Blog Assignment I

If you go back to the Middle Ages, most Christians believed that dying in the service of Christ was noble and glorious. When the Crusaders headed to the Holy Land, to capture Jerusalem, they may have seen "The Song of Roland" as an inspirational poem. The event that takes place in The Song of Roland are basic to the idea of the Crusades. I think the main reason this poem would have been popular with Crusaders is the simple fact that it could serve to inspire the Crusaders. What is more heroic and inspirational than men dying for their faith against evil pagans? One area which I believe would have been of great inspiration to the Crusaders is Turpin's death. We can see in laisse 166 it says "Against pagans ever a champion. God grant him now his Benediction!" Here it is implied that Turpin died heroically and in the service of God. Similarly, another example of a glorious death would be, of course, the death of Roland. In laisse 176 archangels take Roland's soul, once again implying a glorious and beneficial death. The poem goes far beyond a battle between pagans and Christians in the Pyrenees. The entire poem carries the basic message that it is good to die in the service of God and that divine intervention will occur, allowing Christians to prevail. The most obvious point regarding divine intervention can be seen at the very end of the poem, in lassie 180 when God allows Charlemagne and the Franks to destroy the pagans, getting revenge for the dead Roland.