SOURCE: Introduction to The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne (Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne), edited and translated by Glyn S. Burgess, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988, pp. 1-27.

In the following essay, Cobby discusses The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne, including arguments regarding the date of the text; difficulties in classifying the work; its artistic merit and use of humor; and its sources and influences.

Author and Date

Few medieval works have given rise to as much disagreement as the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne. The difficulties begin with the question of its origin and date. The text is known from a single manuscript (Royal 16 E VIII of the British Library) which went missing on 7 June 1879 (see George F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson. Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royal and King’s Collections. 4 vols, London: British Museum, 1921, II, p. 196). The manuscript probably dates from the thirteenth century (Warner and Gilson, p. 196, Michel...