Roland
This article is about the historical/legendary figure, for other uses, see Roland (disambiguation).Roland (
Frankish:
Hruodland,
Italian:
Orlando) is a character in
medieval and
Renaissance literature, the chief
paladin of
Charlemagne and a central figure in the
Matter of France. It is thought the title character of the
12th century Song of Roland, which recounts his final stand against the
Muslims during the
Battle of Roncevaux Pass, is based on a real person who died in that battle (under different circumstances), but the authors of most later
chansons de geste and the Carolingian epics
Orlando Innamorato and
Orlando Furioso made little attempt to establish historical accuracy.
There exists only one historical mention of a French Roland, found in the section of
Vita Karoli Magni on Roncevaux Pass, written by
Charlemagne's courtier and biographer
Einhard. Here is the relevant passage, in the 9th of 33 chapters (plus a lengthy postscript):
While he was vigorously pursuing the
Saxon war, almost without a break, and after he had placed garrisons at selected points along the border, [Charles] marched into
Spain [in 778] with as large a force as he could mount. His army passed through the
Pyrenees and [Charles] received the surrender of all the towns and fortified places he encountered. He was returning [to Francia] with his army safe and intact, but high in the Pyrenees on that return trip he briefly experienced the treachery of the
Basques. That place is so thoroughly covered with thick forest that it is the perfect spot for an ambush. [Charles's] army was forced by the narrow terrain to proceed in a long line and [it was at that spot], high on the mountain, that the Basques set their ambush. [...] The Basques had the advantage in this skirmish because of the lightness of their weapons and the nature of the terrain, whereas the Franks were disadvantaged by the heaviness of their arms and the unevenness of the land. Eggihard, the overseer of the king's table, Anselm, the count of the palace, and Roland, the lord of the Breton March, along with many others died in that skirmish. But this deed could not be avenged at that time, because the enemy had so dispersed after the attack that there was no indication as to where they could be found. (Dutton, Paul Edward, ed. and trans.
Charlemagne's Courtier: The Complete Einhard, pp. 21-22. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press, 1998.)
The
original Latin text refers to "Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus". The battle took place on
15 August, AD
778.
Over the next several centuries, Roland became a "pop icon" in medieval
minstrel culture. The legend growing around him, which made him a nephew to
Charlemagne (whether or not this was true we do not know), turned his life into an
epic tale of the noble
Christian killed by
Islamic forces, which forms part of the medieval
Matter of France. Roland's tale is retold in the
eleventh century poem
The Song of Roland, where he is equipped with the
Olifant (a signalling horn) and an unbreakable sword enchanted by Christian relics and named
Durendal. See
Orlando for his later history in Italian verse, leading to the epic
Orlando Furioso by
Ludovico Ariosto. In the
Divine Comedy Dante sees Roland's spirit in the Heaven of
Mars together with others who fought for the faith.
In
Germany, Roland gradually became a symbol of the independence of the growing cities from the local nobility, and in the late middle ages many a city sported the display of a defiant Roland statue on their market place. The Roland in front of the town hall of
Bremen (
1404) is listed together with the town hall on the List of
World Heritage Site from the
UNESCO since
2004.
In
Catalonia Roland (or
Rotllà as Catalan people say) became a mythical powerful giant. Numerous places in Catalonia (both North and South) have a name related to
Rotllà.
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Image of Roland
