Medieval latin epic about Charlemagne and Chansons de Geste

Research project P 14676 Medieval latin epic about Charlemagne and Chansons de Geste Christine RATKOWITSCH 27.11.2000 Already during his life Charlemagne was the central figure in a panegyric epic, the so-called `Aachener Karlsepos`, written at the beginning of the 91h century. During the following centuries the emperor became the most important example for nearly every sovereign of the Latin speaking western part of Europe. Therefore many epics and similar poems were written, containing Charlemagne`s heroic deeds as to be imitated by the respecive king, to whom the epic was dedicated. Some of these Latin poems present a more or less historical Charlemagne, because they orientate on Eginhardus` Vita Caroli Magni and the annals of the Frankish empire (e. g. the so-called Poeta Saxo at the end of the 9th, century or Aegidius of Paris about 1200). Besides, especially from the 11th century onwards, there developed a rich poetry full of legends about Charlemagne and inspired by the conflict between the Christian and the Islamic world; there the emperor fought victoriously against the Saracens in the whole of Europe. The major part of these epics belongs to the Old French Chansons de Geste, which later often were recast in other languages (e. g. Franko-Italian, Spanish, Middle High German); but some of these legends also appear in Latin epic poems (e. g. the so-called Fragment of Den Haag, the Karolellus, the Carmen de tradicione Guenonis, the Carlias, written by Ugolino Verino). Until now neither the philologists of the romanic languages nor those of medieval latin intensively inquired after the mutual influences between the Old French/Franko-Italian and the Latin epics. Recently I was able to demonstrate, that even in the second half of the 15th century Ugolino Verino in his Carlias not only used texts written in prose and containing those legends, but that the Aachener Karlsepos and some Chansons de Geste were known to him, too. Therefore the proposed project, which is combining two disciplines, should concentrate on the interaction between between the Latin and the Old French/Franko-Italian epic poetry. Because of the plenty of textual material two main questions should be put: On the one side we have to search for further chansons possibly used by Verino, when he wrote about Charlemagne`s fight against Desiderius in Italy. On the other hand I want to investigate the reception of the Latin historical epic about Charlemagne, especially the Aachener Karlsepos and the panegyrical epic addressed to Louis the Pious by Ermoldus Nigellus, in those Old French and FrankoItalian chansons that contain the same or a comparable matter (e. g. Charlemagne and Karleto, Mainet, Berte aux grands pieds and Berta da li pe grandi, Chevalerie Ogier and Ogier li Danois, Chanson d` Aspremont and Aspramonte, La Destruction de Rome, Saisnes, Couronnement Louis). The selection is concentrated on Charlemagne`s fights in Italy, his stay at Rome, his meeting with the pope, by whom he was crowned Roman emperor and his war against the Saxons, because these matters offer the greatest chances for finding traces of the Latin historical and panegyrical epic on Charlemagne in the poetry of the national languages.

The aim of this interdisciplinary project was a research of the influence of medieval latin poetry and especially the poetry written in national languages, i.e. in Old French, Franco-Italian and Old Italian about Charlemagne, on the voluminous latin epic Carlias, composed by the Florentine poet Ugolino Verino in the 15th century. In this epic dedicated to the French king Charles VIII first are described the legends of Charlemagne`s march into the Holy Land and his fights against the heathens (i.e. the Mohammedans) in Babylon (i.e. Cairo). After a walk through hell, purgatory and heaven (after Dante`s Divine Comedy) is described Charlemagne`s victory over the Saracens in southern Italy and over the Langobards and their king Desiderius in northern Italy. The epic ends by Charlemagne being crowned emperor at Rome. Written in the style of classic latin epics and being related especially to Virgil`s Eneid, the Carlias combines in its contents historical facts (victory over the Langobards, coronation) with legends created in the 11th century (period before the crusades), in which Charlemagne is presented as a protagonist of true faith. These legends formed the content of many medieval Chansons de geste, written in Old French, which were translated in an artificial language called Franco-Italian and then in Old Italian during the 13th and 14th century. Nikolaus Thurn, the first editor and until now the only commentator of the Carlias, is convinced that Verino did not use the Franco-Italian versions: He thinks that Verino`s main sources were Old Italian texts, mostly written in prose, as the Reali di Francia and Aspramonte by Andrea da Barberino and the Spagna in rime. Only in a few passages he does not wholly exclude a possible relation to Franco-Italian verse poems. Further Thurn is examining only the later version of the Carlias, which was edited by him and which just shows many humanistic signs, whereas the older version, conserved only in a manuscript written by Verino himself, which contains much more medieval ideas, was not taken in consideration by Thurn. At the beginning of the project this older version was first completley transcribed, analysed concerning its motives and compared with the later version. Then the structure and motives of many Chansons de geste written in Old French or Franco-Italian were examined and some large complexes of scenes were compared with those of the two versions of the Carlias and with those texts that are considered to be the main sources by Thurn. These are the results of the research: Verino combined I Reali di Francia and La Spagna in rime with the Franco-Italian versions of Karleto, Chanson de Roland and Chanson d`Aspremont: Many motives are found only in Verino and those Franco-Italian texts. By choosing exactly these motives Verino had a special coherent intension: The poet wanted to present Charlemagne as a protagonist against the heathens; therefore he always replaces secular motivations of Charlemagne`s heroic deeds found in the Old Italian texts (for instance concerning his animosity against the Saracene prince Marsilius) by religiously motivated decisions preseved in the Franco-Italian poems. Besides there seems to be a high plausibility, that a copy of the codex containing the Franco-Italian versions of the Chanson de Roland and the Chanson d`Aspremont was preserved either at the court of the Medici in Florence or at the court of the Gonzaga not far away, where it could be read by Verino. In Luigi Pulci, with whom Verino rivaled in poetical concerns on friendly terms, were found verbal quotations taken from this version of the Chanson de Roland.