L’arcivescovo Turpino nella Chanson de Roland e nel Rolandslied

Abstract

For modern readers of the Chanson de Roland (late 11th c.) and of its German version, the Rolandslied (late 12th c.), the Archbishop Turpin is an intriguing but bewildering character: he is a member of the Church who despises the idea of a life meant to fight evil only by means of prayers, and at the same time he takes active part in the war against the infidels. This paper briefly retraces the process that led to the convergence of oratores and bellatores, and analyzes the different forms of representation of Turpin in the two poems, in order to throw light on the attitude of each author to the thorny issue of militarized clergy in the 11th and 12th centuries.