Song of Roland Summary

       The Song of Roland is an epic narrative story about the French King Charlemagne. It is based off the historical character Charlemagne who was crowned 1st Holy Roman Emperor in 800 A.D. In the beginning, we learn that King Charlemagne has been waging war in Spain, and has taken everything except Saragossa which is ruled by King Marsille. We are then introduced to Blancandrin who is the planner for Marsille and he proposes to offer Charlemagne gifts as a peace offering. We then see Charlemagne who has defeated Cordoba and he is portrayed as a good leader and powerful throughout the story.  We then meet Roland who is the nephew of Charlemagne, and Ganelon, the planner for Charlemagne- these two are enemies. Ganelon ends up being chosen to go to King Marsille to accept the peace treaty. Ganelon, however, is a traitor and agrees with Blancandrin to kill Roland. He then lies to the emperor about what Charlemagne, which drives him to be angry to Charlemagne. Ganelon agrees with Marsille that he will kill Roland

Defining Terms

Mercantilism-
       Mercantilism is an economic structure that has to do with commerce wealth. The ideal Mercantilist economy had tight control over the trade of that country, and they were supposed to export more than they imported.

Balance of Power-
       The balance of power was the belief that there shouldn't be one country with all the power. The balance of power sought to keep all countries from uniting under one crown, and also tried to maintain the equality of power between countries.

Middle Passage-
        The Middle Passage was a part of the transatlantic slave trade. It was the part of the cycle when slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas, and it was a grueling journey in which many of the slaves died even though they were the healthiest of their people.