“C’est Bien Costume Que Soit Pris Chevaliers”: A Consideration Of Captivity In The Guillaume Cycle

Abstract

The role of captivity in medieval warfare has received renewed attention from historians over the past several years. In the first part of this study I summarize what these historians have found concerning the possible ends to captivity. In the second part, I analyze how closely the chansons de geste of the Guillaume Cycle follow the historical model. The analysis shows that the songs rarely follow the historical evidence, probably due to ideological reasons. In the concluding sections, this study of the literary value of the captivity motif finds that it contributes on a variety of levels to the literary qualities of the genre.