LI VIELS QUENUS FERRANS: THE MUSLIM ELITE IN THE CHANSONS DE GESTE OF THE FIRST CRUSADE CYCLE

The Crusades brought about direct and lasting contact between Christians and Muslims. The article examines how this new situation influenced the portrayal of Muslim leaders in the poems of the First Crusade cycle, in comparison with their hatred-filled depiction in the royal and other chansons de geste cycles. While the Crusade epics retain motifs and topoi characteristic of medieval literature, Saracen leaders appear significantly more helpless and caricatured than in the traditional songs. Literary devices emphasize their absurdity and comic traits, as well as their dependence on demons and the magical rituals of idolatry. As a result, a sinister yet at the same time exotic image of the enemy emerges—one that evokes contempt and serves to justify the holy war against the infidels.