The rebellious barons are connected by the poets with Doon by fictitious genealogical ties and all are represented as opposing Charlemagne, although their adventures—insofar as they possess a historical basis—generally occur before (or after) his reign.
The tradition of a traitorous family of Mayence (Mainz), which was developed in Italy into a series of stories about criminals, appeared later than the Carolingian cycle.
87) that the army of Sigebert III was betrayed from within its own ranks by men of Mayence, in a battle fought with Radulf on the banks of the Unstrut in Thuringia.
The chief heroes of the poems which make up Doon de Mayence are Ogier the Dane, the four sons of Aymon, and Huon of Bordeaux.
Doon himself was probably one of the last characters to be clearly defined, and the chanson de geste relating his exploits was drawn up partly with the view of supplying a suitable ancestor for the other heroes—in modern terms, a prequel.