[Sidenote:  Charlemagne’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem.] The fulfillment of this vow is described in “Galyen Rhetore.”  Charlemagne and his peers reached Jerusalem safely in disguise, but their anxiety to secure relics soon betrayed their identity.  The King of Jerusalem, Hugues, entertained them sumptuously, and, hoping to hear many praises of his hospitality, concealed himself in their apartment at night.  The eavesdropper, however, only heard the vain talk of Charlemagne’s peers, who, unable to sleep, beguiled the hours in making extraordinary boasts.  Roland declared that he could blow his horn Olivant loud enough to bring down the palace; Ogier, that he could crumble the principal pillar to dust in his grasp; and Oliver, that he could marry the princess in spite of her father.

The king, angry at hearing no praises of his wealth and hospitality, insisted upon his guests fulfilling their boasts on the morrow, under penalty of death.  He was satisfied, however, by the success of Oliver’s undertaking, and the peers returned to France.  Galyen, Oliver’s son by Hugues’s daughter, followed them thither when he reached manhood, and joined his father in the valley of Roncesvalles, just in time to receive his blessing ere he died.  Then, having helped Charlemagne to avenge his peers, Galyen returned to Jerusalem, where he found his grandfather dead and his mother a captive.  His first act was, of course, to free his mother, after which he became king of Jerusalem, and his adventures came to an end.

The “Chronicle” of Turpin, whence the materials for many of the poems about Roland were taken, declares that Charlemagne, having conquered nearly the whole of Europe, retired to his palace to seek repose.  But one evening, while gazing at the stars, he saw a bright cluster move from the “Friesian sea, by way of Germany and France, into Galicia.”  This prodigy, twice repeated, greatly excited Charlemagne’s wonder, and was explained to him by St. James in a vision.  The latter declared that the progress of the stars was emblematic of the advance of the Christian army towards Spain, and twice bade the emperor deliver his land from the hands of the Saracens.

[Sidenote:  Charlemagne in Spain.] Thus admonished, Charlemagne set out for Spain with a large army, and invested the city of Pamplona, which showed no signs of surrender at the end of a two months’ siege.  Recourse to prayer on the Christians’ part, however, produced a great miracle, for the walls tottered and fell like those of Jericho.  All the Saracens who embraced Christianity were spared, but the remainder were slain before the emperor journeyed to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela to pay his devotions.