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Do you think the typical listener to a recitation of the Song of Roland would have spotted the discrepancies? Basically in this story Charlemagne receives gifts from the Muslim King, which is a trap. So Roland sends his stepdad ,Ganelon, to negotiate with the Muslims. Ganelon becomes so mad because of this that he swears to get revenge on the French, so he betrayed them.  Ganelon returns to Charlemagne and lies to him. Ganelon leads Charlemagne’s men to war. Roland and his best friend Oliver are two of these men. Oliver sees Muslims coming so he tries to convince Roland that his dad betrayed them. Roland does not believe him until the end of the first battle then agrees. Oliver then pleads with Roland to blow his trumpet for reinforcements, but he refuses this three times. Roland doesn’t blow his trumpet because he believes that honor is more important that winning. Oliver believes that winning is more important than honor. So when the second wave of Muslims came Roland finally blows his trumpet. Both of them die, but Charlemagne hears the trumpet and comes to the rescue. 

According to Wikipedia “The Song of Roland  is an 11th-century chanson de geste based on ]the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux in AD 778, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne.” According to Cornell College, “Olivier: Roland’s best friend, comrade, and the brother of Aude. He is also referred to as Oliver.” According to Cornell College “Roland: Charlemagne’s nephew and leader of the French army’s rear guard.” This poem twisted the historical event of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. In the poem there was an invasion of Spain by the ruler Charlemagne to help a set of Muslims to defeat another set of Muslims. Even though this poem twisted the real event in so many ways to the point it made no sense, the Europeans still liked it. 

According to Google recitation is “the action of repeating something aloud from memory.” According to Google discrepancies means “a lack of compatibility or similarity between two or more facts.” Do you think the typical listener to a recitation of the Song of Roland would have spotted the discrepancies? Yes. There are a few discrepancies and some of them are obvious. For example the troops. At first Charlemagne had 140,000 troops. After he fought with the Muslims he lost 20,000 troops. Later he had 335,000 troops. 

The differences between Oliver’s view of military goals vs. Roland’s. According to Wikipedia “The Song of Roland  is an 11th-century chanson de geste based on ]the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux in AD 778, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne.” According to Cornell College, “Olivier: Roland’s best friend, comrade, and the brother of Aude. He is also referred to as Oliver.” According to Cornell College “Roland: Charlemagne’s nephew and leader of the French army’s rear guard.” This poem twisted the historical event of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. In the poem there was an invasion of Spain by the ruler Charlemagne to help a set of Muslims to defeat another set of Muslims. Even though this poem twisted the real event in so many ways to the point it made no sense, the Europeans still liked it. 

Basically in this story Charlemagne receives gifts from the Muslim King, which is a trap. So Roland sends his stepdad ,Ganelon, to negotiate with the Muslims. Ganelon becomes so mad because of this that he swears to get revenge on the French, so he betrayed them.  Ganelon returns to Charlemagne and lies to him. Ganelon leads Charlemagne’s men to war. Roland and his best friend Oliver are two of these men. Oliver sees Muslims coming so he tries to convince Roland that his dad betrayed them. Roland does not believe him until the end of the first battle then agrees. Oliver then pleads with Roland to blow his trumpet for reinforcements, but he refuses this three times. Roland doesn’t blow his trumpet because he believes that honor is more important that winning. Oliver believes that winning is more important than honor. So when the second wave of Muslims came Roland finally blows his trumpet. Both of them die, but Charlemagne hears the trumpet and comes to the rescue. 

Describe the differences between Oliver’s view of military goals vs. Roland’s. Oliver’s opinion was definitely better because he wanted backup which might have saved their lives. Roland just wanted honor when he died. 

Did the literature of Early Medieval Hymns encourage Christians to exercise political leadership? According to Wikipedia, “Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries.” Back then music was important and hymns were some common music. Many hymns were focuses on God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, Mary, and John the Baptist. In the past week my teacher has been reading me hymns. One of these is called “Hymn to the Archangel Michael”.

Thee the Father’s power and splendor,
Jesus, thee we praise in song,
Bless thy name, O Shepherd tender,
Joining with the angel throng.

‘Mid the myriad host before thee,
Ranged along the radiant sky,
Michael holds the cross of glory,
Our salvation’s hope, on high.

By that sign he drives in terror
Satan and his godless powers,
All the rebel ranks of error,
Headlong from the heavenly towers.

Blessed Michael, be our leader,
In our war on sin and pride;
Be with Christ our interceder,
That the crown be not denied.

Glory to the Father ever,
Glory to the sole-born Son,
Glory to the Spirit; never
Cease the song while ages run.

Another one is “Hymn for the Apostles”.

Let all the world exult in song,
Let praises through the heavens ring,
Let earth and skies the hymn prolong,
The great apostles’ glory sing.

Ye judges of the centuries,
And beacons of the world, we dare
Appeal to you on bended knees,
Oh, heed and hear our suppliant prayer.

O ye, whose word may close or ope
The sacred temple of the Lord,
Restore our souls with heavenly hope,
And break the chain of sin abhorred.

Both life and death your will obey,
At your command all evils fly;
From our frail hearts take guilt away,
And frame our lives with love on high.

So when at last the Christ shall come
To judge the world, our deeds may be
Worthy to make his heaven our home,
Co-heirs with you eternally.

Unto the Father glory be,
And equal glory to the Son,
The same, O Paraclete to thee,
One God, while endless ages run.

Did the literature of Early Medieval Hymns encourage Christians to exercise political leadership? Well the answer is no, because the hymns had nothing to do with politics. They were about praising different people. 

What was Augustine’s view of Christianity’s role in history? According to Wikipedia “Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings influenced the development of Western philosophyand Western Christianity, and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Churchin the Patristic Period.” According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Augustine was perhaps the greatest Christian philosopher of Antiquity and certainly the one who exerted the deepest and most lasting influence. He is a saint of the Catholic Church, and his authority in theological matters was universally accepted in the Latin Middle Ages and remained, in the Western Christian tradition, virtually uncontested till the nineteenth century.“ 

He writes things like don’t be focused on this world, but be focused on the City of God. And other things like don’t be afraid of people or dying, because God is the only one that can destroy your soul. There are a lot of Bible verses about fear. There is Psalms 56:3-4 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise-in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Another one is Mathew 6:26-27 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Fear is pretty much unless because there isn’t too much to fear. The only thing you should fear is God, because He can save you from your fears. Mathew 10:28 ” Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” And that one is God.

 

How important was the doctrine of hell to the martyrs? According to The Conversation.com “In traditional Christian doctrine, hell was conceived as a place, generally beneath the earth, where the wicked would be punished for eternity. There would be both psychological torment – at our knowing we had lost the opportunity for salvation – and physical ones inflicted by the Devil and his demons. There were gnawing worms and unquenchable fires. No escape from hell or mitigation of eternal torment was possible.” Hell is a very terrible place where no one wants to go. Hell is so bad that even the demons don’t want too go there. Mathew 8:28-29 says “²⁸ And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. ²⁹ And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”” The time is when Jesus would cast the devil and his demons into the lake of fire forever. Revelation 20:10 “And the devil who had deceived them was hurled into the lake of fire and burning brimstone (sulfur), where the beast (Antichrist) and false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.” Some people say that hell isn’t real and that Christians just made it up to scare people into Christianity, but hell is very real which means Heaven is too.

According to Wikipedia “A martyr is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party.” Martyrs are basically people who are willing to die for their faith in their religion. There are also many martyrs in the Bible. For example John the Baptist, Stephen, and James. 

How important was the doctrine of hell to the martyrs? It was very serious. When Christian martyrs would tell people about Jesus many would die for it. For only some of the martyrs who were caught They would be given the chance to deny God. If they did they would be released, but if they didn’t they would be killed. Some were not given this choice though. There were so many ways that they could be killed. There was burning to death, being decapitated, stoned crucified, and being drowned. It is horrifying to think of dying like that. It is basically murder except for the fact that the martyrs broke the law and it’s the government that’s killing you, but it’s still murder. If you were a martyr and you were given the choice to deny God and live or be killed, which one would you choose?