Matter Of France
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Matter Of France
The Matter of France (), also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and the Paladins. The cycle springs from the Old French '' chansons de geste'', and was later adapted into a variety of art forms, including chanson de geste">chansons de geste'', and was later adapted into a variety of art forms, including Renaissance epics and opera">Renaissance">chanson de geste">chansons de geste'', and was later adapted into a variety of art forms, including Renaissance epics and operas. It was one of the great European literary cycles that figured repeatedly in medieval literature. Three Matters The Matter of France was one of the "Three Matters" repeatedly recalled in medieval literature, the others being the Matter of Britain, relating to the legends of Great Britain and Brittany, and the Matter of Rome which represented the medieval poets' interpretations of Anc ...
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Medieval Literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th, 15th or 16th century, depending on country). The literature of this time was composed of religious writings as well as secular works. Like modern literature, it is a broad field of study, from the utterly sacred to the exuberantly profane, touching all points in between. Works of literature are often grouped by place of origin, language, and genre. Languages Outside of Europe, medieval literature was written in Geʽez, Ethiopic, Syriac language, Syriac, Coptic language, Coptic, Japanese language, Japanese, Chinese language, Chinese, and Arabic, among many other languages. In Western Europe, Latin was the common language for medieval writing, since Latin was the language of the Roman Catholic Church, which domin ...
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Chanson De Saisnes
Jean Bodel (c. 1165 – c. 1210), also spelled Jehan Bodel, was an Old French -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... poet who wrote a number of '' chanson de geste">chansons de geste'' as well as many fabliaux. He lived in Arras">fabliaux.html" ;"title="chanson de geste">chansons de geste'' as well as many fabliaux">chanson de geste">chansons de geste'' as well as many fabliaux. He lived in Arras. Writings Bodel wrote ("Song of the Saxons") about the war of King Charlemagne with the Saxon people, Saxons and their leader Widukind, whom Bodel calls ''Guiteclin''. He also wrote a miracle play called the '':fr:Le Jeu de saint Nicolas, Le Jeu de saint Nicolas'' ("The Play of Saint Nicolas"), which was probably first performed in Arras on 5 December 1200. Set in the middle of an epic battle between Christians and Muslims, the play tells the story of a good Christian who escapes the battle and ...
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Oliver (paladin)
Oliver (in Italian: ''Uliviero'' or ''Oliviero''), sometimes referred to as Olivier de Vienne or de Gennes, is a legendary knight in the Matter of France '' chansons de geste'', especially the French epic ''The Song of Roland''. In the tradition, he was Roland's closest friend, advisor, confidant and brother-in-law to be, one of Charlemagne's twelve peers and brother of Aude, Roland's betrothed. He dies with Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. Some critics have linked his name to the olive tree, a biblical symbol of divine wisdom. Oliver in the ''Song of Roland'' Whereas the portrayal of Roland is commonly seen as recklessly courageous, Oliver was said to exhibit poise and wisdom in combat. He tells Roland that "heroism tempered with common sense is a far cry from madness: "Reasonableness is to be preferred to recklessness" (Oxford manuscript, laisse 131). Oliver was fatally impaled from behind by the Saracen Marganice, but before dying, he used his sword, Hauteclere, to sp ...
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The Song Of Roland
The ''Song of Roland'' () is an 11th-century based on the deeds of the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in Medieval and Renaissance literature from the 12th to 16th centuries. The epic poem written in Old French is the first and one of the most outstanding examples of the ''chanson de geste'', a literary form that flourished between the 11th and 16th centuries in Medieval Europe and celebrated legendary deeds. An early version was composed around 1040 AD, with additions and alterations made up to about 1115 AD. The final poem contains about 4,000 lines. Manuscripts and dating Although set in the Carolingian era, the ''Song of Roland'' was written centuries later. There is a single extant manuscript of the ''Song of Roland''. It is he ...
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Roland
Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; 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 Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the Breton March, responsible for defending Francia's frontier against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's ''Vita Karoli Magni'', which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed in retribution by the Basques in Iberia at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The story of Roland's death at Roncevaux Pass was embellished in later medieval and Renaissance literature. The first and most famous of these epic treatments was the Old French ''Chanson de Roland">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''Chanson de Roland'' of the 11th century. Two masterpieces of Italian Renaissance poetry, the ''Orlando Innamo ...
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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 they play a similar role to the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian romance.-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ..., deriving from the Latin ''comes palatinus'' (count palatine), a title given to close Affinity (medieval), retainers. The paladins remained a popular subject throughout medieval French literature. Literature of the Italian Renaissance (15th and 16th centuries) introduced more fantasy elements into the legend, which later became a popular subject for operas in the Baroque music of the 16th and 17th centuries. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the term was reused outside fiction for small numbers of close military confida ...
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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 '' literatur.html" ;"title="chanson de geste">chansons de geste'', who gives his name to the third cycle of the Charlemagne Romance (heroic literature)">romances dealing with the feudal revolts. There is no single unifying theme in the ''geste'' of Doon de Mayence. The rebellious barons are connected by the poets with Doon by fictitious genealogical ties and all are represented as opposing Charlemagne">genealogy">genealogical ties and all are represented as opposing Charlemagne, although their adventures—insofar as they possess a historical basis—generally occur before (or after) his reign. The general insolence of their attitude to the sovereign suggests that Charlemagne is here only a pseudonym for his weaker successors. The tradition of a traitorous family of Mayence (Mainz), which was developed in Italy into a series of stories about criminals, ap ...
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Heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially bequeathing private property and/or debts can be performed by a testator via will, as attested by a notary or by other lawful means. Terminology In law, an "heir" ( heiress) is a person who is entitled to receive a share of property from a decedent (a person who died), subject to the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction where the decedent was a citizen, or where the decedent died or owned property at the time of death. The inheritance may be either under the terms of a will or by intestate laws if the deceased had no will. However, the will must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction at the time it was created or it will be declared invalid (for example, some states do not recognise handwritten wills as valid, or only in ...
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William Of Gellone
William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II."William of Aquitaine, St."
Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved on 2014-01-17.
In the tenth or eleventh century, a Latin hagiography, the ''Vita sancti Willelmi'', was composed. By the twelfth century, William's legend had grown. He is the hero of an entire cycle of ''chansons de geste'', the earliest of which is the ''Chanson de Guillaume'' of about 1140. In the ''chansons'', he is nicknamed ''Fierabras (nickname), Fièrebrace'' (fierce or strong arm) due to his apparent strength and the ''marquis au court nez'' (margrave with the short nose) as the result of an injur ...
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La Geste De Garin De Monglane
''La Geste de Garin de Monglane'' is the second cycle of the three great cycles of ''chansons de geste'' created in the early days of the genre. It centres on Garin de Monglane. One of its main characters is William of Gellone. The cycle The cycle of Guillaume has more unity than the other great cycles of Charlemagne or of Doon de Mayence, the various poems which compose it forming branches of the main story rather than independent epic poems. There exist numerous cyclic manuscripts in which there is an attempt at presenting a continuous ''histoire poétique'' of Guillaume and his family. Manuscript Royal 20 D xi. in the British Library contains eighteen chansons of the cycle. The conclusions arrived at by earlier writers are combated by Joseph Bédier in the first volume, "Le Cycle de Guillaume d'Orange" (1908), of his ''Legendes epiques'', in which he constructs a theory that the cycle of Guillaume d'Orange grew up round the various shrines on the pilgrim route to Saint Gill ...
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Chanson De Roland
The ''Song of Roland'' () is an 11th-century based on the deeds of the Frankish kingdom, Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Charlemagne, Emperor Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in Medieval literature, Medieval and Renaissance literature, Renaissance literature from the 12th to 16th centuries. The epic poem written in Old French is the first and one of the most outstanding examples of the ''chanson de geste'', a literary form that flourished between the 11th and 16th centuries in Medieval Europe and celebrated legendary deeds. An early version was composed around 1040 AD, with additions and alterations made up to about 1115 AD. The final poem contains about 4,000 lines. Manuscripts and dating Although set in the Carolingian era, the ''Song of Roland'' was written centuries later ...
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Arthur Thomas Hatto
Arthur Thomas Hatto (11 February 1910 – 6 January 2010) was an English scholar of German studies at the University of London, notable for translations of the Medieval German narrative poems ''Tristan'' by Gottfried von Strassburg, ''Parzival'' by Wolfram von Eschenbach, and the ''Nibelungenlied''. He was also known for his theory of epic heroic poetry, and related publications. He retired in 1977, and in 1991 the British Academy elected him as a Senior Fellow. Early life and education Hatto was born in London on 11 February 1910. His father was Thomas Hatto, a solicitor's clerk who later became the Assistant Chief Solicitor in the British Transport Commission legal service, and his mother Alice Hatto (née Waters), a nurse. The family lived in Forest Hill, and later Clapham. When Hatto was eight, towards the end of the First World War, he spent a formative year with his aunt in the relative safety of Barcombe, which Hatto would later call a "still semi-pagan" village where he ...
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