Medieval France
. A late 12th-century chanson de geste of some 11,000 decasyllabic rhyming lines, Aspremont is preserved in multiple manuscripts, a number of which were copied in England and Italy. In Italy, the poem gave rise to Franco-Italian adaptations and the Cantari d’Aspramonte and Andrea da Barberino’s Aspramonte in prose; through its Anglo-Norman connection, the story appears in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland.
The epic treats Charlemagne’s defense of southern Italy from a Saracen invasion. Charles is aided by the rebel baron Girart de Fraite, who proves his loyalty when Christendom is in danger, and young Roland, who performs his first acts of prowess.
Aspremont is important for the splendor of its traditional, rhetorical style in celebration of heroism and for its “correction” of the Chanson de Roland, its notion of a more perfect Christian universe, one without pride or division, supposed to have existed prior to the events of Roncevaux, when Roland was young and Charlemagne in his prime.
William C.Calin
Brandin, Louis, ed. La chanson d’Aspremont, chanson de geste du XIIe siècle. 2 vols. Paris: Champion, 1919–21.
Newth, Michael A., trans. The Song of Aspremont (La chanson d’Aspremont). New York: Garland, 1989.
Calin, William.
“Problèmes littéraires soulevés par les chan-sons de geste: l’exemple d’Aspremont.” In Au carrefour des routes d’Europe: la chanson de geste. 2 vols. Aix-en-Provence: CUER MA, 1987, Vol. 1, pp. 333–50.
Mandach, André de. Naissance et développement de la chanson de geste en Europe. Geneva: Droz, 1975–80, Vols. 3–4: Chanson d’Aspremont.
Van Waard, Roelof. Études sur l’origine et la formation de la Chanson d’Aspremont. Groningen: Walters, 1937.
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