Girart de Roussillon, also called Girard, Gérard II, Gyrart de Vienne, and Girart de Fraite, (c. 810–877/879?) was a Frankish Burgundian leader who became Count of Paris in 837, and embraced the cause of Lothair I against Charles the Bald.[1] He was a son of Leuthard I, Count of Fézensac and of Paris, and his wife Grimildis.[2]
Girart is not described as being from Roussillon in authentic historical sources. The placename in his title is derived from a castle he built on Mont Lassois, near Vix and Châtillon-sur-Seine (Côte-d'Or).
In 855, Girart became governor of Provence for Lothair's son Charles of Provence. Bertha defended Vienne unsuccessfully against Charles the Bald in 870. Girart, who had perhaps aspired to be the titular ruler of the northern part of Provence, continued to administer it under Lothair II until that prince's death in 869. He retired with his wife to Avignon where he died probably in 877, certainly before 879.[1]
Romance
The legend of Girart's piety, the heroism of his wife Bertha, and of his wars with Charles passed into the genre of literary romance; however, the historical facts are so distorted that, in the epic Girart de Roussillon, he became an opponent of Charles Martel who was married to Bertha's sister. The legendary narrative Girart de Roussillon was long held to be a Provençal work, but its Burgundian origin has been proven.[1]
Accounts of Girart are found in several early manuscripts. The earliest chanson de geste, called Le Chanson de Girart de Roussillon, dates from the second half of the 12th century. The original text, written in rhymed decasyllables, is preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). It was translated the first time by Paul Meyer in 1884, (Paris: Champion). A recent translation into modern French with notes by Micheline Combarieu du Grès and Gérard Gouiran was published in 1993 (Paris: Librairie générale française).
Bloch, R. Howard (1977). Medieval French Literature and Law. Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press.
Le Jan, Régine (2003). Famille et pouvoir dans le monde franc (VIIe-Xe siècle): essai d'anthropologie sociale (in French). Publications de la Sorbonne.
Meyer, Paul (1878). La légende de Girart de Roussillon, Romania, no. 7, 1878. p.161-235
Meyer, Paul (1884). Girart de Roussillon. A translation in modern French with a comprehensive introduction.
Michel, F. (1856) Gerard de Rossillon ... publié en francais et en provençal d'après les MSS. de Paris et de Londres. Paris.
Tarb, P. (Ed.) (1850). Girart de Viane, in: L. Gautier, Epopées francaises, vol. iv. Reims.
Wulif, F. A. (1874). Notice sur les sagas de Magus et de Geirard. Ed.: Lund.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Gérard_de_Roussillon, and is written by contributors.
Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.