GIRART DE ROUSSILLON, an epic figure of the Caro lingian cycle of romance. In the genealogy of romance he is a son of Doon de Mayence. His legend is contained in a Vita Girardi de Roussillon, dating from the early 12th century and written probably by a monk of the abbey of Pothieres or of Vezelai, both of which were founded in 86o by Girart ; in Girart de Roussillon, a chanson de geste of similar date, apparently based on an earlier Burgundian poem ; in a 14th century romance in alexandrines; and in a prose romance by Jehan Wauquelin in The historical Girard, son of Leuthard and Grimildis, was count of Paris in 837, and embraced the cause of Lothair against Charles the Bald. In 855 he became governor of Provence for Lothair's son Charles, king of Provence (d. 863). His wife Bertha defended Vienne unsuccessfully against Charles the Bald in 870, and Girard retired with his wife to Avignon, where he died. But the historical facts are so distorted in Girart de Roussillon that the trouvere makes him the opponent of Charles Martel, to whom he stands in the relation of brother-in-law. He is nowhere described in authentic historic sources as of Roussillon, a title derived from his castle on Mt. Lassois, near Chatillon-sur-Seine. Southern traditions concerning Count Girart, in which he is made the son of Garin de Monglane, are embodied in Girart de Viane (13th century) by Bertrand de Bar-sur-l'Aube, and in the As pramonte of Andrea da Barberino, where he figures as Girart de Frete or de Fratte. Girart de Viane is the recital of a siege of Vienne by Charlemagne, and in Aspramonte Girart de Fratte leads an army of infidels against Charlemagne.
See F. Michel, Gerard de Rossillon ... publie en francais et en provencal d'apres les mss. de Paris et de Londres (1856) ; P. Meyer, Girart de Roussillon (1884), a translation in modern French with a comprehensive introduction. For Girart de Viane (ed. P. Tarbe, Reims, 1850) see L. Gautier, Les Epopees francaises, vol. iv. (1878 94) ; F. A. Wulff, Notice sur les sagas de Magus et de Geirard (Lund, 1874) .