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Thechanson de geste (Old French for 'song ofheroic deeds',[a] fromLatin:gesta 'deeds, actions accomplished'[1]) is amedieval narrative, a type ofepic poem that appears at the dawn ofFrench literature.[2] The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th centuries, shortly before the emergence of thelyric poetry of thetroubadours andtrouvères, and the earliest verseromances. They reached their highest point of acceptance in the period 1150–1250.[3]
Composed in verse, these narrative poems of moderate length (averaging 4000 lines[4]) were originally sung, or (later) recited, byminstrels or jongleurs. More than one hundredchansons de geste have survived in approximately three hundred manuscripts[5] that date from the 12th to the 15th century.
Since the 19th century, much critical debate has centered on the origins of thechansons de geste, and particularly on explaining the length of time between the composition of thechansons and the actual historical events which they reference.[6] The historical events thechansons allude to occur in the 8th through 10th centuries, yet the earliestchansons that have survived were probably composed at the end of the 11th century: only threechansons de geste have a composition that incontestably dates from before 1150: theChanson de Guillaume,The Song of Roland andGormont et Isembart:[6] the first half of theChanson de Guillaume may date from as early as the 11th century;[7][8]Gormont et Isembart may date from as early as 1068, according to one expert;[9] andThe Song of Roland probably dates from after 1086[10] to c.1100.[6][11]
Three early theories of the origin ofchansons de geste believe in the continued existence of epic material (either as lyric poems, epic poems or prose narrations) in these intervening two or three centuries.[12] Critics likeClaude Charles Fauriel,François Raynouard andGerman Romanticists likeJacob Grimm posited the spontaneous creation of lyric poems by the people as a whole at the time of the historic battles, which were later put together to form the epics.[13] This was the basis for the "cantilena" theory of epic origin, which was elaborated byGaston Paris, although he maintained that single authors, rather than the multitude, were responsible for the songs.[14]
This theory was also supported by Robert Fawtier and byLéon Gautier (although Gautier thought thecantilenae were composed inGermanic languages).[14] At the end of the 19th century,Pio Rajna, seeing similarities between thechansons de geste and old Germanic/Merovingian tales, posited a Germanic origin for the French poems.[14] A different theory, introduced by the medievalistPaul Meyer, suggested the poems were based on old prose narrations of the original events.[12][15]
Another theory (largely discredited today[16]), developed byJoseph Bédier, posited that the earlychansons were recent creations, not earlier than the year 1000, developed by singers who, emulating the songs of "saints' lives" sung in front of churches (and collaborating with the church clerics[16]), created epic stories based on the heroes whose shrines and tombs dotted the greatpilgrimage routes, as a way of drawing pilgrims to these churches.[17] Critics have also suggested that knowledge by clerics of ancientLatin epics may have played a role in their composition.[15][17]
Subsequent criticism has vacillated between "traditionalists" (chansons created as part of a popular tradition) and "individualists" (chansons created by a unique author),[15] but more recent historical research has done much to fill in gaps in the literary record and complicate the question of origins. Critics have discovered manuscripts, texts and other traces of the legendary heroes, and further explored the continued existence of a Latin literary tradition (cf. the scholarship ofErnst Robert Curtius) in the intervening centuries.[18] The work of Jean Rychner on the art of the minstrels[16] and the work ofParry andLord onYugoslavian oral traditional poetry,Homeric verse andoral composition have also been suggested to shed light on theoral composition of thechansons, although this view is not without its critics[19] who maintain the importance ofwriting not only in the preservation of the texts, but also in their composition, especially for the more sophisticated poems.[19]
Composed inOld French and apparently intended for oral performance byjongleurs, thechansons de geste narrate legendary incidents (sometimes based on real events) in the history ofFrance during the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries, the age ofCharles Martel,Charlemagne andLouis the Pious, with emphasis on their conflicts with theMoors andSaracens, and also disputes between kings and their vassals.
The traditional subject matter of thechansons de geste became known as theMatter of France. This distinguished them fromromances concerned with theMatter of Britain, that is,King Arthur and hisknights; and with the so-calledMatter of Rome, covering theTrojan War, the conquests ofAlexander the Great, the life ofJulius Cæsar and some of hisImperial successors, who were given medieval makeovers as exemplars ofchivalry.[20]
A key theme of thechansons de geste, which set them off from the romances (which tended to explore the role of the "individual"), is their critique and celebration of community/collectivity (their epic heroes are portrayed as figures in the destiny of the nation and Christianity)[21] and their representation of the complexities offeudal relations and service.
The subject matter of thechansons evolved over time, according to public taste. Alongside the great battles and scenes of historic prowess of the earlychansons there began to appear other themes. Realistic elements (money, urban scenes) and elements from the new court culture (female characters, the role of love) began to appear.[3] Otherfantasy and adventure elements, derived from the romances, were gradually added:[3]giants,magic, andmonsters increasingly appear among the foes along withMuslims. There is also an increasing dose of Eastern adventure, drawing on contemporary experiences in theCrusades; in addition, one series ofchansons retells the events of theFirst Crusade and the first years of theKingdom of Jerusalem. The conflicts of the 14th century (Hundred Years' War) brought a renewed epic spirit and nationalistic (or propagandistic[22]) fervor to somechansons de geste (such asLa Chanson deHugues Capet).[23]
The poems contain an assortment of character types; the repertoire of valiant hero, brave traitor, shifty or cowardly traitor,Saracen giant, beautiful Saracen princess, and so forth. As the genre matured, fantasy elements were introduced. Some of the characters that were devised by the poets in this genre include thefairyOberon, who made his literary debut inHuon de Bordeaux; and the magichorseBayard, who first appears inRenaud de Montauban. Quite soon an element of self-parody appears; even the august Charlemagne was not above gentle mockery in thePèlerinage de Charlemagne.
Thenarrative structure of thechanson de geste has been compared to the one in theNibelungenlied and increolelegends byHenri Wittmann[24] on the basis of commonnarreme structure as first developed in the work ofEugene Dorfman[25] andJean-Pierre Tusseau[26]
Earlychansons de geste were typically composed inten-syllable lines grouped inassonanced (meaning that the last stressed vowel is the same in each line throughout the stanza, but the last consonant differs from line to line)stanzas (calledlaisses). These stanzas are of variable length.
An example from theChanson de Roland illustrates the technique of the ten-syllable assonanced form. The assonance in this stanza is one:
Desuz un pin, delez un eglanter
Un faldestoed i unt, fait tout d'or mer:
La siet li reis ki dulce France tient.
Blanche ad la barbe et tut flurit le chef,
Gent ad le cors et le cuntenant fier.
S'est kil demandet, ne l'estoet enseigner.
Under a pine tree, by a rosebush,
there is a throne made entirely of gold.
There sits the king who rules sweet France;
his beard is white, with a full head of hair.
He is noble in carriage, and proud of bearing.
If anyone is looking for the King, he doesn't need to be pointed out.
Laterchansons were composed inmonorhyme stanzas, in which the last syllable of each line rhymes fully throughout the stanza. Laterchansons also tended to be composed usingalexandrines (twelve-syllable) lines, instead of ten-syllable lines (some earlychansons, such asGirart de Vienne, were even adapted into a twelve-syllable version).
The following example of the twelve-syllable rhymed form is from the opening lines ofLes Chétifs, achanson in theCrusade cycle. The rhyme is onie:
Or s'en fuit Corbarans tos les plains de Surie,
N'enmaine que .ii. rois ens en sa conpaignie.
S'enporte Brohadas, fis Soudan de Persie;
En l'estor l'avoit mort a l'espee forbie
Li bons dus Godefrois a le chiere hardie
Tres devant Anthioce ens en la prairie.
So Corbaran escaped across the plains of Syria;
He took only two kings in his company.
He carried away Brohadas, son of the Sultan of Persia,
Who had been killed in the battle by the clean sword
Of the brave-spirited good duke Godfrey
Right in front of Antioch, down in the meadow.
These forms of versification were substantially different than the forms found in theOld French verseromances (romans) which were written inoctosyllabicrhymedcouplets.
The public of thechansons de geste—the lay (secular) public of the 11th to the 13th centuries—was largelyilliterate,[27] except for (at least to the end of the 12th century) members of the great courts and (in the south) smaller noble families.[28] Thus, thechansons were primarily an oral medium.
Opinions vary greatly on whether the earlychansons were first written down and then read from manuscripts (althoughparchment was quite expensive[29]) or memorized for performance,[30] or whether portions were improvised,[29] or whether they were entirely the product of spontaneousoral composition and later written down. Similarly, scholars differ greatly on the social condition and literacy of the poets themselves; were they culturedclerics or illiterate jongleurs working within an oral tradition? As an indication of the role played by orality in the tradition of thechanson de geste, lines and sometimes whole stanzas, especially in the earlier examples, are noticeablyformulaic in nature, making it possible both for the poet to construct a poem in performance and for the audience to grasp a new theme with ease.
Scholarly opinions differ on the exact manner of recitation, but it is generally believed that thechansons de geste were originally sung (whereas the medieval romances were probably spoken)[30] by poets,minstrels or jongleurs, who would sometimes accompany themselves, or be accompanied, on thevielle, a mediævalfiddle played with a bow. Several manuscript texts include lines in which the jongleur demands attention, threatens to stop singing, promises to continue the next day, and asks for money or gifts.[29] By the middle of the 13th century, singing had probably given way to recitation.[3]
It has been calculated that a reciter could sing about a thousand verses an hour[31] and probably limited himself to 1000–1300 verses by performance,[27] making it likely that the performance of works extended over several days.[31] Given that manychansons from the late 12th century on extended to over 10,000 verses or more (for example,Aspremont comprises 11,376 verses, whileQuatre Fils Aymon comprises 18,489 verses), it is conceivable that few spectators heard the longest works in their entirety.[32]
While poems likeThe Song of Roland were sometimes heard in public squares and were no doubt warmly received by a broad public,[33] some critics caution that thechansons should probably not be characterized as popular literature[34] and somechansons appear particularly tailored for an audience of aristocratic, privileged or warrior classes.[35]
More than one hundredchansons de geste have survived in around three hundred manuscripts[5] that date from the 12th to the 15th century. Several popularchansons were written down more than once in varying forms. The earliestchansons are all (more or less) anonymous; many later ones have named authors.
By the middle of the 12th century, the corpus of works was being expanded principally by "cyclisation", that is to say by the formation of "cycles" ofchansons attached to a character or group of characters—with newchansons being added to the ensemble by singing of the earlier or later adventures of the hero, of his youthful exploits ("enfances"), the great deeds of his ancestors or descendants, or his retreat from the world to aconvent ("moniage") – or attached to an event (like the Crusades).[36]
About 1215Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube, in the introductory lines to hisGirart de Vienne, subdivided the Matter of France, the usual subject area of thechansons de geste, into threecycles, which revolved around three main characters (see quotation atMatter of France). There are several other less formal lists ofchansons, or of the legends they incorporate. One can be found in thefabliau entitledDes Deux Bordeors Ribauz, a humorous tale of the second half of the 13th century, in which a jongleur lists the stories he knows.[37] Another is included by theCatalan troubadourGuiraut de Cabrera in his humorousensenhamenCabra juglar: this is addressed to ajuglar (jongleur) and purports to instruct him on the poems he ought to know but does not.[38]
The listing below is arranged according to Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube's cycles, extended with two additional groupings and with a final list ofchansons that fit into no cycle. There are numerous differences of opinion about the categorization of individualchansons.
The chief character is usually Charlemagne or one of his immediate successors. A pervasive theme is the King's role as champion ofChristianity. This cycle contains the first of thechansons to be written down, theChanson de Roland or "The Song of Roland".
The central character is notGarin de Monglane but his supposed great-grandson,Guillaume d'Orange. Thesechansons deal with knights who were typically younger sons, notheirs, who seek land and glory through combat with the Infidel (in practice,Muslim) enemy.
This cycle concernstraitors and rebels against royal authority. In each case the revolt ends with the defeat of the rebels and their eventual repentance.
This local cycle of epics ofLorraine traditional history, in the late form in which it is now known, includes details evidently drawn fromHuon de Bordeaux andOgier le Danois.
Not listed by Bertrand de Bar-sur-Aube, this cycle deals with theFirst Crusade and its immediate aftermath.
Thechansons de geste reached their apogee in the period 1150–1250.[3] By the middle of the 13th century, public taste in France had begun to abandon these epics, preferring, rather, the romances.[59] As the genre progressed in the middle of the 13th century, only certain traits (like versification,laisse structure, formulaic forms, setting, and other clichés of the genre) remained to set thechansons apart from the romances.[59] The 15th century saw the cycles ofchansons (along with other chronicles) converted into large prose compilations (such as the compilation made byDavid Aubert).[23][60] Yet, the themes of the epics continued to exert an influence through the 16th century.[60]
Thechansons de geste created a body ofmythology that lived on well after they ceased to be produced in France.
The Frenchchanson gave rise to theOld Spanish tradition of thecantar de gesta.
Thechanson de geste was also adapted in southern (Occitan-speaking) France. One of the three surviving manuscripts of thechansonGirart de Roussillon (12th century) is in Occitan,[61] as are two works based on the story of Charlemagne and Roland,Rollan a Saragossa[62] andRonsasvals (early 12th century).[63] Thechanson de geste form was also used in such Occitan texts asCanso d'Antioca (late 12th century),Daurel e Betó (first half of the 13th century), andSong of the Albigensian Crusade (c.1275) (cfOccitan literature).
In medievalGermany, thechansons de geste elicited little interest from the German courtly audience, unlike the romances which were much appreciated. WhileThe Song of Roland was among the first French epics to be translated into German (byKonrad der Pfaffe as theRolandslied, c.1170), and the German poetWolfram von Eschenbach based his (incomplete) 13th century epicWillehalm (consisting of seventy-eight manuscripts) on theAliscans, a work in the cycle ofWilliam of Orange (Eschenbach's work had a great success in Germany), these remained isolated examples. Other than a few other works translated from the cycle of Charlemagne in the 13th century, thechansons de geste were not adapted into German, and it is believed that this was because the epic poems lacked what the romances specialized in portraying: scenes of idealized knighthood, love and courtly society.[64]
In the late 13th century, certain Frenchchansons de geste were adapted into theOld NorseKarlamagnús saga.
InItaly, there exist several 14th-century texts in verse or prose which recount the feats of Charlemagne inSpain, including achanson de geste inFranco-Venetian, theEntrée d'Espagne (c.1320)[65] (notable for transforming the character of Roland into aknight errant, similar to heroes from theArthurian romances[66]), and a similar Italian epicLa Spagna (1350–1360) inottava rima. Through such works, the "Matter of France" became an important source of material (albeit significantly transformed) in Italian romantic epics.Morgante (c.1483) byLuigi Pulci,Orlando innamorato (1495) byMatteo Maria Boiardo,Orlando furioso (1516) byLudovico Ariosto, andJerusalem Delivered (1581) byTorquato Tasso are all indebted to the French narrative material (the Pulci, Boiardo and Ariosto poems are founded on the legends of the paladins of Charlemagne, and particularly, of Roland, translated as "Orlando").
The incidents and plot devices of the Italian epics later became central to works of English literature such asEdmund Spenser'sThe Faerie Queene; Spenser attempted to adapt the form devised to tell the tale of the triumph ofChristianity overIslam to tell instead of the triumph ofProtestantism overRoman Catholicism.
TheWelsh poet, painter, soldier and engraverDavid Jones'sModernist poem "In Parenthesis" was described by contemporary criticHerbert Read as having "the heroic ring which we associate with the old chansons de geste".
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