COUR DES AIDES
. See GÉNÉRAUX
COURONNEMENT DE LOUIS
. This epic, one of the oldest of the Guillaume d’Orange Cycle (pre-1150; 2,670
assonanced decasyllables), is anchored in history. Acquainted with Carolingian
chronicles, such as Einhard’s Vita Karoli and Thegan’s Vita Hludowici, its author alludes
to Charlemagne’s association of his son Louis with the throne at Aix-la-Chapelle in 813;
but he is just as sensitive to the political preoccupations of his own day: imperial claims
and the expansion of Capetian power, which, under Louis VII, was still weak.
The poem has five episodes. In the first, Guillaume thwarts a would-be usurper,
Hernaïs d’Orléans, who sought to profit from Louis’s inexperience (11. 1–241). The
second begins with Guillaume’s pilgrimage to Rome and ends with his victory over the
Saracens and Corsolt. The hero is about to marry King Gaifier’s daughter when
messengers call him back to help Louis (242–1,386). Guillaume frees his lord and kills
the usurper Acelin (1,387–1,960). A fourth episode has the hero traveling throughout the
kingdom to pacify it; attacked by Acelin’s father, Richard of Normandy, he captures him
and turns him over to Louis, who imprisons him for life (1,961–2,197). All that is left for
Guillaume is to negate Gui the German’s claims on Rome (2,198–2,631), before a short
conclusion informs us that Guillaume will never cease having to come to his lord’s
rescue.
Above all, the Couronnement proposes a model of royal power in its dealings with the
great vassals. Essentially symbolic, royal power derives its practical efficacy from a
harmonious collaboration with the knightly class, represented here by Guillaume’s
lineage, which alone permits it to fulfill its obligations: providing a balance of power
within the kingdom, protecting the church, fighting the infidels, and laying imperial
claims. This explains the apparently diffuse structure of the poem. Guillaume’s fidelity to
his lord is tested over time in analogous but never identical circumstances. A number of
threads, always centered on the hero, are woven through the episodes; there is no need to
posit an earlier, more unified version of the poem.
François Suard
[See also: CHARROI DE NÎMES; EINHARD; GUILLAUME D’ORANGE CYCLE;
PRISE D’ORANGE]
Lepage, Yvan G., ed. Les rédactions en vers du Couronnement de Louis. Geneva: Droz, 1978.
Frappier, Jean. Les chansons de geste du cycle de Guillaume d’Orange. 2 vols. Paris: SEDES,
1965, Vol. 2, pp. 47–178.
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