What was it that struck me most about The Song of Roland? There were so many possibilities to examine within this story, but there was one which I could not move beyond. The story is of war, of conquest, of kings and caliphs and knights, but most of all, it is about change. The primary change which Charlemagne hoped to accomplish was victory and the acquiring of lands, but in order to do this, the newly acquired lands must be unified. What better way to merge two cultures than through faith?
The Saracens are Moslem and the men of Charlemagne are Christian. There are factions within the Saracens, some supporting Charlemagne to gain his aid in battling their enemies, others battling them all and hoping to maintain their faith. We discover this conflict in belief right away with the lines, “Marsilion holds it, the king who hates God’s name, / Mahound he serves, and to Apollyon prays” (P.51). This beginning of the story instantly sets up who is the “other,” and this determination is based upon a discord and misunderstanding of the faiths. For the Christians, it would be easier to fight a bloody battle against pagans, those who worship gods as opposed to God. Polytheism is not an accurate depiction of the Moslem religion, however, as they too believe in one god, Allah, not many gods, and certainly not the Greco-Roman antique, Apollo/ Apollyon. But it is easier for Christians to understand the differences by creating such a great divide, and by making the Saracens given to the worship of old gods, it alienates them from Charlemagne and his people. Besides, war is not the time for people to reach understandings and learn more about their cultures, rather after the conquest is when the sharing of knowledge is accomplished (I can only imagine what bloodshed could be spared if this was done in reverse order).
In order to reach an agreement with Charlemagne, Marsile agrees to convert to Christianity. He says, “On my behalf King Charlemayn beseech, / for his God’s sake to show me clemency…the law of Christ I’ll then and there receive, / in faith and love I will his liegeman be” (P. 54). When Cordova is conquered, a new order takes place, and “in all the city no paynim now appears / who is not slain or turned to Christian fear” (P. 54). The conquest of Cordoba is accomplished by warfare, but in a secondary sense, by religion. It is faith that helps the supporters of Charlemagne win their battles and determine who are allied with them. These beliefs are then adopted by those who have been conquered. In short, those who accept the God of Charlemagne are rewarded with land, victory, and the grace of Christianity. Religion creates connections where diplomacy fails, thus determining who is for and who is against whom, and in those political allegiances, who is a true believer and who is conquered and made into one.
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