The twelfth-century "Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin," also known as the "History of Charlemagne and Roland," offers an "eye-witness" account of events during the late eighth century. Charlemagne"s compatriot, Archbishop Turpin of Rheims, describes the miraculous appearance of Saint James to Charlemagne and the battles against the Muslims that he and Roland fought in Iberia as a result of this vision. The chronicle is one of the fundamental texts in the literary legend surrounding Charlemagne, Roland, Compostela and St. James. It served as source material for a large number of other chronicles as well as for French "chansons de geste" and other forms of heroic literature, including the Song of Roland. This Chronicle comprises Book IV of the "Liber Sancti Jacobi" (Codex Calixtinus), a twelfth-century manuscript from the archives of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the burial place and shrine of St. James. This site, along with Rome and Jerusalem, was one of the three major...