Renaud de Montauban

Renaud (or Renaut or Renault) de Montauban (Modern French: [ʁəno d(ə) mɔ̃tobɑ̃]; German: Reinhold von Montalban; Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano; Dutch: Reinout van Montalban or Montalbaen) was a legendary hero and knight which appeared in a 12th-century Old French chanson de geste known as The Four Sons of Aymon.

The four sons of Duke Aymon are Renaud, Richard, Alard and Guiscard, and their cousin is the magician Maugris (French: Maugis; Italian: Malagi or Malagigi).

Renaud possesses the magical horse Bayard and the sword Froberge (French: Flamberge; Italian: Fusberta or Frusberta).

The tale was adapted into Dutch, German, Italian and English versions throughout the Middle Ages, inspired the Old Icelandic Mágus saga jarls, and also incited subsequent sequels and related texts that form part of the Doon de Mayence cycle of chansons.

The oldest extant version of the anonymous Old French chanson de geste Quatre Fils Aymon dates from the late 12th century and comprises 18,489 Alexandrin (12 syllable) verses grouped in assonanced and rhymed laisses (the first 12,120 verses use assonance; critics suggest that the rhymed laisses derive from a different poet).

A long war follows, during which Renaud and his brothers remain faithful to the chivalrous code of honor despite their sufferings, until Charlemagne is prevailed on by his paladins to make terms.

In the end, he is murdered by resentful workers, but his body is miraculously saved from the river and makes its way magically in a cart back to his brothers.

[4] Charlemagne is portrayed as vengeful and treacherous in these stories, and he is fooled by the sorcerer Maugris; the sympathy of the storyteller is clearly with the four brothers, but ultimately feudal authority is upheld.

Discovering his identity, he battles to save his maternal grandfather (who is being attacked by Charlemagne) and his father (who is being assaulted by Vivien, who becomes the new ruler, or "amachour", of Monbranc).

Renaud de Montauban should not be confused with Rinaldo, the son of Bertoldo and reputed founder of the House of Este in Torquato Tasso's epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1580), though this second character is made out to be a descendant of the original paladin's sister Bradamante.

By giving Rinaldo a mirror of diamond, they force him to see himself in his effeminate and amorous state and to return to the war, leaving Armida heartbroken (Cantos 14-16).

Continental sources, including guides to Dortmund where Reinold is patron saint of both town and cathedral, routinely equate Renaud with the martyred monk.

[8] Rinaldo (played by Leigh McCloskey) features in the 1983 Italian film I paladini - Storia d'armi e d'amori (aka Hearts and Armour).

Illustration by Gustav Dore to Orlando Furioso : Rinaldo and his men see a knight and lady approach
The horse Bayard carrying the four sons of Aymon, miniature in a manuscript from the 14th century.
Maugis on his horse Bayard, fighting against the Infidels, in Renaud de Montauban . Loyset Liédet, Bruges, 1462-1470
Vivien, as a Saracen emir, sends the black wizard Noiron to fight Maugis in the siege of Aigremont. Renaud de Montauban . Loyset Liédet, Bruges, 1462-1470
Maugis fighting the Saracen wizard Noiron in Aigremont , in Renaud de Montaubant . David Aubert, Bruges, 1462-1470
15th Century History of Renaud de Montauban, 1468-1470
The picture illustrates an episode from Tasso's heroic crusader poem "Jerusalem Delivered" (1580), in which the Christian knights Carlo and Ubaldo confront a dragon in their attempt to rescue Rinaldo from a pagan sorceress