Charlemagne and his Legend in Early Spanish Literature and Historiography ed. by Ryan G. Giles and Matthew Bailey

Abstract

Reviewed by: Charlemagne and his Legend in Early Spanish Literature and Historiography ed. by Ryan G. Giles and Matthew Bailey Scott Ward Giles, Ryan G. and Matthew Bailey, eds. Charlemagne and his Legend in Early Spanish Literature and Historiography. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2016. 203 pp. ISBN: 978-18-4384-420-4. This title forms the part of the series Charlemagne: A European Icon that examines in six original essays the evolution of the conception of the figure of Charlemagne in Spain from the late medieval period into Spain's Golden Age. The chronological journey begins with Matthew Bailey's essay, "Charlemagne as a Creative Force in the Spanish Epic." Bailey provides an effective summary of the varying accounts as described in the chronicles of the events surrounding Roncesvalles. He notes the shift from, as well as the relationship between, the "historiographical" events and participants – as found in the chronicles – and the more literary ones as depicted in the songs, especially in the Poema de Fernán González. He further examines how, as the centuries passed, a nationalistic identity eventually emerged causing the focus to shift from Charlemagne and Roland to local heroes who defended their homeland, being personified at some indeterminable point in the fictional warrior Bernardo del Carpio. Finally, the author focuses on the French chanson Fierabras as a possible influence for Las mocedades del Cid, in whose narrative the new champion of Spain, the young Rodrigo Díaz, breaks with the epic's tradition and instead invades France. In a fitting segue from the previous essay, Lucy Pick's "Rebel Nephews and Royal Sisters: the Tale of Bernardo del Carpio" examines a possible historical basis for Bernardo. The author allies herself with those who argue that the figure of Bernardo dates from the end of the tenth century to the beginning of the eleventh, thereby predating the old French epic and the tales of Charlemagne at Roncesvalles. First, citing the influence of the ancient Asturian tradition of a matrilineal system of succession, Pick argues that an uneasy tension exists between the king and his successor, the son of his sister. One can note that the betrayal at the hands of Ruy Velázquez of his nephews in the Siete infantes de Lara is not merely a plot device but in fact illustrates further this ongoing tension. Pick points to the counts of Soldana, the Banu Gómez family, from the tenth century and their clashes with the Leonese kings as a possible origin for the rancor between Bernardo and King Alfonso. Whereas the Bernardo of the Carolingian narrative is a Castilian national response to perceived French power, the alfonsí Bernardo emerges from an entirely peninsular stimulus. [End Page 192] In the third essay, Mercedes Vaquero examines the dialogue between the French and Spanish epics and songs. The stories originated in France, but as the Spanish epic matured, it introduced new motifs to the north of the Pyrenees, giving a regenerative boost to the French epic. Vaquero concentrates her study primarily around the shared motif of the morally ambiguous old advisor found between the French Chanson de Roland and the Spanish The Division of the Kingdoms by Fernando I and the Siete infantes de Lara. The many shared motifs, themes and formulas found in the epics and songs indicate that they sprang naturally from the same oral tradition. The fourth essay, by Aníbal A. Biglieri, is "The construction of Space and Place in the Narrative: Cuento del enperador Carlos Maynes de Roma e de la buena enperatris Sevilla, su mujer." Biglieri analyzes the above-named chivalric tale dating from the fourteenth century in terms of space, physical areas known to humans (here forests, cities, and dwellings), and place, these areas having been made part of a social construct. This essay provides a fascinating blueprint for the analysis of other medieval works through this approach. Furthermore, Biglieri examines the "audience response" of the work. The medieval listeners, already familiar with Charlemagne, knew how to fill in the gaps of any lack of descriptive detail. In "Converting the Saracen: The Historia del emperador Carlomagno and the Christianization of Granada," Ryan D. Giles deftly explains how the above-named...