The Legend of Garin the Lorrainer – Variants, Origins, and Influence

PROSE GARIN – ARSENAL

This version is closest to S, featuring S’s abridged opening. The two are not quite identical, but few of the details in which they differ need concern us here. The author trims much of the detail of fighting and shortens the speeches, but changes no incidents.

Fromont has thirty sons, mostly bastards. [This same trait is attributed to various Maganzans in some later Italian works].

PROSE GARIN – PHILIPPE DE VIGNEULLES

Like all medievals, Philippe considers Garin and Gerbert to be a single work, which he divides into three books. Book I includes Paris’ Parts I and II. Book II covers the death of Begon and the ensuing war. Book III begins with the death of Garin and includes all of Gerbert de Metz. He follows the first redaction.

Philippe turns dialogue into indirect summaries, shortens the poem throughout, and adds a few details of his own. Whenever action takes place in Metz, he identifies the locations in the contemporary city.

Garin is buried in the Abbey of Saint Arnoul outside Metz.

PROSE GARIN – DAVID AUBERT

David Aubert’s History of Charles Martel includes, among other stories, that of the Lorrainers, following that of Girart of Roussillon. The compilation was finished in 1463. He follows the chanson closely in incident, but abridges the fight scenes and other descriptions, and recasts dialogue. Nonetheless, the fight scenes are not updated, and faithfully reflect the customs of the 1100’s. Manuel Galopin retains his joie de vivre in the taverns, but is quietly stripped of his magical abilities.

Volume 2 of Aubert’s history opens with an account of how Charles Martel gave a feast at St. John’s Day, with his Queen Alexandrine (sister of Girart of Roussillon’s wife Bertha) and their son Pepin, who was handsome, gracious, pleasant and noble, well taught and having all virtues, notwithstanding his short stature. At the feast, a horrible lion escaped from the royal menagerie, terrifying the guests, who all fled, save for Pepin, who confronted the beast and slew it.

Sometime after this, Girart of Roussillon died, at which the heathen Saxons thought it safe to attack France again. The Holy Father came from Rome to speak with King Charles, and granted him permission to tax the clergy. The book thus transitions into the story of Garin le Loherain, as given in the First Redaction. Volume 2 ends with Guerin, as he spells it, making peace with King Pepin and the Bordelais for the last time before his death.

The Legend of Hervis of Metz

The legend of Hervis de Metz is found in the following versions:

A chanson de geste of some 10,000 assonanced decasyllables, from the start of the 13^th century. Three manuscripts, all of which go on to include Garin and Gerbert. Also two fragments.

A mise en prose of the entire cycle made by Philippe de Vigneulles in 1515. Both manuscripts were lost in the 20^th century, but fortunately copies were made. A printed edition is underway.

HERVIS DE METZ

Duke Pierre of Lorraine and Metz is bankrupt, and constrained to marry his daughter Alice to the rich provost Thierry. With his son-in-law’s money, he pays off his debts and goes on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Thierry and Alice have a son, Hervis, who learns to read and write and joust and fight.

Hervis wishes to be dubbed a knight. His father, however, wants him to be a merchant, and sends him to his (Hervis’) uncles in Provence to teach him the same. Hervis squanders all his money on hawks, hounds, horses, and lavish banquets to which he invites all the town’s merchants, thereby showing his innate nobility. His father, when he returns home, is furious, but Alice restores the peace.

Thierry is stubborn, and sends Hervis with his uncles to Lagny Fair, threating to disown him if he repeats his behavior in Provence.

Meanwhile, the king of Spain has decided to ask in marriage Princess Beatrix of Tyre, sister of King Flore of Hungary [perhaps the hero of Florus and Blanchefleur, but this is nowhere made explicit]. King Eustace of Tyre agrees, but his daughter is kidnapped by slavers on her journey to Spain. They sell her at Lagny Fair, where Hervis sees her and admires her beauty. When she swears she is a virgin, he buys her for 15,000 marks, knowing nothing else about her. He returns home with his new fiancée, at which his father disowns him, and chases the unhappy pair out of Metz.

Fortunately, Hervis has a half-sister who has married the rich burgher Baudris of Metz. She persuades Thierry to take back his son. Hervis and Beatrix (who has not yet revealed her true identity) are married, despite some reluctance, and they conceive Garin the first night.

A tournament is announced at Senlis, between the counts of Bar and of Flanders. Hervis decides to enter. [At this point, MS E switches to alexandrines]

Baudri’s nephew Gerart accompanies Hervis to the tournament, where he fights on the side of Bar and captures the Count of Flanders. Unfortunately, he gambles away all the prize money. This sort of life goes on for seven years, in which time he has his second son, Bégues. After seven years, Baudri and Hervis are bankrupt. [Here E returns to decasyllables].

Beatrix embroiders a beautiful cloth, and tells her husband to sell it in Tyre. He arrives in that city, manages to obtain a loan from prince Baudri, which he squanders on lavish banquets for his fellow merchants. Hervis learns his wife’s true identity, and King Flore of Hungary recognizes his sister’s handiwork (she embroidered her family into the cloth). King Eustace of Tyre buys the cloth for an extravagant sum, but the Queen orders Hervis arrested and tortured until he reveals where her daughter is. The merchants obtain his release, but Eustace sends spies to follow him all the way back to Metz. Hervis returns home, followed by an entourage and the spies, fighting various bandits along the way. One of them, Thierry, he spares and befriends. He presents his newfound wealth to his starving wife and children, who reconcile him and his father Thierry the provost.

Duke Pierre finally returns home from the Holy Land and dubs his grandson Hervis a knight. Pierre’s brother, the Duke of Brabant dies childless, and Pierre is obliged to rescue his newly inherited duchy from the invading king Anseis of Cologne. The spies, meanwhile, have returned to Tyre, and King Flore is en route to Metz. The war between the Lorrainers and the Brabanters proceeds, Hervis defeats Anseis in single combat, who flees, and the Lorrainers lay siege to Cologne. King Flore arrives at Metz, disguised as a merchant. He makes friends with Baudri of Metz, and then kidnaps his sister. Hervis hears the news and leads his army to Tyre. The Tyrians royals rejoice to have Beatrix back, and send word to the king of Spain that he can finally come and marry her. Hervis reaches Tyre first, sends Thierry the ex-bandit into the city disguised as a pilgrim, and through him Beatrix arranges her rescue. Hervis ambushes and “kidnaps” her while she is riding through the woods with her friends. She brings with her the dowry that was meant for the king of Spain. King Flore and King Eustace arrive, reject Hervis’ attempts at reconciliation, and force the Christians to retreat. The Christians eventually return to Metz safely, where King Anseis has rallied his forces and has Duke Pierre on the ropes. Hervis rides to Brabant, and fights Anseis’ ally King Eudart of Scotland (a giant) in a single combat, among other adventures.

The King of Spain, meanwhile, furious at losing his fiancée twice, invades France and lays siege to Metz, with Eustace and Flore as his allies. In the fighting, they capture the provost Thierry and the young Begon. The King of Spain wishes to hang Begon, but Eustace and Flore object. Hervis forces Anseis to make peace and hurries back to Metz, only to find the invading alliance has been dissolved. The King of Spain contents himself with finally laying eyes on his could-have-been-bride, and returns home, as do the other Saracens. There is much rejoicing.

Variants

MSS NT interpolate a link between Hervis de Metz and Garin le Loherain, which we have discussed under the legend of Girart of Roussillon. E ends Hervis and begins Garin without any attempt to link the two.

PROSE HERVIS

A typical mise en prose, fairly faithful, expanding in some places and abridging in others, but the only important difference is that Philippe explicitly states that King Flore is the hero of Floris and Blanchefleur and the father of Bertha Broadfoot.

ORIGINS AND INFLUENCE

The story was written after Garin and Gerbert, but probably before Anseis and Yonnet. Like the first two mentioned poems, it was probably written in Lorraine, by a Lorrainer. The episode of the Tyrian merchants appears to be taken from an obscure work called De Diversitate Temporum, by one Alpert of Metz, of which the only known manuscript is still kept in the monastery of Saint Vincent in that city. The bulk of the work, however, appears to be its author’s own invention, a new combination of various stock motifs, to present a cheerful, light-hearted roman d’aventure, in strong contrast to the bloody tale of revenge it introduces.

The work remained popular in Lorraine, but little known elsewhere. Around 1400, the first few episodes of Hervis were included, greatly abridged, in the Chronique messine rimée.

Let thus much suffice for Hervis of Metz, and let us now speak of his son, Garin the Lorrainer.

The Legend of Auberi le Bourguignon

The legend of Auberi le Bourguignon survives in only one version: a 12^th century chanson de geste of over 20,000 lines. There is no English translation, and no full edition. A summary of this absurdly long romance follows, based on the description by Paulin Paris, Histoire littéraire de la France, volume XXII:

AUBERI LE BOURGUIGNON

Auberi is the son of Basin of Geneva and Erembor. Basin has received the duchy of Bourgogne from Charles Martel after the death of Girart of Roussillon. Basin has a brother, Henri d’Autun, and a brother-in-law, Eude of Langres. Henri and Eude hate Auberi, desiring his inheritance. After Erembor dies, they ally with Basin’s second wife, Hermesend of Turin to betray Basin, and invite the Lombards to invade Bourgogne. Basin is captured and thrown into a dungeon in Pavia.

Henri becomes young Auberi’s guardian, but the boy murders Henri’s two sons in revenge. He then steals Henri’s best horse and flees to Count Eude, whose two sons he also kills. Auberi next flees to the Ermenal-Ville, fief of Raoul, who has wed a bastard daughter of Basin’s. Raoul dubs Auberi a knight, gives him his son Gascelin as squire, and then sends him on his way, for he cannot protect him from Eude. Auderi and Gascelin take refuge with King Orri of Bavaria. Unfortunately, Queen Guiborc (sister of Charles Martel) and Princess Seneheut both fall in love with Auberi. The princes Congre and Malassis decide to resolve this situation by killing Auberi, but are slain by him for their pains. Auberi and Gascelin flee to Flanders, where the Count is in need of soldiers. This time, the Countess falls in love with Auberi. The author was either from Flanders or knew it very well, and he fills this passage with details about the local cities. Auberi accepts the Countess’ favors, considers killing the Count before Gascelin talks him out of it, and instead saves Flanders from the Frisians. A string of ruses to dupe the Count follow, bearing much resemblance to Renart the Fox’s affair with Hersent the she-wolf. Nonetheless, Auberi grows weary of this life, and returns to Bavaria, where King Orri pardons him everything in order to obtain his help in a war against the Frisians and the Russians. Orri is captured in battle, and paraded in front of the castle, with a demand that the city surrender, or he will be executed. Orri shouts to Guiborc not to abandon the castle, but to let him die. Orri is executed, but nonetheless the Saracens storm the city, imprisoning the Queen and the Princess.

Auberi, meanwhile, has gone home to plan his revenge on his uncles, but when he hears the news from Bavaria, he hurries to rescue the women. Seneheut has by now fallen in love with Gascelin instead, so there is no objection to Queen Guiborc marrying Auberi and crowning him King of Bavaria. Auberi has lost his horse, Blanchart, however, in the rescue attempt, and is not quite sure that the reward is worth it.

One morning, Guiborc gets up early to go to church and pray for King Orri’s soul. Auberi, waking up sometime later, thinks she must have left his bed to have an affair, and goes out to the garden to curse and lament. Guiborc returns, sees the bed empty, and thinks he must be out having an affair. Luckily, they run into each other, and all is explained.

Auberi goes hunting, and chases a wild boar out of his domains, whereupon he is ambushed by Anseis, vassal of Count Eude. An long, long series of battles follows, in the course of which Auberi captures Anseis and is about to hang him, when his son Gauteron offers to die in his father’s stead. Auberi is so touched that he spares both their lives. Auberi also captures Eude, and pardons him. Basin dies in prison, and Gascelin is given the Duchy of Bourgogne in fee. Thus we come to the end of the introduction, by Paris’ reckoning.

Gascelin and Seneheut, though in love, are not yet married, as King Auberi wishes for the squire to prove himself by helping him conquer Bourgogne. Tidings of Princess Seneheut’s beauty reach the ears of Lambert d’Oridon, a bandit chief living in the Forest of Arden. He mounts his good horse Papillon, packs up some of his magnificent treasury, and travels to Auberi’s court, pretending to be his long-lost cousin. He says he is bound for the Holy Land, and wishes to leave his goods in the charge of his “cousin.” Despite Guiborc’s misgivings, Auberi agrees to travel to Oridon to see the castle he will be safeguarding. Lambert entertains him lavishly, and Auberi drifts to sleep as a minstrel sings the song of Floovent. Lambert hustles him into bed and lays a beautiful damsel (his nieces) on either side of him. In the morning, Lambert bursts into Auberi’s room and is shocked, shocked, at what he sees, and threatens most dire threats. Auberi pleads for his life, which Lambert grants on condition that he be given Seneheut’s hand in marriage. Auberi swears to bring Seneheut to a certain abbey for the wedding.

Auberi returns home and announces to Seneheut that Gascelin is waiting to marry her in the abbey. Not until they are nearly there does she learn the truth. Auberi apologizes, but must keep his word. Luckily, the armies of Bavaria and Burgundy arrive with him, Seneheut is rescued from the abbey promptly upon entering it, and she returns home to marry Gascelin.

The army lays siege to Oridon, and after a long war, King Pepin the Short intervenes. Auberi is glad to make peace, Lambert is eager to feign peace, but Gascelin still wishes revenge. Lambert gets wind of this, as the three of them are in Paris with King Pepin. As a sign of reconciliation, Lambert trades mantels with Auberi. Gascelin, ignorant of the transaction, stabs his uncle from behind as he prays at Saint-Denis, mortally wounding him. Auberi dies and is buried in Bourguignon with much pomp and honour.

Paulin Paris claims the poet would have done well to end the story here. He did not, however, and a long, long war follows. At some point during the siege of Oridon (Paris does not specify if it is this siege or the previous one) a necromancer named Roger summons a demon to rescue two of Lambert’s prisoners and bring them back to the Burgundians. At the end of the final siege Lambert flees Oridon, hotly pursued by Gascelin. Lambert passes through Paris, persuades the governor not to let Gascelin into the city, and takes the south road towards Corbeil, seeking King Pepin. Gascelin, furious at being locked out, fords the Seine on his horse, catches up with Lambert, and slays him in single combat, at a place ever after called Pré Lambert. Gascelin becomes king of Bavaria, and begets Naimes, the future counsellor of Charlemagne.

Origin of the Legend

Boson (c. 850 -887), Count of Bourgogne and Pavia, was made King of Arles by Charles the Bald. His second wife was Ermengard, daughter of Emperor Louis II. In the civil wars, Kings Louis and Carloman expelled him from Vienne. Boson had a son named Louis the Blind, and a daughter who was betrothed to Carloman, who died before the marriage could happen. Nothing else in the chanson bears any resemblance to reality.

Oridon is said to be not far from Bouillon, towards the jointure of the Semoie and the Meuse. Paris identifies it with Chateau-Regnaud, in the same region.

If Pré Lambert ever existed, its location is lost.

Auberi of Bourguignon also features in Jean de Flagi’s song of the Lorrainers. Here Auberi is the son of a daughter of Hervis de Metz, takes a part in the Lorrainers’ wars, and at last dies outside Bordeaux, slain by Guilllame de Monclin.

The chanson was probably written in the 1100’s, after Raoul of Cambrai. The death of Auberi in the church bears a resemblance to the death of Bevis of Hampton in the Italian versions of his story.

Let thus much suffice for the legend of Auberi le Bourguignon, and let us now speak of Orson of Beauvais.

The Legend of Girart of Roussillon – Origins and Influence

ORIGINS OF THE LEGEND

Girart of Roussillon, Girart of Vienne, and Girart of Euphrate are all inspired by the same historical figure: Girart II, Count of Paris, born 810, ascended 837, died c. 878.

Now Girart I of Paris had married Rotrude (who may have been the daughter of Carloman, son of Charles Martel), and founded the Girardid dynasty of Counts of Paris. His three sons, Stephen, Begon, and Leuthard I, succeeded him in turn as Counts. Leuthard I had two sons: Girart and Adalard. Adalard served as King Louis the Pious’ seneschal, and Girart became Count of Paris. Meanwhile, Count Hugh of Tours had two daughters: Bertha and Ermengarde. Girart II married Bertha sometime before 819, and Ermengarde married Lothair I, son of Louis the Pious and king of Middle Francia, Bavaria, and Italy, and Emperor of the West. In 836, Girart was sent on official business to Italy. In 837, he was made Count of Paris. He lost the title in 841, when he took the side of Lothair I against King Charles the Bald and broke down the bridges across the Seine to inconvenience the latter. Girart was among Lothair’s soldiers at the Battle of Fontenoy in 841, when that king and his nephew Pepin II of Aquitaine were decisively defeated by Louis the German and Charles the Bald. Lothair nonetheless made Girart his count of the palace in 842. When Lothair I died in 855, his son Charles, still a child, inherited Provence as his kingdom, and Girart became his regent. In 860, Girart repelled a band of Vikings who had sailed up the Rhone. The following year, Charles the Bald attempted to disinherit his nephew, but he was repelled, possibly by Girart, and returned to France. Around this time, Girart and Bertha founded the monasteries of Vézelay and Pothièrs. In 863, Charles of Provence died young and childless, and his lands passed to his brother Lothair II, King of Lotharingia, for whom Girart continued to administer them until that king’s death in 869, whereupon his territories were divided by his uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald. Charles went to occupy Provence, but met with resistance from Girart and Bertha. Charles laid siege to Vienne, which was ably defended by Bertha while Girart was holding another castle nearby. Charles, however, first burnt all the lands around Vienne and then promised the people mercy if they surrendered. The people told Bertha they wished to surrender, Bertha send word to Girart, and Girart formally surrendered to Charles on Christmas Eve, 870. The couple went into retirement in their fiefs near Avignon, where Girart died between 877 and 879. He was buried in the abbey of Pothièrs, in Langres, where once could be seen Girart’s tomb on the Gospel side of the chapel, Bertha’s on the Epistle, and, in front of the altar, an epitaph for their infant son Thierry.

Bedier would have it, as usual, that the legend was created in the 11^th or 12^th century by some minstrel who had heard or read the monks’ chronicles of their founder, Girart. He argues that the only similarities between Girart of Paris and Girart of Roussillon are that they fought a king named Charles, had a wife named Bertha, had a son who died young, and founded certain monasteries, all facts that a minstrel could have learned at the abbey. The minstrels did not, however, know about such striking facts as Girart of Paris’ defeat of the Vikings, his protection of the young prince Charles of Provence against his cruel uncle, Bertha’s protection of Vienne on her own, etc., all things we would expect them to know if the story of Girart had been passed down orally.

Although Saint Badilon is real, the cult of St. Mary Magdalene at Vézelay seems to have been an invention of the eleventh century. Although Girart and Bertha did obtain for their monasteries the relics of Ss. Pontien, Eusebius, Andéol and Ostien, there is no record of the relics of the Magdalen there prior to 1050. Unfortunately for Vézelay, in the mid 1200’s a tomb was discovered in Provence. This tomb was, in reality, a Gallo-Roman tomb of the 500’s with a carving of Pontius Pilate washing his hands and a servant holding the washbasin. The discoverer, however, thought the servant was Mary Magdalene preparing to wash the feet of Christ, and the word went out that St. Mary Magdalene’s tomb had been found. The monks of Vézelay now claimed that they had received their relics from the south, but their popularity declined, and the cult in Provence flourished. Had it not been for this discovery, there would have been no association of the Magdalen with Provence, no tradition of St. Lazarus as bishop, no legend of St. Martha taming the Tarrasque, no Holy Blood, Holy Grail, no Da Vinci Code, and Dan Brown would be an obscure third-rate hack writer, instead of a rich and famous third-rate hack writer.

The relics at Vézelay were destroyed the Protestants during the Wars of Religion, and the church turned into a stable. The relics currently venerated there are replacements sent from elsewhere. The shrine in Provence was destroyed during the Revolution, but the skull was saved and is now in a rebuilt shrine. The most likely candidate for the real relics are those brought to Constantinople in the ninth century, but I can find no information on what became of them afterwards, or if they are still preserved today.

Read more on St. Mary Magdalene here.

Val Pergunde is perhaps Valprionda, a suburb of Cahors.

INFLUENCE

Girart of Roussillon appears already in the Oxford Song of Roland as one of the Twelve Peers, and he dies at Roncesvalles. Later works incorporated him into the elaborate genealogies of the Paladins, and made him the brother of Aymon of Dordone, Doon de Nanteuil, and Bueve d’Aigremont. He plays hardly any role, however, in the poems of the Nanteuil cycle or those of the Aymonids. On occasion he fights alongside his kinsmen, but they seldom if ever, if I recall correctly, allude to the events of his life story as given in his own chansons. Later still, Girart was made into one of the twelve sons of Doon de Mayence. Besides the three mentioned above, the other eight were: Gaufrei (father of Ogier the Dane), Grifon d’Hautefeuile (of Altafoglia, one of the Maganzans), Othon, Ripeus, Seguin of Bordeaux (father of Huon), Pierre (father of the Swan Knight), Morant de Riveirs, and Hernaut de Girone.

Some MSS of Hervis de Metz insert an episode, between Hervis proper and the beginning of Garin le Loherain, wherein Girart is at war with Charles Martel. Charles asks the Pope for permission to tax the Church, reminding him that he has always given generously to her and now needs her help. The Pope agrees, but Girart is on the warpath and nearly at Paris. Charles has enough money now, but not yet enough men, and so, reluctantly, sends to Hervis for aid. Hervis makes ready to go to France, but before he gets there, Girart conveniently dies of illness. He is buried in an abbey he founded at Bar-sur-Aube.

There are other minor references to Girart. Auberi le Bourguignon conflates Girart of Roussillon and Girart of Eufrate in a prologue. Adenet le Roi alludes to the story in Bertha Broadfoot, as does the anonymous Italian who wrote the Entrée en Espagne. Girart is mentioned in some of the chronicles, more usually as the founder of abbeys than as the adversarial brother-in-law of Charles the Bald or Charles the Hammer, or as the real Girart II of Paris.

Let thus much suffice for the Legend of Girart of Roussillon, and let us now speak of Auberi of Bourguignon, to him his fiefs were given when he died without inheritors.

The Legend of Girart of Roussillon

The legend of Girart of Roussillon is found in the following versions:

Girart de Roussillon. Rhyming decasyllables, 1150, in an artificial dialect that combines French and Provencal.

Vita nobilissimi comitis Gerardi de Rossellon. A Latin saint’s life.

Le Vie de Gerard. A French translation of the Latin life. Can be found with the Latin in Romania, vol. 7, pp. 161-235.

Gerart van Rossilun. A Low German translation of the saint’s life, of which only one page survives.

Girart de Roussillon. Rhyming Alexandrines, 1300’s, based on the decasyllables and the Latin life.

Jehan de Wauquelin’s Girart in prose, 1477, based on the Alexandrines.

David Aubert’s Histoire de Charles Martel, 1448, taken from Wauquelin.

Jean Mansel’s Fleur des Histoires, also from Wauqeulin.

Popular chapbooks, descended from Mansel’s version.

GIRART IN DECASYLLABLES

The poem claims to have been written by a monk named Sestu [Sextus], who began it in the sweet springtime. Charles Martel is holding a joust at Pentecost when word comes that Rome is under siege by the Saracens. Charles and his army travel thither to save the day with the help of the Emperor of Constantinople’s men. In return the Emperor agrees to give his elder daughter Bertha to Charles and his younger, Elissent, to Girart of Roussillon. Girart is sent to fetch them to France. When the girls arrive, however, Charles sees that Elissent is more beautiful, and demands to switch. Girart is furious, and threatens war. Charles offers him as compensation to be released from all his feudal obligations. Girart asks Elissent if she loves him, and she says yes. Thereupon Girart agrees to make peace, so that she can be Queen, and they will love truly and nobly. The double marriage is celebrated. When Charles releases Girart from his vassalage, he keeps only one right: the right to hunt in Girart’s forests. Queen Elissent gives Girart a ring, and the two part with tears. They love truly and nobly.

Some time later, Charles decides to go hunting in Roussillon, without asking leave of Girart. He prepares the hunt with his vassals, and sends a herald to Girart ordering him to do homage for his lands. Girart answers that he and his father before him held the land in alleu [that is, not as a fief, but in their own right], that he has four bold nephews, and that he does not care a fig for Charles’ power. Charles promptly lays siege to Roussillon. The siege lasts all summer, until the King bribes Girart’s seneschal Richier of Sordane, a peasant’s son, to open the gates for him. Girart awakens to find the enemy inside his castle, and he is obliged to flee to Avignon, which he also holds. He raises an army there and returns to reclaim Roussillon. Fouque kills Richier in the battle. Charles, meanwhile, is in Orleans. Girart sends Fouque as messenger to Charles, who is exceedingly displeased. Thierry says that this is what comes of using treason instead of honest fighting. Charles is angrier still, but Thierry reassures him that he has no love for Girart, because Girart’s father Drogon and uncle Odilon made him an outlaw in the woods for seven years, until Charles restored him to favor and gave him his sister as wife. Charles and Fouque meet in a monastery near Roussillon, and agree to trial by battle, in the field of Vaubeton. The loser will have to travel to the Holy Land as a pilgrim. So many knights come that there are none left anywhere else in France. In the battle, Drogon has a hauberk from the forge of Espandragon [King Uther?] and the sword of Marmion [otherwise unknown]. Nonetheless, Thierry kills him and his brother Odilon. God stops the battle by striking Charles’ and Girart’s standards with lightning, turning them to ashes. The two agree to a five year truce, and that Thierry will be banished.

Meanwhile, in the confusion of the civil war, the Saracens, Saxons and Frisians have all invaded France. Charles marches south first, to deal with Seguran of Syria, who has invaded Gascony. Unbeknownst to him, Girart is there, too, and the brothers-in-law are formally reconciled in Val Pergunde. The French go north to repel King Rabeu [Raimbaut] of Frisia, and Girart serves the king well in other battles over the years. When the five years are up, Girart formally pardons Thierry, and all seems to be well.

It is not well, however, for Girart’s cousins Boson and Seguin (sons of Odilon) murder Thierry and his two sons during a tournament Charles is holding at Pentecost. War again breaks out. Charles sends an ambassador to Girart, who refuses to make peace. Charles defeats Girart in battle after battle, including Mont-Amele, and Civaux. Girart’s men begin to abandon him. Girart is defeated at Civaux, but as he flees he kills some of Charles’ men who have taken sanctuary at a roadside cross, and then goes on to burn down a monastery in which some other men of Charles’ have taken refuge. He then returns to Roussillon, which Charles besieges. Girart insists, against Fouque’s advice, on doing battle in the field. The men of Roussillon are slaughtered, Fouque taken captive, Boson slain. Girart and Bertha head for Hungary, but learn that her family is dead, and they can expect no shelter there. Instead, they settle in Aurillac, where they live as peasants for twenty-two years and do penance for their sins. He becomes a coal-burner, she a seamstress. After twenty-two years, Girart returns to France in disguise and manages to obtain an interview with Queen Elissent by showing her his ring. She recognizes him and obtains his pardon from Charles. For seven years, there is peace. Girart has two sons by his wife after their return. One dies young, but the other grows strong and healthy. Unfortunately, Girart has not learned his lesson about showing favor to the children of peasants: his seneschal, an ex-serf named Guy de Risnel, kills Girart’s son and blames it on Charles, hoping to start the war again. The war does indeed start. Guy repents too late. Girart takes Charles prisoner in battle, but the Pope makes peace, and Girart and Bertha return to Vézelay, to end their days in peace. Bertha sneaks out every night to work on the church, which causes Girart some alarm, until he discovers the reason for her absence. Girart has the body of Saint Mary Magdalene transferred to the monastery of Vézelay, which he joins after Bertha’s death. The wars began in 700, and lasted sixty years, all told, but now he dies in peace and sanctity.

VITA COMITIS GIRARDI

The Vita Girardi is found in its original Latin, and in an old French translation, both of which were printed by P. Meyer in Romania, vol. VII. Scholars agree it was based on the chanson de geste.

Girart is stated to have served under Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, Charles the Bald, and Louis II. He was the son of Drogon, born in Avignon. He married Bertha, daughter of Count Hughes of Sens. Bertha’s sister Eloyse marries King Charles. When Count Hughes dies, his sons-in-law quarrel over his inheritance, which starts the war. Girart loses and spends seven years in the forest, after which he and Bertha go to Eloyse, disguised as pilgrims. The Queen makes peace, but Charles the Bald has wicked counselors, who stir up war. Girart defeats Charles, but forbears to pursue him in his flight. They fight 12 or 13 battles, until an angel bids Charles make peace. Girart and Bertha build monasteries, where miracles happen. Girart’s two sons die a natural death in this version. The mention of miracles reminds the author about earlier events in Girart’s life, so now he relates some more details about the war, telling how Charles took Rousillon by treason, Girart reclaimed it, and God intervened by striking both their standards with lightning. Back in the present, Bertha dies and is buried in Pothièrs. Two years later, Girart dies at Avignon, requesting to be buried by his wife. The folk of Avignon try to keep his body, but they are stricken with a seven-year famine. An angel appears to a monk, bidding him transfer the body. So it is done, and Girart works miracles at his new grave.

GIRART IN ALEXANDRINES

Based on the poem and the Vita, but insists that the king is Charles the Bald. Louis the Pious split his empire between Louis the German, Charles the Bald, and Lothaire, who promptly went to war. Girart stayed neutral. The brothers made a treaty at Verdun. Charles the Bald reigned thirty-two years until his own doctor poisoned him, in 878. Bertha died three yeas after. Girart seven years after Bertha. Before that, though, Girart had a very large territory in southeast France. The kings of Hungary, Span, Sicily, Aragon, Navarre, Galicia, and Seville are all his allies. Fouchier le Marshall is the son of Hernault. Girart has four nephews: Fouque, Gibert, Seguin, Boz, the sons of the Count of Provence. Girart himself is eight feet tall. His children, Eve and Theodore, died young. A description of Poitiers follows, and an account of how the Vandals invaded Roussillon, and the city was destroyed and rebuilt. The author suggests it was named after rossignols [nightingales]. Girart, in sum, has almost as much land as Charles. They marry Bertha and Eloise, the daughters of Count Hugons of Sens. When he dies, his sons-in-law quarrel over his inheritance, despite Bertha’s pleading for peace. Charles lays siege to Roussillon, whereupon the rest of Girart’s fiefs surrender without a fight. Bertha advises Girart to surrender. Girart sends Fouque to Charles, as in the decasyllabic poem. Fouque is about to attack Charles, but courtiers restrain him. Girart is defeated and driven from Roussillon to Poligny, where he is defeated again, and flees with Bertha. They intend to go to King Oton of Hungary, but instead are obliged to live in the woods where Girart works as a charcoal burner. Eventually, the reconciliation takes place as in the Vita. Girart and Betha do good works, but at last Girart asks Charles for Bertha’s fiefs back, whereupon Charles declares war. Girart thinks he’s bluffing, and takes possession of the disputed land, whereupon Charles attacks him. Girart defeats Charles in Flanders and at Soissons, then comes the battle of Valbeton, in Pierre-Pertuise. In the battle, Drogon is killed. After the battle, a truce is made, but no lasting peace. Charles returns home, and Girart and Bertha build monasteries. They bring Saint Eusebius to Pothièrs, and Saint Pontien to Vézelay. Saint Badilon, a bishop, brings the body of St. Mary Magdalene from Aix in Provence to Vézelay. Charles resumes the war and lays siege to Roussillon. Girart’s chamberlain betrays him and opens the gates. Girart manages to retake the castle, but Charles sets fire to it as he retreats, and it is ruined. Girart flees and builds a new castle, Chatillon. Charles lays siege to this one, too. Girart sends Bertha to Provence, and himself retreats to Montargis. He and Charles battle at Sixte, near Pont-sur-Yonne. Girart is victorious, and chases the king all the way to Paris, which he besieges. But God sends an angel to make peace. Girart and Bertha return home to live piously and work miracles and Vézelay and Pothièrs. Bertha and Girart die and his vassals fight over his body, all as in the Vita. Miracles occur at their tombs. The lame are healed, a vandal is blinded, and Bertha appears in glory to the sacristan. A hermit sees seats in Heaven prepared for their souls, as in the Vita.

WAUQUELIN’S GIRART

Is a mere mise en prose of the Alexandrines, with a few details of Burgundian local color.

DAVID AUBERT’S HISTORY OF CHARLES MARTEL

Is based on Wauquelin, but he restores Bertha and Eloyse to their place as princesses of Hungary. According to Aubert, Charles the Hammer was the son of Eustache of Berry, who was son of Duke Gloriant of Berry. Charles married the fair Marcebille, daughter of King Theodorus of France, much against that monarch’s will. He then fell in with Duke Girart of Roussillon, and they became fast friends. They went to Constantinople, where they served the Emperor and had many adventures, before returning home, the one to become King of France, the other to become Duke of Bourgogne. The story then continues as in Wauquelin, only much abridged.

JEAN DE MANSEL

I can find little information on him, but what I have indicates that he did little of interest. He slightly abridged Wauquelin, and the chapbooks that followed him and were based on him presumably did the same, with each new edition being even more corrupt than the one before it.

So much for the fables of Girart of Roussillon, and now let us look at the true history of Girart II of Paris.

The Legend of Charles Martel

The popular muse appears to have combined Charles the Hammer with his grandson Charles the Great. The Hammer has very few romances in which he even features and only one, to my knowledge, in which he is the protagonist. Though Pippin the Short is usually remembered as the father of Charlemagne, Pippin’s father is often forgotten, or replaced with such people as King Rother or Agnolo Michele. Even his great victory over the Muslim hordes at Tours left no trace in the oral tradition, although perhaps it lies beneath some of his grandson’s legendary victories.

There is, however, one romance in which the Hammer has a starring role: David Aubert’s Histoire de Charles Martel. Or at least, he stars in the first part. The bulk of the romance is devoted to the adventures of Girart of Roussillon, Orson of Beauvais, and the Lorrainers. The first part, however, features Charles as the protagonist. Some scholars think it is based on a lost chanson de geste. Be that as it may, the story is clearly very late, and is a typical late Carolingian cliché-fest. As David Aubert has never been printed, the following summary is based on the chapter titles as given in Paul Meyer’s introduction to Girart of Roussillon.

DAVID AUBERT’S LEGEND OF CHARLES MARTEL

Duke Gloriant of Berry lays siege to the city of Lusarne in Spain, which belongs to the Saracens. His eldest son, Huitasse [Eustace] de Berry captures Princess Ydorie of Lusarne from her guardian giant Orrible, and marries her. The Admiral [emir] is furious, takes Gloriant captive, and chases Huitasse away. He returns home to Bourges, whence his brother manages to expel him. As if this were not bad enough, King Theodorus of France [Theuderic IV] learns from his astrologers that the son of Huitasse, named Charles Martel, will be king after him, and plots to kill the lad. Fortunately, Gloriant escapes prison and returns home, where he manages to reconcile his sons. Little Charles is raised by Raimbaut the Marshall and his wife Hermentine, in Paris. He grows of an age to prove himself, and is a wonder. He participates in jousts at Paris, and wins the prize thereof and the love of King Theodorus’ daughter Marsibelle. The two are wed in Avignon. King Theodorus is furious, and imprisons the abbot of Saint-Denis and Count Galleran of Provence for allowing the wedding. He then sends Galleran to arrest his daughter and new son-in-law. Charles is gone, however. He has met Girart of Roussillon and they are adventuring together, en route to Constantinople, where they leave Marsibelle while they adventure. A long war ensues, involving King Agoulant of Jerusalem, king Menelaus of Dammarie, Emperor Belinas of Constantinople, a civil war in France between King Theodorus and Charles’ father Duke Huitasse of Berry, various minor knights and nobles, captivities, rescues, escapes, and all the usual paraphernalia, except, apparently, magic, which does not seem to feature until later in the romance. In the course of these wars, Charles impregnates Menelaus’ daughter Sagramoire. Fortunately for her, she soon marries Agoulant (who has killed Menelaus), and is able to pass off her son Archefer as Agoulant’s. Not till he is grown does she reveal the secret. Meanwhile, peace has been made in France, and King Theodorus has died, leaving the realm to his son Ydrich [Childerich III]. Archefer sees this as a sign that France is weak, and invades with a Saracen army. Charles conquers and converts him. The barons of France all agree to depose the incompetent Ydrich and make Charles king of France. After his coronation, Charles goes overseas with Archefer to convert Sagramoire. Unfortunately, they get caught up in another round of wars. Marsebille leads an army from France to Outremer, but Archefer and Sagramoire kill her. Charles captures his son, and sends him on a quest to Hell, from which, after many adventures, he returns alive, thanks to the enchanters Carniquant, whom he learned from, and Sorbrin, whom he killed and whose book he stole. Archefer presents his father with a great black horse, a gift from Lucifer himself.

Girart of Roussillon now travels to the Holy Sepulchre, and on his way home becomes engaged to Alexandrine, daughter of King Othon of Hungary.

Meanwhile, Duke Hillaire of Aquitaine, brother of Theodorus, wishes to be king of France, now that Ydrich has died. He invades, and very nearly succeeds in driving out Charles Martel, who is, however, saved by Girart. After Hillaire surrenders, Charles and Girart plan to marry the two daughters of King Othon, and the story segues into Girart of Roussillon, in a version which follows that of Wauquelin very closely.

ORIGINS OF THE LEGEND

In actual history, Charles Martel was the bastard son of Pepin II, Mayor of the Palace and de facto ruler of France. Charles was imprisoned by Pepin’s justly irritated wife Plectruda. When Pepin died in 715, Plectruda became the regent for her six-year-old grandson Theodebald. Charles, aged twenty-five, escaped from prison, a civil war broke out, the Saxons invaded, and King Dagobert III died, probably from assassination (715). The Franks opposed to Charles chose Chilperic II as their king, the son of Childeric I. Charles, while skirmishing with northern invaders, set up his own king: Clotair IV, whose exact relation to the Merovingians is unclear. Chilperic fled to Aquitaine, where Duke Eudes supported him – until Charles threatened to invade. Luckily for everyone, Clotair died, and Charles accepted Chilperic as king. Chilperic II died in 720, and the Franks elected Theuderic IV as king, the son of Dagobert III. The Moors crossed the Pyrenees that same year, and occupied the southern coast of France. Eudes recovered Toulouse in 721, but could not save Narbonne, and after several devastating raids thought it prudent to give his daughter Lampegia to the Muslim governor of Catalonia. Theuderic IV died in 727, and Charles never bothered replacing him. In 732, Abdelrahman, the Emir of Spain, attempted to conquer all of France, drove Eudes out of Aquitaine, but was defeated and slain by Eudes and Charles at the Battle of Tours [Poitiers]. In 735, Eudes died. Charles attempted to seize his territory, but was eventually obliged to leave Eudes’ son Hunauld in possession, though as his vassal. Charles next attempted conquering southwestern France, but failed to accomplish anything of value besides reclaiming Avignon for the Christians. Indeed, he often  seemed more interested in fighting Christians then the Saracens, and burned the Christian cities of Nîmes, Agde, and Beziers on his way back to the north to fight the Saxons. In 739, however he was recalled to the south by King Liutprand of Lombardy, in concert with whom he drove the Saracens (slightly) back to the west. Charles died in 741, and was succeeded as Mayor by his sons Carloman and Pepin III the Short. Faced with rebellions on every hand, including from their bastard brother Grifon, the joint Mayors raised Childeric III to the throne in 743, to help restore order. No one knows how Childeric was related to the Merovingian line, if he even really was. The rebellions were put down, Carloman retired to a monastery in 747, and Pepin, by permission of Pope Zacharias, sent Childeric to a monastery in 751 and crowned himself King. In 754 Pope Stephen II travelled to Paris to consecrate Pepin and his sons Carloman and Charles as patrici Romanorum, and forbade the people of France, under pain of excommunication, to ever take a king who was not of their family

As can be seen, there is only the vaguest resemblance between actual history and David Aubert’s romance.

Thus Charles Martel became King of France, and now let us turn to various knights who lived during his reign and what befell them, to wit:

Girart of Roussillon

Orson of Beauvais

Auberi le Bourguignon

The Legend of Vivian of Aigremont

The legend of Vivien of Monbranc, brother of Malagise, is found in the following versions:

The chanson de geste in rhymed Alexandrines, in the manuscript Montpellier H. 247, from between 1350 and 1400. The poem is from around 1225-1275, but the only surviving copy is very obviously abridged.

The prose rendering in BNf. Fr. 19.173, rather expanded, and interlaced with the history of Maugis.

No English translations.

VIVIEN L’AMACHOUR DE MONBRANC

MANUSCRIPT M: MONTPELLIER

Containing Doon de Mayence, Gaufrey, Ogier le Danois, Gui de Nanteuil, Maugis D’Aigremont (abridged) Vivien l’Amachour (probably abridged, but no earlier copies are known), and Renaud de Montauban (abridged, ending lost, stops as Renaud is on pilgrimage).

Vivien and his wife Esclarmonde convert to Christianity, to the anger of Sodant of Babylon, who lays siege to Vivien’s castle of Monbranc. They send for help to Bueves of Aigremont, Aymon of Dordonne, Girart of Roussillon, Doon of Nanteuil, and Maugis. Bueves and Maugis call on Charlemagne for aid, threatening to renounce their vassalship if he refuses. He refuses, and they do so, with insults. Lohier, Charles’ son, is infuriated, and strikes Maugis with the flat of his sword, but Maugis makes an illusionary river flow between them, and escapes with his father. They join their kinsmen, including Renaut, Aalart, and their horse Bayart. Maugis sends his squire Fousifie ahead, who makes himself and his dromedary invisible to pass the Pagan lines and reach Monbranc. Vivien, encouraged by his arrival, makes a sally, but is captured. The Pagans send him to Babylon, but Maugis, Renaud and Aalart rescue him. A long and bloody battle follows, wherein King Othon, King Brandoine, and Brandoine’s uncle Hernaut de Moncler are slain on the Christian side, and everyone on the heathens’. Maugis returns to Rocheflour with Oriande. Vivien and Esclarmonde remain in Monbranc. Bueves lives peacefully until the day Lohier is sent to him.

ORIGINS OF THE LEGEND

Pure fiction. Written c. 1240-1260. After Renaud de Montauban and Maugis d’Aigremont, but before Gaufrey, Doon de Mayence, and Gaydon. An Amachour is allegedly a Saracen title, probably in reality a corruption of “Emir”.