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''Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne'' (''The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne'')Also called the ''Voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et à Constantinople'' (''Charlemagne's Voyage to Jerusalem and Constantinople''). is an

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 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 ...

'' (epic poem) dealing with a fictional expedition 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 ...

and his

paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, where ...

s. The oldest known written version was probably composed around 1140.The ''

Trésor de la langue française The ''Trésor de la langue française'' (''TLF'', subtitled ''Dictionnaire de la langue du XIXe et du XXe siècle (1789–1960)'') is a 16-volume dictionary of 19th- and 20th-century French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: ...

'' credits ''Voyage de Charlemagne'' as ca. 1140. See for example the etymology o
tournoyer
Two 15th-century reworkings of the story are also known. The romance is preserved in a single manuscript, the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

Royal, 16. E. VIII. However, the manuscript was

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

in 1879,''Pèlerinage ou Voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et à Constantinople''
on ''Dictionnaire Etymologique de l'Ancien Français'', Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften. and all subsequent editions are based on

Eduard Koschwitz Eduard Koschwitz (7 October 1851, Breslau – 14 May 1904, Königsberg) was a Romance philologist.NDB/ADB ...

's edition.

Summary

Charlemagne asks his wife if any king wears a crown better than he does. To Charlemagne's outrage, she answers that the (fictional)

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Hugo wears one better. Under the pretense of a pilgrimage, Charlemagne and his

Twelve Peers The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, where ...

set out for the east. They go to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

first, where they meet the

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

, who gives them many important relics to take back, and also the title of Emperor. On the way home, they stop at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, a very beautiful and rich city free from theft and poverty. There they meet Hugo, indeed a very handsome and glorious king, standing on a golden plough. They are invited to the palace, an edifice which stands on a pole and revolves when the wind revolves. Charlemagne and the Peers are welcomed in courtly fashion and they are assigned a beautiful room, in which King Hugo has hidden a spy. Charlemagne and his companions drink too much and start to joke, about their extraordinary abilities.

Olivier Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popul ...

says he can sleep with Hugo's daughter a hundred times during a single night, Turpin claims he can juggle apples while standing with each leg on a different running horse, and so forth. The next day, when confronted with these jokes, Charlemagne and his Peers retreat to their quarters ashamed. There, they pray to God in front of the relics, and promptly an angel appears, saying he will help Charlemagne. Charlemagne returns to Hugo and claims that he is indeed capable of all the things he and his companions boasted about. Hugo doesn't believe it, but with the help of God, the Peers can perform their tasks. Hugo is very impressed and takes a vow to become Charlemagne's vassal. Once back home he forgives his wife. Plot summaries are available online in French. One by

Paulin Paris Alexis Paulin Paris (25 March 180013 February 1881) was a French scholar and author. Life Paris was born at Avenay ( Marne). He studied classics in Reims and law in Paris. He published in 1824 an ''Apologie pour l'école romantique'' (''In De ...

,''Notice sur la chanson de geste intitulée: Le voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et à Constantinople'', Paulin Paris, published in ''Jahrbuch für romanische und englische Literatur'', 1, 1859,
pp. 198-211
Internet Archive. and another by

Gaston Paris Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris (; 9 August 1839 – 5 March 1903) was a French literary historian, philologist, and scholar specialized in Romance studies and medieval French literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, 19 ...

,''La Chanson du Pèlerinage de Charlemange'', Gaston Paris, in ''La poésie du Moyen Âge. Leçons et lectures. Première série''. 1903, pp
119-126
Internet Archive. his son.

Later use

Whether ''Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne'' is a satire on the genre of the ''chanson de geste'' or not is debated. Also, the date and location of the composition of the poem are unknown. The text has also been translated into Old Norse prose, into the so-called '' Karlamagnus Saga''. The prose translation into

Middle Welsh Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...

, '' Pererindod Siarlymaen'', is found complete together with the other tales of the Welsh cycle of Charlemagne, ''Cân Rolant'', ''Cronicl Turpin'' and ''Rhamant Otfel'', in two Welsh manuscripts of the middle of the 14th and late-14th century (

White Book of Rhydderch The White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh: ''Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch'', National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 4-5) is one of the most notable and celebrated surviving manuscripts in Welsh. Mostly written in southwest Wales in the middle of the 14th century ...

, Peniarth 5, and

Red Book of Hergest The ''Red Book of Hergest'' ( cy, Llyfr Coch Hergest, Oxford, Jesus College, MS 111) is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preser ...

). The later ''chanson de geste'' '' Galiens li Restorés'' derives, in part, from the ''Pèlerinage'' and tells of the adventures of Galien, the son of Olivier and the Emperor of Byzantium's daughter.

Footnotes

Editions and translations

* ''Charlemagne'', an Anglo-Norman poem of the twelfth century now first published with an introduction and a glossarial index by Francisque Michel. 1836. *"Le pèlerinage de Charlemagne: pub. avec un glossaire" ed.

Anna Julia Cooper Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (August 10, 1858February 27, 1964) was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Black liberation activist, and one of the most prominent African-American scholars in United States history. Born into slaver ...

, Eduard Koschwitz. Paris: A Lehure, 1925. ext and glossary.*''Le voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et à Constantinople'' ed. Paul Aebischer. Geneva: Droz, 1965. ext.*''The pilgrimage of Charlemagne = Le pèlerinage de Charlemagne'' tr. Glyn S. Burgess, Anne Elizabeth Cobby. New York: Garland, 1988. ranslation.*''Ystorya de Carolo Magno'' ed. Stephen Joseph Williams. Caerdydd 1930 (argraffiad newydd 1968). *''Sechs Bearbeitungen des Altfranzösischen Gedichts von Karls des Großen Reise nach Constantinopel'' ed. Eduard Koschwitz. Heilbronn 1879. exts and Translations.

External links

Le voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et à Constantinople
on ''Archives de littérature du moyen âge''. Laurent Brun et al., last updated June 15, 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelerinage de Charlemagne, Le 1140s books Chansons de geste French poems Epic poems in French Cultural depictions of Charlemagne