea Mangiabotti,Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, eds. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Age''. Collection: La Pochothèque. (Paris: Fayard, 1992. ), pp. 62–63. called Andrea da Barberino ( 1370–1431''The Cambridge Histo ...

, based on the French ''chanson'' '' Aspremont'', where he is called Girart de Frete or de Fraite and he leads an army of infidels against Charlemagne.

References

Sources

*Bloch, R. Howard (1977). ''Medieval French Literature and Law''. Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press. * *Meyer, Paul (1878). ''La légende de Girart de Roussillon'', Romania, no. 7, 1878. p. 161-235 *Meyer, Paul (1884). ''Girart de Roussillon''. A translation in modern French with a comprehensive introduction. *Michel, F. (1856) ''Gerard de Rossillon ... publié en francais et en provençal d'après les MSS. de Paris et de Londres''. Paris. *Tarb, P. (Ed.) (1850). ''Girart de Viane'', in: L. Gautier, ''Epopées francaises'', vol. iv. Reims. *Wulif, F. A. (1874). ''Notice sur les sagas de Magus et de Geirard''. Ed.: Lund. *

External links

*
ARLIMA: ''Girart de Roussillon''
Archives de littérature du Moyen Âge; original sources of various texts.
The Getty: ''The Armies of France and Burgundy with Martel in Prayer''
Illuminated manuscript (c. 1467-1472) showing Charles Martel and Girart de Roussillon preparing for battle.

Illuminated manuscript (c. 1460) from Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna showing Girart and Bertha. {{DEFAULTSORT:Girart de Roussillon 810s births 870s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Roussillon, Girart of Conradines French poems Chansons de geste Matter of France Male characters in literature House of Girard 9th-century people from West Francia

Biography

Romance

See also

References

Sources

External links