''Aiquin'' (also spelled ''Aquin'' or ''Acquin''), subtitled ''La conqueste de la Bretaigne par le roy Charlemaigne'' ("The Conquest of Brittany by King Charlemagne"), is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -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 geste'' (heroic narrative poem) about the rivalry between a Saracen king, Aiquin, and the Christian emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

. The French medievalist Joseph Bédier called it a "consolidation of history and legend in an imposing ensemble." It survives in one fifteenth-century manuscript, BnF fr. 2233, now in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

. It is usually attributed to , possibly a cleric of Dol. According to historian Éric Borgnis-Desbordes, it was written in the early thirteenth century, probably around 1213 and under the guise of a

chanson de geste The , from 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poetry, 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 centuries, shortly ...

featuring

and the Viking invasions in the tenth century, the author may have alluded to “the transition from Plantagenet domination to Capetian influence in Brittany”. It is the oldest extant French text from

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. The setting of the ''chanson'' almost certainly corresponds to the period 919–37 in Breton history, when the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

(Vikings newly settled in northern France) persistently raided Brittany. It conflates Saracens (''Sarrasin'') and Arabs (''Arabis'') with Normans (''Norois''), and places Aiquin's origins in the north country (''Nort pais''). It also turns

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 mil ...

, the Frankish hero of the earlier ''

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 surv ...

'', into a native Breton. Inspired by ''Aiquin'', the family of the famous French soldier

Bertrand du Guesclin Bertrand du Guesclin (; 1320 – 13 July 1380), nicknamed "The Eagle of Brittany" or "The Black Dog of Brocéliande", was a Breton knight and an important military commander on the French side during the Hundred Years' War. From 1370 to his ...

(died 1380) claimed to descend from the Saracen king.

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References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{refend Chansons de geste