with the history of the mother of the
emperor, and with Charlemagne himself down to the coming of Roland. To
this group belong _Bertha Greatfoot_ and _Aspremont_, both of the 12th
century, and a variety of chansons dealing with the childhood of
Charlemagne and of Ogier the Dane. A second group deals with the
struggle of Charlemagne with his rebellious vassals. This is what has
been defined as the Feudal Epic; it includes _Girars de Viane_ and
_Ogier the Dane_, both of the 13th century, or the end of the 12th. A
third group follows Charlemagne and his peers to the East. It is in the
principal of these poems, _The Pilgrimage to Jerusalem_, that
Alexandrine verse first makes its appearance in French literature. This
must belong to the beginning of the 12th century. A fourth group,
antecedent to the Spanish war, is of the end of the 12th century and the
beginning of the 13th; it includes _Aiquin_, _Fierabras_ and _Otinel_.
The fifth class discusses the war in Spain, and it is to this that
_Roland_ belongs; there are different minor epics dealing with the
events of Roncevaux, and independent chansons of _Gui de Bourgogne_,
_Gaidon_ and _Anseis de Carthage_. The _Geste du Roi_ comprises a sixth
and last group, proceeding with events up to the death of Charlemagne;
this contains _Huon de Bordeaux_ and a vast number of poems of minor
originality and importance.

Another cycle is that of Duke William Shortnose, _La Geste de
Guillaume_. This includes the very early and interesting _Departure of
the Aimeri Children_, _Aliscans_ and _Rainoart_. It is thought that this
cycle, which used to be called the _Geste de Garin de Monglane_, is less
artificial than the others; it deals with the heroes of the South who
remained faithful in their vassalage to the throne. The poems belonging
to this cycle are extremely numerous, and some of them are among the
earliest which survive. These chansons find their direct opposites in
those which form the great cycle of _La Geste de Doon de Mayence_,
sometimes called "la faulse geste," because it deals with the feats of
the traitors, of the rebellious family of Ganelon. This is the geste of
the Northmen, always hostile to the Carlovingian dynasty. It comprises
some of the most famous of the chansons, in particular _Parise la
duchesse_ and _The Four Sons of Aymon_. Several of its sections are the
production of a known poet, Raimbert of Paris. From this triple division
of the main body of the chansons d