The Song of Roland is a poetic story filled to the brim with war, sacrifice, and betrayal. Its recount of important historical events has kept it beneficial to the understanding of the Middle Ages, as the birth of new religion spurred King Charlemagne and one of his vassals Roland into action. At the time, Islam was spreading quickly over European countries, and had particularly planted roots in Spain. While Charlemagne had been successful in recovering most lands in Spain, there was one city, Saragossa that had not yet been taken over. This is what Song of Roland is based around, as Charlemagne utilizes a combination of diplomacy and battle strategy in an attempt to convert the people of Saragossa to Christianity. The events of this poem take place around the same time of the First Crusade that occurred between Christians and Muslims over the Holy Land in the late 1000s. The poem’s connection to the Crusades with its characters and overall the author’s style of writing point to its purpose being to inform others about the Crusades as well as pointing towards the superiority of Christianity. 

The Crusades all started with Pope Urban II, a man who the Fulcher of Chartres held highly in regard. He was the spark that ignited the religious wars between Christianity and Islam. His famous speech at the Council of Clermont is one that is most remembered by all who know of him. The Holy Land was a place of pilgrimage for every religion, but most of all the Christians, until the Turks took control of it, at which point the Christians were no longer able to enter. Urban responded to this with strong and powerful words reaching out to every Christian in Europe, calling them to act. His words started the increase in military activity in Christian citizens and noble figures. This is particularly e In Song of Roland, one of the characters Turpin, who was an archbishop/warrior to Charlemagne, demonstrates that he hears Urban’s central message loud and clear, as he fights alongside the Christians to eradicate Islamic influence. The poem and its characters displays true historical connections to the First Crusade, and the friction between Christianity and the spreading of Islam. 

When reading through Song of Roland, it is not difficult to deduce that the author holds a bias towards Charlemagne. It can be found even by only reading the first laisse of the poem. While the identity of the author is unclear, many people have found and translated the poem from its original language Old French. One of the translators Glyn Burgess interprets “Charles the king, our great emperor, Has been in Spain for seven long years, And conquered that proud land as far as the sea. There is no castle which can resist him, No wall or city left to be destroyed, Except for Saragossa, which stands upon a mountain. It is held by King Marsile, who does not love God; He serves Muhammad and calls upon Apollo”(Laisse 1).  The fact that he refers to Charlemagne as “our,” as well as stating that Marsile does not love God and serves Muhammad shows that he not only favors to the Christian religon because that was the faith Charlemagne belonged to, but is prejudiced against Islam and the power it holds in Spain at the time. The author also refers to the Muslims in Spain as “pagans” throughout the text. The word pagan was originally used to refer to religions that were polytheistic, however Islam is monotheistic. The founder and prophet of Islam, Muhammad, actually despised polytheism, and once he told others about his new religion, him and his followers devised militant attacks on groups of polytheists. Overall, the author’s use use of language and tone in the poem shows his poor education on what Islam actually is, and has developed an obvious distaste for it. Song of Roland’s writing and latent messages that are placed throughout it connects the poem to the First Crusade in that it expresses the conflict between Muslims and Christians, in company with this ideology that the Muslims are “pagans” or “heathens” and that the Christians are the ones who are right in their beliefs.  It’s almost as if the author is writing a classic story of villains against heroes with the way they describe both sides that are at war with one another. 

Moreover, it is also written in the poem that when Roland dies, he is taken to heaven by angels, a concept that is often associated with Christianity. Burgess translates that “Roland feels that his time has come; He is on a steep hill facing Spain. With one hand he beat his breast: ‘O God, the Almighty, I confess my sins, both great and small, Which I have committed since the time I was born, Until this day on which I have been overtaken.’ He held out his right glove to God; Angels come down to him from Heaven”(Laisse 175). Needless to say, there is no proof that this actually occurred except for the author’s account, which may or may not have been firsthand since the author’s identity is unknown. However, his romanticism of what happened indicates that the author’s faith lies with Christianity, and that because Roland died a martyr and confessed his sins, he deserved to be personally taken to paradise up above. 

A blend of expressive writing and historically accurate characters links Song of Roland with one of the most important events that took place during the Middle Ages- the Crusades. The author’s use of religious imagery and context causes the reader to better visualize and understand the conflict between the religions portrayed in this poem. This aids in laying the groundwork for truly comprehending the quarreling between the Christians and Muslims that begins in the First Crusade in 1096. Furthermore, the author makes an effort to paint a picture of good vs evil, with Charlemagne and his men being the good, and Marsile and his men as being the evil, which vehemently establishes his allegiance to Charles the Great and his Christian principles.