In the

Matter of France The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French ''chans ...

, Ganelon (, ) is the

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

who betrayed

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 E ...

's army to the

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

, leading to 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 ...

. His name is said to derive from the Italian word ''inganno'', meaning fraud or deception.Boiardo, ''Orlando Innamorato'', trans. Charles Stanley Ross, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995; I, i, 15, iv, p. 5 and note p. 399. He is based upon the historical Wenilo, the

archbishop of Sens The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Senonensis et Antissiodorensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Sens et Auxerre'') is a Latin Rite Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The Archdiocese comp ...

who betrayed King

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 se ...

in 858.

Appearances

Ganelon's most famous appearance is in ''

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 represented as a well-respected Frankish baron;

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 ...

's own stepfather and Charlemagne's brother-in-law. According to this Old French

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 ...

Ganelon was married to Charlemagne's sister and had a son with her. Ganelon resents his stepson's boastfulness, great popularity among the Franks and success on the battlefield. When Roland nominates him for a dangerous mission as messenger to the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

s, Ganelon is deeply offended and vows vengeance. This revenge takes the form of treachery, as Ganelon plots the ambush at Roncesvals with Blancandrin. At the end, justice is served when Ganelon's comrade

Pinabel Pinabel, also known as Pinabello, is one of Charlemagne's vassals in ''The Song of Roland'', ''Orlando furioso'', and other works within the corpus of writings known as the Matter of France. Pinabel is the nephew and friend of the knight Ganelon. D ...

is defeated in a

trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...

, showing that Ganelon is a traitor in the eyes of God. Ganelon is torn limb from limb by four fiery horses. In Canto XXXII of the Book of Inferno in

Dante's Dante's is a nightclub and live music venue in Portland, Oregon. The venue, located along West Burnside Street and owned by Frank Faillace, hosts a variety of acts ranging from burlesque to rock music. Dante's is housed in an unreinforced masonr ...

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 an ...

'', Ganelon (''Ganellone'') has been banished to Cocytus in the depths of

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

as punishment for his betrayal to his own country in the second round of the ninth circle called Antenora. Ganelon ( it, Gano; commonly: ''Gano di Pontieri'', i.e. "Ganelon of Ponthieu" or ''Gano di Maganza'', i.e. "Ganelon of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

".) also appears in Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

romances dealing with Charlemagne, Roland (Italian: ''Orlando'') and

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 ' ...

(Italian: ''Renaldo'' or ''Rinaldo''), such as

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,

's ''

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 r ...

'' and

Luigi Pulci Luigi Pulci (; 15 August 1432 – 11 November 1484) was an Italian diplomat and poet best known for his ''Morgante'', an epic and parodistic poem about a giant who is converted to Christianity by Orlando and follows the knight in many adventur ...

's ''

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 i ...

''. The treachery and dishonesty of the House of Maganza became proverbial in Italy, as for example in this inscription of 1472 on the wall of a castle in

Canzo Canzo (; lmo, Canz , locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Italian province of Como. It is the last town north of the historical Brianza region of Lombardy, capital of the Lake Como Triangle community and a regional tourism destinati ...

: ''Non te fidare de femina nesuna / che sono tute dela caxa de Maganza'' (Don't trust any woman, / for they're all from House of Mainz). In ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'',

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

wrote, "To have a bout of kicking at that traitor of a Ganelon, he on Quixotewould have given his housekeeper, and his niece into the bargain." He is also mentioned in Chaucer's ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's '' magnum opu ...

'', both in "The Shipman's Tale", where his gruesome fate is a byeword (193-94: "... God take on me vengeance/ as foul as evere hadde Genylon of France") and in "The Nun's Priest's Tale" (225: "O false assassin, lurking in thy den! O new Iscariot, new Ganelon!").

The Account of Ganelon's treachery

Following is an account of Ganelon's crucial role in Charlemagne's willful ignorance, which brings about the death of Duke Benes of Aygremount, derived from the prose version

and prose romance " Les Quatre Fils Aymon" (also known as "

") and translated to English by

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books. His parentage a ...

as " The Right Pleasant and Goodly Historie of the Foure Sonnes of Aymon".Chapter 1, pp.51–53, a Modern English rendering published for The Early English Text Society by N. Trubner & Co., 1885. ''Now, a little before the feast of St. John the Baptist, King Charlemagne held a great court in Paris, and Duke Benes did not forget to go there as he had promised. And so he departed from Aygremount with two hundred knights and took his way to Paris to serve the king, as he would have him do.'' ''Now, the King being in Paris, his nephew the Earl Ganelon, Foulkes of Moryllon, Hardres, and Berenger, came to him and told him that Duke Benes was coming to serve him with two hundred knights, and Ganelon said: "Sire, how may you love or be well served by him who so cruelly has slain your son, our cousin? If it were your pleasure, we should well avenge you of him, for truly, we would slay him."'' ''"Ganelon," said the king, "that would be treason, for we have given him our truce. But do as you will, so that the blame turn not upon me; and keep you well. For in certain the Duke of Aygremount is very powerful and of great kindred; and well might you find yourself with much to do, if you carry out your intent."'' ''"Sire," said Ganelon, "care nothing for that. There is no man in all the world rich enough to undertake anything against me or my lineage. And Sire, tomorrow early we shall depart with 4,000 fighting men; and you may be sure we shall deliver the world of him."'' ''"Certainly," said the king, "that would be treason."'' ''"Care nothing for that," said Ganelon, "for he slew well your son Lohier by treason, and he was my kinsman; and therefore I will be avenged if I may."'' ''"Now do as you will," said the king, "understanding always that I am not consenting thereto."'' ''When morning came, Ganelon and his knights departed early from Paris, and with them full 4000 fighting men. And they rode without tarrying until they came to the Valley of Soissons; and there they encountered Duke Benes with his followers.'' ''When Duke Benes saw them coming he said to his men, "Lords, I see that yonder are some people of the king's coming from the court."'' ''"It is of no importance," said one of his knights.'' ''"I know not what it may be," said the Duke, "for King Charlemagne is well able to think to avenge himself. And also he has with him a lineage of people who are deadly and cruel; that would be Ganelon, Foulkes of Moryllon, and certain others of his court. And in truth, last night I dreamed that a griffin came out of the heavens and pierced my shield and armor, so that his claws struck into my liver and my spleen. And all my men were in great torment and eaten by boars and lions, so that none escaped but one alone. And also, it seemed to me that out of my mouth issued a white dove."'' ''Then one of his knights said that all was well, and he should not dismay himself because of the dream. "I know not what God shall send me," said the Duke, "but my heart dreads me for this dream."'' ''Then Duke Benes commanded that every man should arm himself. And his knights answered that they would glady do so, and all sought their arms and equipment. And now you shall hear of the hard hewing and of a thing heavy to recount: the great slaughter that was made of the good Duke Benes of Aygremount, by the traitor Ganelon.'' The text is online at: https://archive.org/details/rightplesauntno4400caxtuoft

References

{{The Song of Roland Fictional characters introduced in the 11th century Matter of France Characters in The Song of Roland Characters in Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso Fictional knights People executed for treason against France Trials by combat