I have always liked history. In so doing, it seems to me that the French get short shrift when it comes to their heroes being recognized – at least in this country. They have quite a few, you know!
The problem may be that there are not enough people around here that are fluent in French so they don’t read about the good French champions. Actually, I tried to learn French when I was in school, but the second day the teacher threw a book at me. (French feminine volatility?) I switched to an Economic Geography class which was safer.
Despite that, I still like to read about Frenchmen of renown. We all know about Sir Lancelot who was a certified Frenchman – or so the story goes. He was Arthur’s big gun at the round table gatherings. He was undefeated – at least until he met his son, Sir Galahad who knocked him off his horse. Those were the days of real chivalry. OK, it is true that Lance swiped Art’s wife. However, one must remember that chivalry is defined as the “tendency of a man to protect a woman from everyone except himself.” Appears to me that Sir Lancelot filled that definition quite nicely! Thus, he belongs in the Legion of French Heroes.
Then there was Charlemagne’s favorite guy, Roland. Roland was a knight supreme, and as far as I know, he did not try anything with Charlemagne’s wife so he gets some bonus points.
He was so good that Turold (a poet) is assumed to be the author of the Song of Roland . I have read the considerable lyrics of the Song, but I have never heard the tune. Roland’s big problem was that he let himself – and a few of his friends – get trapped in the Pyrenees by a Spanish army, They say that they heard his horn at the end of the battle for many miles, but no eyewitnesses have testified to that so it may be a myth. In any case, he was never seen again. Of course, if he had fought his way out, they probably never would have written the enjoyable song that carries his memory throughout France.
However, my favorite is Bayard, the Good Knight. He was also known as the “the knight without fear and beyond reproach.” His full name was Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard. That is quite a handle so folks just called him Bayard. At one point he single-handedly defended a bridge against 200 Spaniards. Unlike the Spartans he lived to fight again. Another time, he had 1000 men in a city that was surrounded by an army of 35,000. After six weeks he made the opposing generals lift the siege. He did all sorts of things like that. Seems to me that there should be a movie in there somewhere.
There is even a feminine interest involved in his story. In one of his battles he came to the aid of the Duke, Alphonso d’Este. Turns out the duke’s wife (bless his heart) was none other than Lucrezia Borgia, who took a shine to Bayard. He returned her admiration. He found occasions to visit her castle several times to pay “homage” to her.I am not certain as to the definition that the French have for homage, but since Bayard was the type of knight he was, it was unquestionably a platonic relationship – I think.
At this point, I am going to have to admit that one reason I have this reverence for French heroes is that I have a French background on my mother’s side of the family. The family lore is that we are related to one of Napoleon’s Field Marshals, Andre Massena. Andre won a number of battles. The French had conquered a good section of Europe including Spain (most likely to get revenge for Roland). Thus, it so happened that Andre’s last battles were there, and he was crushed by that dandy, the Duke of Wellington. Good old Andre might have done a little better, if he had paid the necessary attention to what was happening around him. However, he had a slight fault in that when he went off to battle, he took along his mistress dressed in a private’s uniform.
Despite this, there is a Massena museum in Nice, France that the relatives think is one of the best around. You can visit it the next time you are in the area.
No, I do not know if that private’s uniform is one of the exhibits.
Barry Evans is a columnist for Villages-News.com