The Song of Roland is a medieval epic poem in Old French, composed around the eleventh century and the oldest major work of French literature. The best-known manuscript is held in Oxford, and the author is unknown, though the text names a Turold. It tells a legendary and dramatized version of a real event, the ambush of Charlemagne's rear guard by Basque forces at the Roncevaux Pass in 778, but turns the attackers into Saracens and the fight into a Christian crusade. Roland, the emperor's nephew, refuses to sound his horn for help until too late, and is betrayed by his stepfather Ganelon. The poem is a key example of the chanson de geste and expresses the feudal and religious values of its time.
Before and after
- from April 1096 to October 1096People's Crusade
- 1098Birth of Hildegard of Bingen
- from 15 July 1099 to 18 May 1291Kingdom of Jerusalem
- from 11th century to 14th centuryOrigins of Catharism
- 11th centuryPublication of The Song of Roland
- 11th centuryBayeux Tapestry
- from 11th century to 17th centuryConstruction of Bagrati Cathedral
- 11th centuryConstruction of Daphni Monastery
- 11th centuryOrigins of Shah-i-Zinda
More in Art, literature & culture
- from 8th century to 13th centuryHouse of Wisdom
- 12th centuryPublication of Primary Chronicle
- c. 1260sPublication of Poetic Edda
- 15 April 1452Birth of Leonardo da Vinci
- c. 1485Painting of The Birth of Venus
- 1499Pietà (Michelangelo)
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes.