Roland
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Flamarande
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{{otheruses1|the legendary figure}}
[[Image:Rolandfealty.jpg|thumb|Roland pledges his [[fealty]] to [[Charlemagne]]; from a manuscript of a ''[[chanson de geste]]''.]]
'''Roland''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Orlando'' or ''Rolando'', [[Old Frankish language|Frankish]]: ''Hruodland'', [[Dutch language|Dutch]]: ''Roeland'', [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''Roldán'' or ''Rolando'', [[Basque language|Basque]]: ''Errolan'', [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: ''Roldão'' or ''Rolando'', [[Catalan language|Catalan]]: ''Rotllan'' or ''Rotllà'') is a character in [[medieval literature|medieval]] and [[Renaissance literature]], the chief [[paladin]] of [[Charlemagne]] and a central figure in the [[Matter of France]]. It is thought that the title character of the [[12th century]] ''[[Song of Roland]]'', which recounts his final stand against the [[Vascones]] during the [[Battle of Roncevaux Pass]], is based on a real person who died in that battle, but the authors of most later [[chansons de geste]] and the Renaissance epics ''[[Orlando innamorato]]'' and ''[[Orlando furioso]]'' made little attempt to establish historical accuracy.
==History==
[[Image:Quedlinburg Roland.jpg|thumb|Roland, [[Quedlinburg]]]]
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):
{{quote|While he was vigorously pursuing the [[Saxon Wars|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 [[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 [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ein.html#9 original Latin text] refers to "Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus". The battle took place on [[August 15|15 August]], AD [[778]].
Roland was the first official appointed to direct Frankish policy in Breton affairs, as local [[Franks]] under the [[Merovingian]] dynasty did not pursue any specific relationship beforehand, more passive-aggressive than anything. What is now divided between Normandy and Brittany, their frontier castle districts (e.g. [[Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine]]) south of [[Mont Saint-Michel]], was the source of present-day [[Gallo language]] and culture that emerged in the likeness of those such as Roland. Roland's successor in ''Brittania Nova'' was [[Guy of the Breton March]], who like Roland, was unable to exert French expansion over [[Brittany]] and merely sustained a Breton presence in the Carolingian-era [[Holy Roman Empire]].
==Legend==
[[Image:roland bremen.jpg|thumb|Roland, [[Bremen (city)|Bremen]] {{Coord|53|4|33.15|N| 8|48|26.30|E}}]]
Roland was a popular legendary figure in medieval Europe. Over the next several centuries, Roland became a "pop icon" in medieval [[minstrel]] culture. According to many legends, he was a nephew of [[Charlemagne]] (whether or not this was true we do not know), turned his life into an [[Epic poetry|epic tale]] of the noble [[Christian]] killed by [[Islam]]ic forces, which forms part of the medieval [[Matter of France]]. Roland's tale is retold in the [[11th century|eleventh century]] poem ''[[The Song of Roland]]'', where he is equipped with the [[Olifant (instrument)|Olifant]] (a signalling horn) and an unbreakable sword, enchanted by various Christian relics, named [[Durendal]]. The first story written about him was ''[[Orlando Innamorato]]'' by [[Matteo Maria Boiardo]]. After his death, the epic was continued as ''[[Orlando furioso]]'' by [[Ludovico Ariosto]] (See below for his later history in Italian verse). In the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' [[Dante]] sees Roland's spirit in the Heaven of [[Mars (planet)|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. In the late Middle Ages many cities sported the display of a defiant Roland statue on their marketplace. The Roland in [[Wedel]] was erected in 1450 as symbol of market justice, and the Roland statue in front of the town hall of [[Bremen (city)|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 it is rendered in Catalan) became a legendary giant. Numerous places in Catalonia (both North and South) have a name related to ''Rotllà''. In step with the trace left by the character in the whole Pyrenean area, Basque ''Errolan'' turns up in numerous legends and place-names associated with a mighty giant, usually a heathen, capable of launching huge stones. Interestingly, [[Basque language|Basque]] word ''erraldoi'' ('giant') stems from ''Errolan''.
More recently Roland's tale has been exploited by historians exploring the development of the early-modern Christian understanding of Islamic culture. In 1972 P. M. Holt used Roland's words to begins an essay about [[Henry Stubbe]]: ''Paien ont tort e crestiien ont dreit'' - 'Pagans are wrong and Christians are right.'
==Orlando==
[[Image:Orlando Furioso 27.jpg|thumb|Illustratation to ''Orlando Furioso'': Orlando saving Olimpia]]
'''Orlando''' is the Italian equivalent of the French Roland (but also the variation ''Rolando'' does exist). The name Orlando/Roland goes back to a Germanic origin, and is said to mean "One who is famous throughout the land". It is also said to be derived from ''hroth'', meaning ''glory'' and ''nantha'', meaning ''audacity''.
===Italian Renaissance romances===
He appeared as a central character in a sequence of verse romances from the [[fifteenth century]] onwards, including ''[[Morgante]]'' by [[Luigi Pulci]], ''[[Orlando Innamorato]]'' by [[Matteo Maria Boiardo]], and ''[[Orlando furioso]]'' by [[Ludovico Ariosto]]. The ''Orlandino'' of [[Pietro Aretino]] then waxed satirical about the 'cult of personality' of Orlando the hero.
The Orlando narrative inspired several composers, amongst whom were [[Claudio Monteverdi]], [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], [[Antonio Vivaldi]] and [[George Frideric Handel]], who composed an Italian [[opera]] with Orlando in the title role, see: ''[[Orlando (opera)|Orlando]]''.
===Later works===
''[[Orlando: A Biography]]'' was written in 1928 by [[Virginia Woolf]], and could at first sight be seen as adding yet some more episodes to the adventures of the (by now imaginary) Orlando character, but Woolf's story takes a completely different turn, and is set in a time different from that of the Renaissance Orlandos.
In the [[Michael Moorcock]] work, Roland is one of the incarnations of the [[Eternal Champion]] and meets [[Elric of Melniboné]] in the novel [[Stormbringer (book)|Stormbringer]].
[[Category:778 deaths]]
[[Category:Fictional knights]]
[[Category:Franks]]
[[Category:Frankish people]]
[[Category:Matter of France]]
[[Category:Medieval legends]]
[[Category:Roland|*]]
[[ca:Rotllà]]
[[da:Grev Roland]]
[[de:Hruotland]]
[[es:Roldán]]
[[eu:Errolan]]
[[fr:Roland]]
[[it:Orlando (paladino)]]
[[nl:Roland (ridder)]]
[[pl:Hrabia Roland]]
[[pt:Rolando]]
[[ru:Роланд]]
[[fi:Roland (kuvitteellinen hahmo)]]
[[sk:Rytier Roland]]