This week, we’re going to take a look at Charlemagne's 778 campaign into Spain. Since the most memorable part of the campaign is an epic poem entitled The Song of Roland - a poem focused on the tragic loss of part of Charlemagne's army and the death of his lieutenant, Roland - we can tell you that things don't turn out well for the Franks. Despite this, about the only thing that the Song gets right about the actual history is that the Franks were involved, and they suffered a loss.

The Song of Roland was written somewhere between 1040-1115 CE. And wouldn’t you know it, the values and ideals put forth in Roland just so happen to line up with the time frame that incorporates the First Crusade. The events inside of the Song bear almost no resemblance to the actual events of 778, but all of that is extraneous. What was important for 11th-century France and this chanson de geste, this song of deeds, was to depict clear differences between Christians and Muslims.

So, how did we get from a sideline meeting in 777 at Paderborn between Charles and several Muslim walis, to an epic poem hyping up Christian warriors in the 11th century? Listen in and find out!

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Listenable: History of the Merovingians, 451-613