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Roland
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Roland (; ; or Rotholandus; or Rolando; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became an epic hero and one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the Breton March, responsible for defending Francia's frontier against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni, which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed in retribution by the Basques in Iberia at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.
Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne in the 8th century who governed the frontier region known as the Breton March and died in 778 at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. He matters because he became a legendary figure in medieval European literature, inspiring the literary cycle called the Matter of France, even though historical records about his actual life are sparse.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Military person.name
- Roland
- Military person.image
- Gare Metz décor 16.png
- Military person.caption
- A statue of Roland at Metz railway station, France
- Military person.native_name
- Hrōþiland
- Military person.native_name_lang
- frk
- Military person.death_date
- 15 August 778
- Military person.placeofburial
- Blaye
- Military person.allegiance
- Frankish
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Roland
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Francia
- Place of death
- Roncevaux Pass
- Occupation
- knight
- Noble title
- count
- Image
- HB 2016-0607 photo03 Bremer Roland.jpg
Show 9 more facts
- Commons category
- Roland
- topic's main category
- Category:Roland
- date of death
- 0778-08-15
- mount
- Veillantif
- present in work
- The Song of Roland
- owner of
- Veillantif
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- significant person
- Oliver
- date of birth
- 0737-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- History
- Medieval icon
- Legacy
- References
- Sources
- External links
Roland (; ; or Rotholandus; or Rolando; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became an epic hero and one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the Breton March, responsible for defending Francia's frontier against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni, which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed in retribution by the Basques in Iberia at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.
The story of Roland's death at Roncevaux Pass was embellished in later medieval and Renaissance literature. The first and most famous of these epic treatments was the Old French Chanson de Roland of the 11th century.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Roland” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.