The Sege off Melayne is a fragmentary late 14thcentury
ROMANCE of CHARLEMAGNE, written in a
northern dialect of MIDDLE ENGLISH and surviving
in a single manuscript (British Museum MS
Additional 31042, known as the “London Thornton”
manuscript) dating from about 1450. The
1,599-line poem is written in 12-line TAIL-RHYME
stanzas rhyming aabccbddbeeb, the form of many
popular romances of the time. Unlike most
Charlemagne romances, however, The Sege off
Melayne has no known source, and, although the
narrator refers to “the chronicle” as his source, the
poem may even have originally been composed in
English, particularly since its theme seems less the
glorification of the French king than it is the exaltation
of the religious ideal of the crusade. The
protagonist of the poem is clearly the archbishop,
Turpin, rather than Charlemagne himself or one
of the 12 peers of France (such as Roland or
Oliver).
The theme of the poem is the defense of the
faith against the Saracen infidel, the great goal of
the late medieval crusading mentality. It begins as
the sultan Arabas leads his armies into Tuscany,
conquering many cities.He burns the crucifixes in
the churches and sets up Mohammedan “idols” in
their place, and martyrs many Christian women
and children. Sir Alantyne, the lord of the city of
Milan, is confronted by the conquering army, and
given the choice of death or conversion to Islam.
He spends the night in prayer, and an angel appears
to him, telling him to go to Charlemagne,
king of France, and tell him that God bids him to
rescue Milan from the heathen. The same night,
Charlemagne also receives a vision in which an
angel gives him a sword, symbolizing a holy sanction
for a war on the Saracens.
In a council of Charles’s retainers, Ganelon advises
Charles not to go to the war, but to let Roland
lead an army there instead—as in The SONG OF
ROLAND and other CHANSONS DE GESTE, Ganelon is
depicted as a treasonous knight. Roland’s army
rides to Milan and engages the Saracen army but
suffers a terrible defeat. Roland is taken prisoner,
with Oliver and two other peers, but the other
40,000 Christian warriors are slain. The poet, calling
the French troops “our knights,” focuses specifically
on the death of the duke of Normandy, who
has a dying vision of French knights being welcomed
into heavenly bliss.
In the second fitt (or section), the sultan tries to
persuade the four French knights to forsake Christianity
by burning a crucifix in order to demonstrate
the powerlessness of the Christian God. As an answer
to the knights’ prayers, not only does the crucifix
fail to burn, but fire flashes from it and blinds the
Saracens, enabling the four knights to kill their captors
(including the sultan Arabas) and escape on
white horses, which appear at the precise moment
they are needed.When Bishop Turpin hears of the
slaughter, he laments to the Virgin Mary, complaining
to her that had she not been born and given
birth to Christ, these 40,000 knights would not have
been killed. Charles is disturbed by the news, and
Ganelon advises him to make himself vassal to the
new sultan, Garcy. Turpin curses Ganelon and his
advice, and urges Charles to take vengeance for the
knights he has lost. The bishop himself sends
throughout Christendom for an army of priests,
100,000 strong, who come to fight for the faith
under his guidance. But once again, under
Ganelon’s advice, the king refuses to take part in the
battle. At this, Turpin calls the king a coward, and
excommunicates both him and Ganelon. He then
leads his huge army against the city of Paris, and
Charles decides to relent, ask the bishop’s forgiveness
and absolution, and go himself to Milan.
Within three weeks he has raised another army, and
they set out for Lombardy.
In fitt three, the final battle begins. Turpin essentially
directs the battle.He goads the others on
to do their duty to their God.When his squire despoils
the body of a dead Saracen, Turpin beats
him with his sword and declares that there should
be no spoils until victory is won.Wounded twice,
Turpin still fights on. He vows not to eat or drink
or have his wounds tended to until Milan is taken
back by the Christians. He urges Charlemagne to
fight on against superior odds even as reinforcements
arrive from Brittany. But the manuscript
breaks off at this point, before what was clearly
to be an ultimate victory for the Christian forces.
The Sege off Melayne is a lively and readable romance,
of particular interest for its focus on Turpin
and the moral values he represents. In addition, the
poem provides a clear view of Christian attitudes
toward Muslims in the late medieval period.
Bibliography
Barron,W. R. J. English Medieval Romance. London:
Longman, 1987.
Mehl, Dieter. The Middle English Romances of the
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968.
Three Middle English Charlemagne Romances. Edited
by Alan Lupack. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute
Publications, 1990.