right|thumb|250px|Illustration by [[Gustave Doré|Gustav Dore to Orlando Furioso: Rinaldo and his men see a knight and lady approach]]

Renaud (or Renaut or Renault) de Montauban (<small>Modern</small> ; ; ; or ) was a legendary hero and knight who appeared in a 12th-century Old French known as The Four Sons of Aymon. The four sons of Duke Aymon are Renaud, Richard, Alard and Guiscard, and their cousin is the magician Maugris (; or ). Renaud possesses the magical horse Bayard and the sword Froberge (; or ).

The story of Renaud was popular across Europe. The tale was adapted into Dutch, German, Italian and English versions throughout the Middle Ages, inspired the Old Icelandic , and also incited subsequent sequels and related texts that form part of the Doon de Mayence cycle of chansons. It is one of the longest of all the chansons de geste. It was transformed into prose romances in the 14th and 15th centuries, and, judging from the number of editions, the prose Quatre Fils Aymon was the most popular romance of chivalry in the late 15th and first half of the 16th century in France. The tale was the basis of other medieval versions in Italian, German, Dutch and English.

The plot of the French chanson is as follows:

Renaud and his three brothers were sons of Aymon de Dordone. They flee from the court of Charlemagne after Renaud kills one of Charlemagne's nephews (Bertolai) in a brawl. A long war follows, during which Renaud and his brothers remain faithful to the chivalrous code of honor despite their sufferings, until Charlemagne is prevailed on by his paladins to make terms.

The four brothers are pardoned on condition that Renaud go to the Holy Land on Crusade, and that their magical horse Bayard, who could expand his size to carry all four brothers on its back, be surrendered to Charlemagne. Charlemagne orders that the magic horse be drowned by chaining it to a stone and throwing it in a river, but the horse escapes and lives forever more in the woods. Renaud, after further adventures on the Crusades, returns home.

He eventually abandons his home and goes to Cologne, where he becomes a builder on a shrine to Saint Peter. In the end, he is murdered by resentful workers, but his body is miraculously saved from the river and makes its way magically in a cart back to his brothers.

Bulfinch relates that the cart magically moved to Dortmund, where Renaud is made patron saint of a new church, identifying him with Saint Reinold.

Charlemagne is portrayed as vengeful and treacherous in these stories, and he is fooled by the sorcerer Maugris; the sympathy of the storyteller is clearly with the four brothers, but ultimately feudal authority is upheld.

Renaud de Montauban cycle

thumb|[[Maugis on his horse Bayard, fighting against the Infidels, in Renaud de Montauban. Loyset Liédet, Bruges, 1462-1470]]

thumb|Vivien, as a [[Saracen emir, sends the black wizard Noiron to fight Maugis in the siege of Aigremont. Renaud de Montauban. Loyset Liédet, Bruges, 1462-1470]]

thumb|Maugis fighting the [[Saracen wizard Noiron in Aigremont, in Renaud de Montaubant. David Aubert, Bruges, 1462-1470]]

thumb|15th Century History of Renaud de Montauban, 1468-1470

From the 13th century on, other texts concerning separate elements of the extended Renaud de Montauban story were created; together with the original Quatre Fils Aymon, these are termed the "Renaud de Montauban cycle". These poems are: Maugis d'Aigremont (story of the youth of Maugis), Mort de Maugis (story of the death of Maugis), Vivien de Monbranc (story of the brother of Maugis), Bueve d'Aigremont (story of the father of Maugis, Bueve d'Aigremont, brother to Girart de Roussillon and Doon de Nanteuil).

Maugis d'Aigremont

Maugis d'Aigremont was a most likely composed in the early 13th century. It exists in a few extant versions; the latest version comprises 9,078 rhymed alexandrines.

Modern versions

During the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, the story of Les Quatre Fils Aymon was made into a play that was banned by the German authorities, because of the sympathy it displayed for resisting authority; the play was performed underground and became quite popular.

Rinaldo (played by Leigh McCloskey) features in the 1983 Italian film I paladini - Storia d'armi e d'amori (aka Hearts and Armour).

Ship name

Four successive ships of the British Royal Navy were named HMS Rinaldo for this character.

References

  • Hasenohr, Geneviève and Michel Zink, eds. Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Age. Collection: La Pochothèque. Paris: Fayard, 1992.
  • Holmes Jr., Urban Tigner [U.T.]. A History of Old French Literature from the Origins to 1300. New York: F.S. Crofts, 1938.
  • Les Quatre Fils Aymon. Presentation, selection and translation in modern French by Micheline de Combarieu du Grès and Jean Subrenat. Paris: Gallimard, 1983.
  • Jerusalem Delivered, Torquato Tasso, translated by Edward Fairfax, Dodo Press, 2009,
  • Orlando Furioso, prose translation by Guido Waldman (Oxford, 1999). .
  • Orlando Furioso, verse translation by Barbara Reynolds in two volumes (Penguin Classics, 1975). Part one (cantos 1-23) ; part two (cantos 24-46) .
  • Orlando furioso ed. Marcello Turchi (Garzanti, 1974)
  • Orlando Furioso: A Selection ed. Pamela Waley (Manchester University Press, 1975)
  • Bulfinch's Mythology - Online edition of Bulfinch's Mythology: Legends of Charlemagne or Romance of the Middle Ages