Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France

Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of F

Alfred John Church's *Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France* retells the medieval French chansons de geste cycle surrounding Charlemagne's court, weaving together several linked romances of loyalty, feud, and reconciliation among the Emperor and his vassals. The book opens with Charlemagne holding court in Paris, where Duke Aymon of Ardennes presents his four sons—Reynaud, Alard, Guichard, and Richard—the eldest of whom, Reynaud, is peerless in strength and valor. When Duke Benes of Aygremont defies a summons to court, Charlemagne's son Lothair is sent to threaten him and is killed in the ensuing brawl. Charlemagne eventually pardons Benes, but his nephew Guenes treacherously ambushes and murders Benes under a safe-conduct, sowing the seeds of lasting distrust between the Emperor and Aymon's kin. The central and longest thread follows Reynaud and his brothers after Reynaud kills the King's nephew Berthelot in a quarrel over chess. Outlawed, the brothers flee with their wizard cousin Mawgis and Reynaud's magical horse Bayard, building the fortress of Montanford (later Montalban) in the Ardennes. What follows is a prolonged cycle of sieges, betrayals, and daring rescues: Reynaud disguises himself to win a horse race and steal the King's crown; Mawgis repeatedly uses sorcery to free captured kinsmen, once even spiriting Charlemagne himself out of his own camp; Richard narrowly escapes hanging when Bayard wakes Reynaud in time. Reynaud marries the sister of King John of Gascony and is aided by Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, who comes to respect and even fight alongside him. Despite repeated offers of peace sabotaged by the King's implacable anger, the brothers endure famine at Montalban, sacrificing their horses for food and smuggling supplies through their father Aymon's divided loyalties. Peace finally comes when Reynaud, having captured Charlemagne again, releases him unharmed out of pure loyalty; Reynaud accepts exile and pilgrimage, surrendering Bayard, while his brothers' lands are restored. Reynaud's later life is marked by piety: after pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Mawgis, he returns to find his wife Clare dead of grief, settles his sons, and ultimately labors anonymously and humbly as a mason on a church in Cologne, where jealous fellow workers murder him. Bayard, thrown into the Meuse to drown, instead escapes to live wild in the Ardennes forest. A lighter interlude follows concerning Ralph the Charcoal-burner, who unknowingly shelters the storm-lost Charlemagne, treats him with rough good humor and even strikes him for discourtesy, and is later comically summoned to court and knighted for his boldness. The final and most extended episode concerns the giant Saracen prince Fierabras of Alexandria, who challenges Charlemagne's knights to single combat. After Roland's quarrel with the King, the wounded Oliver takes up the challenge, defeats Fierabras in a long and chivalrous duel, and converts him to Christianity. But when Charlemagne's Twelve Peers, sent to Balan (Fierabras's father, the Saracen Admiral) to demand the Crown of Thorns and other holy relics along with Oliver's fellow prisoners, are themselves captured, they are rescued from a horrific dungeon by Balan's daughter, the beautiful and resourceful Floripas, who has secretly loved the French knight Guy of Burgundy since seeing him in battle. Floripas kills her own governess and the pagan jailer to protect the Frenchmen, later slays a suitor who breaks into her chamber, and helps the knights seize her father's tower stronghold. The knights and Floripas withstand prolonged siege, bombardment, and starvation, sustained by Floripas's magical herbs and by hurling the Admiral's own treasure at his besieging army. Guy of Burgundy is captured and nearly hanged before Roland leads a rescue; Duke Richard of Normandy slips through the Saracen host to carry word of their desperate plight back to Charlemagne, killing King Clarion and seizing his marvelous steed along the way. The narrative breaks off as the Admiral sends for reinforcements to close the bridge of Mantryble against any relief—setting up the climactic rescue by Charlemagne's main army, the eventual defeat and forced baptism (or execution) of Balan, and the marriage of Floripas to Guy of Burgundy that traditionally closes the Fierabras legend. Throughout, Church emphasizes chivalric ideals—mercy toward a beaten sovereign, loyalty between kinsmen even amid rebellion, the tension between vassal honor and royal wrath, and courtesy extended even to defeated enemies—rendering the sprawling French epic cycle into a connected, morally pointed narrative for young readers.

By Alfred John Church · First published 1902 · Genre: Epic/Heroic Epic, Medieval Romance, Fantasy · 40 chapters · 109,948 words

First lines

King Charles held a great court in his capital city of Paris at the / Feast of Pentecost. Thither came the Twelve Peers of France, and / many other men of note, besides strangers from Germany, England, and / other realms. One of the chief of the Frenchmen was Aymon, Duke of / Ardennes, who brought with him his four sons, to wit, Reynaud, Alard, / Guichard, and Richard. All these four were marvellously fair, witty, / and valiant; but the fairest, wittiest, and most valiant was Reynaud, / the eldest born. There was not in the world a man of so great / strength and stature. It is of him and his brothers that this tale / is told.

What this Textopian page supports

Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France is listed on Textopian as a novella by Alfred John Church, dated 1902 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

medieval · legends · knights · adventure · heroic · epic · fantasy · historical fiction · chivalry · warfare · Carolingian era · paladins

Contents

More by Alfred John Church