THE ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE - outriders poetry project

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© 2009 Max Wickert
Charles concluded a peace with Count Flamingon and the Maganzas and turned back toward Paris.
He sent writs throughout Christendom proclaiming the great crime of which Gerard, Duke of
Burgundy, was guilty, and he dispatched Turpin to Pope Leo in Rome, to have Gerard placed under
the ban of the Cross and excommunicated as a heretic and enemy of the Christian faith, until he
came to Charlemagne’s court to kneel at Charles’ feet, with a rope around his neck, and confessed
his guilt, made amends for all the damage that he had caused, and rendered homage and tribute to
the King of France. These were the matters he sent him to declare to Leo who then was Pope.
Pope Leo prepared other writs in support of Charles, obliging all Christians to obey the Emperor
Charlemagne and to aid him in the destruction of Gerard of the Thicket.
When Gerard heard that he was excommunicate, he caused the hospitals and monasteries and
churches to be stripped of all their wealth, and demanded that their priests say masses, killing many
of those who refused to do so. He mustered a huge force and declared war against all the French
territories. He let it be cried abroad that Charles had caused Bussy’s murder out of envy, that he was
not Pepin’s trueborn son and meant to bastardize the Royal House of France, that Roland was the
intended heir after Charles’ death, that the Burgundian line had never been bastardized, and that
whatever Charles undertook against Gerard was caused by his greed for gold and for silver. He also
accused him of countless other things.
133-136: Lasona [summary]
Charles now gathered his great retainers, including King Flor of Hungary (who brought Balant with him), Solomon of
Brittany, Namo of Bavaria, and Ogier the Dane. Led by Roland and the Emperor, the combined armies marched
under the Oriflamme toward Burgundy. Upon arrival, Charles did not allow pillage, for he had no wish to destroy the
lovely countryside, but was intent on marching through Savoy to descend upon Gerard at Vienne.
Gerard learned of the advance of the imperial armies and moved his own forces toward them . He pitched his camp
on the Savoy side of the river Arar, destroyed the bridge which there crossed the river, and awaited Charles. The
emperor’s army arrived and found itself unable to cross. Farther upstream on the Savoy side stood the city of