Paladins, the
Paladins, the,in the cycle of Charlemagne legends, the 12 peers who accompanied the king. The origin of the conception is seen in the Chanson de Roland (see Roland ), where the 12 peers are merely an association of particularly brave warriors, under the leadership of Roland and Oliver , who all perish at Roncesvalles. From the Spanish war the idea was transported by later writers to other parts of the cycle, and Charlemagne is found always surrounded by 12 peers. The names of the 12 are differently stated by different authors, most of the original names given by the Chanson de Roland being forgotten by them; but Roland and Oliver figure in all the enumerations. Among the best known are Otuel , Fierabras or Ferumbras , Ogier the Dane, and the count palatine. In the early 13th cent. there was a French court, comprising six ecclesiastics and six laymen, known as ‘the Twelve Peers of France’; this court in 1202...
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