CHANSONS DE GESTE. — Bertran de Bar-sur-Aube, an epic poet of the 13th century, proposed a division of French *chansons de geste* into three groups: the Geste of the King; the Geste of Garin de Monglane (or of Guillaume d’Orange); and the Geste of Doon de Mayence. The Geste of the King primarily celebrates Charlemagne and his successors (or predecessors), while the Geste of Garin sings the praises of the valiant and loyal Guillaume d’Orange and his companions. The Geste of Doon features various equally valiant feudal lords who are rebels against their king, among the most illustrious of whom are Hugh of Bordeaux, Gerard of Roussillon, Renaud of Montalban, and among the most infamous, Ganelon of Maganza, the archetype of the traitor.
These three groups, however, do not exhaust the entirety of the "Matter of France," and other classifications have been attempted (chronological, dynastic, etc.), yet they have always proved unsatisfactory. Consider that this corpus comprises approximately 80–90 poems (excluding those now lost), among which the points of contact, interconnections, overlaps, and confusions of characters are so numerous and intricate as to render the construction of a clear and precise schema impossible.
Yet, in the end, the problem of classification is secondary. More important—and still subject to debate—is the question of the origin of these epic songs, that is, of a "genre" that, from its flourishing to its decline, spanned roughly three centuries (from the 12th to the 14th) and formed a vital part of the culture, art, religious ideals, civic life, and chivalric ethos of that era. It has been rightly observed that investigating the origins of the French epic largely means investigating the origins of the first epic song, namely the *Chanson de Roland* (q.v.), and it is from this work that the principal inquiries in this field have proceeded and to which they refer.
These investigations, from the early hypotheses of the German and French Romantics of the last century to the recent labors of numerous editors and commentators of texts, constitute one of the most fruitful chapters in European cultural history. From them has emerged a renewed conception of the Middle Ages and of the origins of Romance literatures. Of this intense critical activity, only a brief account can be given here. It should be noted that, with the decline of the Romantic myth of a popular, primitive, and naive poetry, modern scholars now seek in the *chansons de geste* themselves (and naturally especially in the finest and most coherent examples) the artistic personality of the author, interpreting the data provided by tradition in their proper light—as cultural presuppositions of a phenomenon that is eminently literary and artistic.
Thus, one may speak, from case to case, of elements drawn from the Germanic or from the Latin world, whether classical or medieval; one may posit dynastic or feudal intentions and influences; one may trace, with the guidance of certain *chansons de geste*, the routes of the great medieval pilgrimages, indicating in the churches and monasteries that abounded along them, and in the crowds of pilgrims, monks, soldiers, and minstrels who frequented them, the environments and persons most conducive to the flourishing and dissemination of these songs. Such hypotheses all contain elements of truth and boast one or more illustrious proponents, from Paris to Rajna, from Bédier to Paul Meyer, from Tavernier and Wilmotte to Gubotto and Viscardi. Yet truer are those hypotheses that, while taking into account the aforementioned elements and possibilities, recognize in the *chansons de geste* a product of the age in which they arose. This does not mean denying any historical precedent (many of the characters and events celebrated are indeed historical) or dismissing the possibility of a formative process that may, in some cases, have begun with more or less lengthy songs transmitted orally or in writing.
The French *chansons de geste* now embody the spirit of the society amid which and for which they were created: a spirit that, in its secular aspect, is feudal and chivalric, and, in its religious aspect, is that of the Crusades. Love of country, loyalty to one’s sovereign, and above all, the struggle for the triumph of the faith: these are the traits that render the *chansons de geste* the great historical romance of France and medieval Europe and one of the most significant cultural and artistic phenomena of the new Romance literatures.
Ruggero M. Ruggieri