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A
t the heart of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Willehalm are
Saracens: instrumental figures in the driving themes of conquest,

Stephanie L. Hathaway
loyalty, vassalage, chivalry, love-service and redemption that run
through the text. When compared with Wolfram’s French sources, La Prise
d’Orange and Aliscans, Willehalm is revealed to be innovative yet true to the
themes and figures of the original chansons de geste, indicating that Wolfram
continued the retelling process that also played a part in the composition
of his French sources.

This book explores the role of Saracens in these texts, the implications of
s t e p h a n i e l . h at h away

SARACENS and

Saracens and Conversion

their conversion to Christianity and the portrayal of the ideals of chivalry
as their depiction undergoes development from twelfth-century France to
thirteenth-century Germany. The text begins with the cultural–historical

CONVERSION
setting and the development of key ideals and concepts and then analyses the
Saracen figures in the texts, presenting an integrated reading of Willehalm
and its source material and revealing Wolfram’s intentions in his depiction
of Saracens.
Chivalric Ideals in Aliscans and Wolfram’s Willehalm

Stephanie L. Hathaway lectures in German at the University of Oxford.

She completed a PhD at the University of Sydney in 2009 and has published
articles about Saracens in the chansons de geste and medieval German epic,
medieval queens and the depiction of monastic rules.

ISBN 978-3-0343-0781-9

www.peterlang.com
PETER LANG
A
t the heart of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Willehalm are
Saracens: instrumental figures in the driving themes of conquest,

Stephanie L. Hathaway
loyalty, vassalage, chivalry, love-service and redemption that run
through the text. When compared with Wolfram’s French sources, La Prise
d’Orange and Aliscans, Willehalm is revealed to be innovative yet true to the
themes and figures of the original chansons de geste, indicating that Wolfram
continued the retelling process that also played a part in the composition
of his French sources.

This book explores the role of Saracens in these texts, the implications of
s t e p h a n i e l . h at h away

SARACENS and

Saracens and Conversion

their conversion to Christianity and the portrayal of the ideals of chivalry
as their depiction undergoes development from twelfth-century France to
thirteenth-century Germany. The text begins with the cultural–historical

CONVERSION
setting and the development of key ideals and concepts and then analyses the
Saracen figures in the texts, presenting an integrated reading of Willehalm
and its source material and revealing Wolfram’s intentions in his depiction
of Saracens.
Chivalric Ideals in Aliscans and Wolfram’s Willehalm

Stephanie L. Hathaway lectures in German at the University of Oxford.

She completed a PhD at the University of Sydney in 2009 and has published
articles about Saracens in the chansons de geste and medieval German epic,
medieval queens and the depiction of monastic rules.

www.peterlang.com
PETER LANG
Saracens and Conversion
 Studies in Old Germanic
Languages and Literatures

edited by Professor Irmengard Rauch

VOL. 6

PETER LANG
Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Wien
Saracens and Conversion
Chivalric Ideals in Aliscans
and Wolfram’s Willehalm

stephanie l. hathaway

PETER LANG
Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Wien
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Hathaway, Stephanie L.
Saracens and conversion : chivalric ideals in Aliscans and Wolfram’s
Willehalm / Stephanie L. Hathaway.
p. cm. -- (Studies in Old Germanic languages and literatures ;
6)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-0343-0781-9 (alk. paper)
1. Wolfram, von Eschenbach, 12th cent. Willehalm. 2. Chivalry in
literature. 3. German literature--Middle High German,
1050-1500--History and criticism. I. Title.
PT1682.W8H37 2012
831’.21--dc23
2012012400

Cover images: Codex Vindobonensis 2670 fol. 56r: Pope Leo marries Duke William and
Queen Arabel/Gyburg (Ulrich von dem Türlin: Arabel) and Codex Vindobonensis 2670
fol. 66r: Duke William in battle, defending Orange against the Saracens on the field of
Aliscans (Wolfram von Eschenbach: Willehalm). Reproduced with permission from the
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.

ISSN 899-9872
isbn 978-3-0343-0781-9
ISBN 978-3-0353-0315-5 (eBook)
Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2012
Hochfeldstrasse 32, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
[email protected], www.peterlang.com, www.peterlang.net

All rights reserved.

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the
permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming,
and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.

Printed in Germany
Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Introduction 1
Conversion and Conquest 9
The Texts 10

Chapter 1
Europe and the Saracens 21
Points of Contact 23
Role of Conversion 33

Chapter 2
Chivalry and Crusades 45
Harmony and Spirituality 47
Ethics of Chivalry Put to the Test: The Crusades 91

Chapter 3
Rewriting the Chansons de geste 117
From Aliscans to Willehalm 118
Wolfram’s Answer to a Problem 148

Chapter 4
The Saracen as Protagonist 177
Four Saracen Kings 179
Gyburg’s Kinsmen 229
vi

Chapter 5
The Saracen Queen 293
The Image of Gyburg 294
Kinship, Duty and Inf luence 304
The Queen and Her Knight 323

Conclusion 399

Bibliography 403
Primary Material 403
Bibliographic Works 405
Secondary Literature 405
Reference Works 420
Other Works Consulted 421

Index 423
Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Andrea Williams,

Andrea Bandhauer, Max Walkley, Brian Taylor, Ahmad Shboul, Elizabeth
Rechniewski, Annette Volfing, Anthony Hunt, Megan Kerr and Laurel
Plapp.
Introduction

Ever since medieval literary scholarship began in earnest in the late eight-
eenth century, the study of it has been encumbered by the obstacle of
genre categorization. This leads to attempts to slot certain works together,
encompassing their themes, source material, characters and plots. When
the cosmopolitan court at Thüringen in medieval Germany saw the com-
position of Willehalm, it was no doubt familiar with its subject matter: the
deeds of Charlemagne’s princes, forbidden love, Saracen adversaries, tested
loyalties and valour in battle. It is unlikely, however, that they would have
classified this work as ‘epic’ and thereby formed a framework of expecta-
tions about its themes or its source material. The myriad inf luences of the
author and the jongleurs [travelling musicians] who composed the sources
of his inspiration were drawn from materials with genres and backgrounds
that infiltrated medieval society on many levels.
The legend of Guillaume d’Orange was possibly the most popu-
lar and prolific epic material in early twelfth-century Europe. The Old
French chansons de geste [Old French songs of the deeds of heroes] of the
Cycle de Guillaume d’Orange tell of Guillaume’s knighthood and service
to Charlemagne, his conquest of Nîmes and Orange, his acquisition of a
fiefdom, his winning the hand of a Saracen queen and his later retirement to
a monastery. La Bataille d’Aliscans, relating the two battles against Saracens
intent on taking back their land and their queen from Guillaume, was most
widely known and enjoyed, and survives in thirteen complete manuscripts
and two fragments, more than any other in the Cycle de Guillaume.1
Guillaume was the quintessential epic hero: brave, indomitable, ener-
getic, pious, a formidable warrior, a nephew of Charlemagne and a future
saint. The battles around which Aliscans centres show Guillaume in his

1 Bumke, Joachim, Wolfram von Eschenbach, 8th edn, vol. 36, Sammlung Metzler
(Stuttgart: Verlag J.B. Metzler, 2004) 382.
2 Introduction

prime, fighting against forces both earthly and heavenly to save his lands,
his family and Christianity itself. ‘Pour triompher, la chrétienté a besoin
d’une famille solide, unie, ouverte aux hommes de bonne volonté et aux
prosélytes d’ardente foi’2 [In order to prevail, Christianity requires a strong,
unified family, open to men of enthusiasm and disciples of ardent faith]
and Guillaume’s kinsmen, Christian and convert, come together under his
command to save the realm. The text of Aliscans itself illustrates a care-
fully composed chanson de geste, attesting to its immense popularity and
proliferation.
Building on this epic material, Wolfram von Eschenbach composed
Willehalm during the golden age of Middle High German, some decades
after the chansons de geste were written down. Wolfram made several innova-
tions to the epic, such as incorporating material from other chansons de geste
in the cycle, rendering it in couplets that characterize the forms of courtly
romance and relating the story in his distinctive narrative style. In doing
so, Wolfram established Willehalm not only as a work unique in genre,
but also as one that surpassed the popularity of his earlier Parzival during
the European Middle Ages. It survives in twelve complete manuscripts
(some with scores of illustrations), some ninety fragments and numerous
excerpts, more than any other courtly narrative of its time.3
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, after Lachmann’s edi-
tion, Willehalm was viewed as a less significant work than Parzival. The last
twenty years have seen a resurgence of interest in Willehalm, with many
studies addressing themes such as poetic structure, narrative and genre,4

2 Lachet, Claude, ‘Echos signifiants dans la composition d’Aliscans’ in J. Claude Faucon,

Alain Labbé and Danielle Quéruel, eds, Miscellanea Mediævalia: Mélanges of ferts à
Philippe Ménard (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1998), 783–97, 797.
3 Bumke, Wolfram von Eschenbach, 390–1.
4 See, for example: Volfing, Annette, ‘Parzival and Willehalm: Narrative Continuity?’
in Martin H. Jones and Timothy McFarland, eds, Wolfram’s ‘Willehalm’: Fifteen
Essays (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2002) 45–59; Wessel-Fleinghaus, Franziska,
‘Gotes hantgetat. Zur Deutung von Wolframs Willehalm unter dem Aspekt der
Gattungsfrage’, Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch 33 (1992), 29–100.
Introduction 3

the role of love and Minnedienst5 [courtly love-service], the treatment

of heathens and religion,6 and the reception of the text in its historical
environment.7 Aliscans and its cyclic material, however, have seen a more
steady stream of scholarly interest, the more recent addressing issues such
as genre,8 the development of the hero Guillaume,9 the role of the Saracen

5 See, for example: Miklautsch, Lydia, ‘Minne-f lust: zur Rolle des Minnerittertums
in Wolframs Willehalm’, Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur
(PBB) 117 (1995), 218–34; Ortmann, Christa, ‘Der utopische Gehalt der Minne.
Strukturelle Bedingungen der Gattungsref lexion in Wolframs Willehalm’, Beiträge
zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (PBB) 115 (1993), 86–117.
6 Much scholarship has concentrated on these elements in Willehalm. For example:
Martin, John D., ‘Christen und Andersgläubige in Wolframs “Willehalm”’, ZfdA
133/1 (2004), 45–8; McFarland, Timothy, ‘Giburc’s Dilemma: Parents and Children,
Baptism and Salvation’ in Martin H. Jones and Timothy McFarland, eds, Wolfram’s
‘Willehalm:’ Fifteen Essays (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2002) 121–42; Gerok-
Reiter, Annette, ‘Die Hölle auf Erden: Überlegungen zum Verhältnis von Weltlichem
und Geistlichem in Wolframs “Willehalm”’ in Burghart Wachinger, Hans-Joachim
Ziegeler and Christoph Huber, eds, Geistliches in weltlicher und Weltliches in geistlicher
Literatur des Mittelalters (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2000) 171–94; Fasbender, Christoph,
‘Willehalm als Programmschrift gegen die “Kreuzzugsideologie” und “Dokumen der
Menschlichkeit”’, Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie 116 (1997), 16–31.
7 Studies on textual environment also address illustrations in manuscripts and narra-
tive descriptions of characters and their actions. See, for example: Chinca, Mark,
‘Willehalm at Laon’ in Martin H. Jones and Timothy McFarland, eds, Wolfram’s
‘Willehalm’: Fifteen Essays (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2002) 75–94; Starkey,
Kathryn, ‘Die Androhung der Unordnung: Inszenierung, Macht und Verhandlung
in Wolframs Willehalm’, Zeitschrift für Deutsche Philologie 121/3 (2002), 321–41;
Pérennec, René, ‘Histoire, géographie et écriture dans le Willehalm de Wolfram von
Eschenbach’, Littérales/14 ‘La Chanson de geste. Écriture, intertextualités, translations.
Textes présentés par François Suard’ (1994), 173–201.
8 See, for example, Kay, Sarah, The Chansons de geste in the Age of Romance: Political
Fictions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
9 See, for example: Bennett, Philip E., ‘Heroism and Sanctity in the Cycle de Guillaume’
in Martin H. Jones and Timothy McFarland, eds, Wolfram’s ‘Willehalm’: Fifteen
Essays (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2002) 1–19; Vallecalle, Jean-Claude, ‘Aspects
du héros dans Aliscans’ in Jean Dufournet, ed., Mourir aux Aliscans: Aliscans et la
légende de Guillaume d’Orange (Paris: Honoré Champion, 1993) 177–95.
4 Introduction

princess, love, female figures and converts.10 Too few critical comparisons
between Willehalm and its source material have been made, despite the
advantage that this renders in understanding both texts in their geographi-
cal and historical environments. Some critics have, however, looked at
Willehalm and Aliscans, discussing Wolfram’s novel treatment of Saracens,11
the application of a chivalric code to the epic material,12 and the generic
problems encountered by retransmitting a chanson de geste for the German
audience.13 Nevertheless, their focus confines itself to the alterations that
Wolfram made to the source material. Though there was an ef fort in the
Société Rencesvals of the late 1980s to initiate more comparison scholar-
ship between Wolfram’s work and the chanson de geste, few papers really
addressed in-depth the relation of Willehalm to its source material. This

10 Saracens, especially female, have been a recent focus for many scholars of the chansons
de geste. See, for example: Besnardeau, Wilfrid, Représentations littéraires de l’étranger
au XIIe siècle: des chansons de geste aux premières mises en roman, Jean Dufournet,
ed., Nouvelle Bibliothèque du Moyen Âge (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2007), esp.
303–488; Ramey, Lynne Tarte, ‘Role Models? Saracen Women in Medieval French
Epic’, Romance Notes 41/2 (2001), 131–41; De Weever, Jacqueline, Sheba’s Daughters:
Whitening and Demonizing the Saracen Woman in Medieval French Epic (New
York: Garland, 1998); Kinoshita, Sharon, ‘The Politics of Courtly Love: “La Prise
d’Orange” and the Conversion of the Saracen Queen’, Romanic Review 86/2 (1995),
265–87; Kay, Sarah, ‘La représentation de la féminité dans les chansons de geste’ in
Charlemagne in the North: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference of the
Société Rencesvals Edinburgh 4th to 11th August 1991 (Edinburgh: Société Rencesvals
British Branch, 1993) 223–40.
11 See, for example, Pastré, Jean-Marc, ‘Un avatar courtois de la Bataille d’Aliscans, le
Willehalm de Wolfram von Eschenbach’ in Essor et fortune de la chanson de geste dans
l’Europe et l’Orient latin: actes du IXe congrès international de la Société Rencesvals
pour l’étude des épopées romanes, Padoue-Venise, 29 août–4 septembre 1982 (Modena:
Mucchi, 1983) 333–47.
12 See, for example, Huby-Marly, Marie-Noël, ‘Willehalm de Wolfram von Eschenbach
et la chanson des Aliscans’, Études germaniques 39 (1984), 388–411.
13 See, for example: Wolf, Alois, ‘Rewriting Chansons de geste for a Middle High
German public’ in Douglas Kelly, ed., The Medieval Opus: Imitation, Rewriting,
and Transmission in the French Tradition (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996), 369–86;
Buschinger, Danielle, ‘Rezeption der Chanson de Geste im Spätmittelalter’, Wolfram-
Studien 11 (1988), 86–106.
Introduction 5

yielded not altogether exhaustive studies and certainly not all concerned
themselves with Wolfram or Willehalm, but it represents an attempt to
include Germanic studies. In general, these studies have not taken into
account the elements that were present in other chansons de geste in the
cycle, in addition to Aliscans, that did serve as a source for Willehalm. These
elements include the Saracen princess and the role of Saracens, together
with the concept of rewriting and authorship that has been investigated in
relation to other medieval texts.14 Bumke writes of the state of Willehalm
scholarship:
Von einem Konsens darüber, wie der Willehalm zu lesen ist, sind wir jedoch weit
entfernt. Der Willehalm ist ein sperriger und schwieriger Text, der einerseits die
Interpreten anzieht, sich ihnen andererseits immer wieder verweigert. In Wolframs
Dichtung wird mehr in Frage gestellt als gesichert.15

[We remain far from forming a consensus about how Willehalm is to be read.
Willehalm is a cumbersome and complex text that on the one hand draws critics
and on the other closes itself to them. With Wolfram’s poetry, more is called into
question than is answered.]

That, however, should be seen as precisely what Wolfram intended: to

put ideals, philosophies, themes, characters and even language into ques-
tion. Willehalm should be seen more in terms of rewriting: retelling a story
for the purpose of exploring concepts in the context of its own historical
environment. Alois Wolf, in his study on medieval authorship pertaining to
the chansons de geste, asserts that ‘rewriting seems to have been an essential
feature of medieval literature in general and deeply rooted in the medieval
mind,’16 and he shows how the retelling of stories and the ownership of
material were not the same thing. Moreover, there seems to have been a
deeper purpose to retelling stories and rewriting texts, which engaged the
audience in the investigation of ideals, morals, characters and behaviour

14 See, for example, Minnis, Alastair J., Medieval Theory of Authorship: Scholastic liter-
ary attitudes in the later Middle Ages, 2nd edn (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1988).
15 Bumke, Wolfram von Eschenbach, 320.
16 Wolf, Rewriting Chansons de geste, 382.
6 Introduction

using characters, plots and themes with which they were familiar. Wolf
concludes that ‘permeating all this rewriting is the monastic idea of spir-
itual rumination aiming at coming ever closer to the heart of the Biblical
message,’17 and also that, having been composed in the vernacular, the
chansons de geste ‘are to be understood as products of a continuous process
of rewriting, similar to the rumination of the medieval monk, aiming at
revealing more and more of the secrets of minne and fin’amors,’ rendering
each chanson de geste ‘an element of a more comprehensive poetical proc-
ess directed towards gaining ever-increasing insights into what fin’amors
might be.’18
This process of retelling a story and reworking a text must have been
conventional for Wolfram, too, when he rendered his Parzival, modelled
on Chrétien de Troyes’s unfinished work, as well as his Willehalm for which
several chanson-de-geste sources can be distinguished. That Saracens, chiv-
alry and fin’amors, or Minnedienst, were not only popular themes, but that
Saracens were also pivotal characters exhibiting these ideals, was already
evident in the Cycle de Guillaume, and this becomes clearer when investi-
gating Wolfram’s Willehalm as a rewriting of the Aliscans material (itself
a product of rewriting), rather than merely as a German adaptation of a
French epic.
Throughout this story in its many versions, Saracens feature centrally
and their functions are varied. Their actions, motivations and relationships
are important mirrors of how authors and audience perceived them.19 It
is essential to study both the chanson-de-geste sources and Willehalm in
terms of narrative exploration of prevalent themes, especially chivalry and
love-service, and no more powerful medium can be distinguished in these
texts than the portrayal of the Saracen. Chivalry, with its spiritual corner-
stones and motives in love-service, had already begun to be included in
the chansons de geste, as had these ideals in terms of the Saracen adversary

17 Wolf, Rewriting Chansons de geste, 382–3.

18 Wolf, Rewriting Chansons de geste, 386.
19 See: Ramey, Lynn Tarte, Christian, Saracen and Genre in Medieval French Literature.
Francis G. Gentry, ed., Medieval History and Culture (New York: Routledge,
2001).
Introduction 7

and the Saracen princess. Wolfram engaged these elements and furthered
the process of rumination through rewriting, progressing, together with
Aliscans and La Prise d’Orange [The Conquest of Orange], further towards
understanding loyalty, conquest, love-service and chivalry.
This volume also seeks to investigate Willehalm as a work in its own
right, in viewing the themes surrounding Wolfram’s portrayal of Saracens
and above all to address these elements in terms of rewriting. We will con-
sider Willehalm alongside its models rather than as an isolated work, pre-
senting a valuable new perspective on both it and its source material.
The retelling / rewriting aspect allows a view of the chansons de geste,
especially La Prise d’Orange and Aliscans, as the result of rewritten or retold
stories, built upon by Wolfram to further explore certain themes as a mode
of entertainment for the audience and narrator alike. It can then be said
that, thematically, Willehalm has as much if not more in common with
La Prise d’Orange as with Aliscans, and both works will be considered as
sources for Wolfram’s retelling of the story.
The Saracens in these texts are instrumental in the exploration of
prevalent themes and they serve as links between the interrelated and
key elements: conquest, loyalty and vassalage; the spiritual integration
of chivalry and love-service; and the direction and practice of chivalry.
Interwoven throughout these stories are depictions of Saracen warriors and
knights who exemplify one or more of these important elements. Some
remain formidable adversaries while some render assistance to the Christian
Narbonnais; some are worthy of conversion and communion with the
Christian God while some are fit only to be killed in battle. Rising above
all of the protagonists, Christian and heathen alike, is the Saracen queen
whose conversion out of love for her Christian husband sets her apart and
whose faith, determination and inf luence in love-service are exemplary. It is
through the Saracens that the Christian characters as well as the audience
are able to learn about and explore their own behaviour and ideals: service
and loyalty, love and spirituality. In many ways, the Saracens in these works
are able to convey messages that a Christian protagonist cannot because of
his or her position in the feudal order and in medieval society.
This perspective poses certain important questions: why, if the Saracens
in the texts exemplify chivalry, loyalty, honour, respect for kinship, knightly
8 Introduction

prowess and dedication in service for love, is it not acceptable for them to
be the victors? How does Christian chivalry benefit from contact with the
exemplary Saracen knights in these stories? What trend do these themes
of loyalty, kinship, vassalage, conquest and legitimacy follow from the
chansons de geste through to Willehalm, and what inf luences the evolu-
tion and examination of these themes in the texts? What is learnt from
the Saracens in these texts through the process of retelling and does the
retelling of this story further our understanding of these themes and values
because of their portrayal through Saracen characters? Most significantly,
what questions are the jongleurs and Wolfram trying to answer through
their retelling of the same thread?
Two main sections frame this investigation: the first comprises three
chapters and focuses on historical background, authors, audience and
themes; and the second comprises two chapters and presents a detailed
study of the Saracen figures compared between texts. The first chapter
will look at the motives and motivations behind the prominent themes of
conquest, legitimacy, loyalty and conversion in the historical environment
of the texts, providing a basis from which the ideals of chivalry develop and
are explored. The problems posed to medieval society by Church doctrine,
spiritual beliefs and contradictions in directives are ref lected in the exami-
nation of chivalric ideals and this is achieved by more detailed depictions
of Saracens in the texts. The ideal of chivalry is one that permeates these
texts and the following two chapters will investigate how it is developed
by both the jongleurs and Wolfram, who seek to show how chivalry should
be directed and practised, and the figures who most exemplify its virtues.
The study of how Saracens are depicted in both texts and of the common
themes important to the jongleurs and later to Wolfram and to their audi-
ences leads us to the complex characters themselves. The third chapter
contends that the motifs, themes, character traits and attitudes towards
Saracens present in Willehalm suggest that Wolfram was far more famil-
iar with the chansons de geste than has previously been supposed. A closer
look at the Saracen knights and kings in the fourth chapter, and how their
portrayal changes from the chansons de geste to Willehalm, reveals a new
perspective on chivalry and its purpose in the story.
Introduction 9

Ultimately, Christianization must be seen as a moral imperative in

these texts. The dilemmas this poses are personified in the Saracen queen
and her duties as convert and Narbonnais liege-lady, alongside her desire
to protect her city, its palace and her husband’s claim to them. It is she, and
through her, her brother Rennewart, who demonstrate the integration of
chivalry and spirituality, exemplifying the practice of the ideals demanded
of a knight and lady. In the fifth and final chapter, through investigation
of her role from the perspective of rewriting and integrated sources, much
more can be understood of her function in the story and of Wolfram’s
intentions in Willehalm. Certain elements will challenge the views of some
critics on the objective and content of the queen’s speech at the war council
in Willehalm, and show how it was derived from the prominent figure of
the queen in the chansons de geste to suit Wolfram’s purpose. The queen
stands as an example for the Saracens; conversion becomes a gateway to
the proper practice of chivalry, for the advantage of God’s judgement can
only await a knight who has converted to Christianity.
The complexity of interpreting Wolfram’s Willehalm can be seen to
lie in the audience’s familiarity with his source material. This intertextual
approach opens up innovative perceptions of Saracens in the chansons de
geste and in Willehalm, and what their depiction tells us about the intention
of the authors, composers and their texts. It suggests a more integrated read-
ing of the chansons de geste and related texts, and a broader understanding
of the reasons behind some of the enigmas in Wolfram’s narrative.

Conversion and Conquest

Conquest is the story of how a hero overcomes physical, mental, emotional

and sometimes spiritual obstacles, or even treachery against him, how he
excels in single combat or in larger-scale battle, many times with the aid
of loyal friends, family, or both and how he gains renown, riches and love.
It is the stuf f of legend and epic, and it forms the centre of the story of
10 Introduction

Guillaume d’Orange in the chanson-de-geste material that Wolfram von

Eschenbach would later fashion into his Middle High German Willehalm.
The story of the battle at Aliscans begins when Guillaume conquers the city
of Orange and wins for his wife its Saracen queen, Orable, who converts to
Christianity, becoming Guiborc, Gyburg in the German text. The neces-
sity for conquest was perhaps clearer to a medieval audience and is spurred
both by Guillaume’s disinheritance by his father, Aymeri, or Heimrich, of
Narbonne, and by Guillaume’s duty and destiny, as prince of the Christian
French empire, to gain, hold and rule over his lands. This conquest and its
subsequent protection is made possible by Guiborc and the young Saracen
Rainouart’s conversion to Christianity, for it is by this change of faith that
they pledge their oaths to serve their celestial liege-lord and enter into
feudal Christian society, becoming loyal wife and vassal respectively, in a
vow sealed by the ceremony of baptism.
The Saracen element in these texts reveals how and why Saracens were
a popular adversary for the medieval European protagonist in literature
and how their interrelation with Europeans inf luenced their treatment in
literature. It is also valuable to look at the interrelation of the themes of
conversion and vassalage, with attention to how these themes came to be
connected to those of love, service and spirituality.

The Texts

Wolfram was an author notorious for including in his works information

he had gleaned from a myriad of sources, both historical and contempo-
rary, both factual and fictional. It is the main themes themselves, however,
rather than Wolfram’s added details, that will serve as the focus for this
comparative approach. Willehalm and its source, Aliscans, as well as La
Prise d’Orange, will be discussed and the latter two presented as sources
of themes inf luencing Willehalm. Some debate continues about which
Aliscans manuscript Wolfram used, if indeed any, as a source for Willehalm.
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