paladin
A paladin ( plural paladins, from Latin palatinus ) is a noble endowed with special dignity , usually a knight .
development
The starting point for the story of the word paladin is the palatium on Mons Palatinus (Palatine Hill). On this hill in Rome , Emperor Augustus and his successors took up residence and later had their government buildings there. The words palace and palatinate also come from the word palatium . In relation to the seat of government, palatinus means something like "belonging to the imperial palace". As a person, a Palatinus , later in the softening of the consonants ( lenization ), the Paladin , is a person who is particularly close to the emperor. In French the expression is palaisin , in Spanish paladín , in English paladin .
Antiquity
In antiquity , this was initially used to describe the staff who lived in the emperor's palace, and later mainly his most loyal followers, as opposed to nobles who were independent of the palace. In antiquity, the “Palatinus” was an influential person, as the emperor endowed his palace members with high dignity (tasks, responsibilities, powers). Due to the sacred personality of an emperor (for the emperor as pontifex maximus see here ) a sacred dimension was already transferred to the paladins at this time.
middle Ages
The paladin attained its greatest importance in the Middle Ages . Seven electors were determined to elect and elect the king, and for a long time he ruled through the traveling kingship , the court did not stay in one capital, but moved from one royal palace to the next. The paladins of this time are historically called differently: Palatinus became the Palatinate, and thus the palatini were Counts Palatine , and the place where they lived was also called Palatinate, just like the country belonging to it. The royal palace was one of the bases of the Roman-German king in the empire. The Count Palatine was the administrator of the Palatinate and in his absence the mediator between the Empire and the Emperor. The name and history of the Electoral Palatinate reflect the eventful history of this relationship, because the Count Palatine, who lived there, had also been one of the seven electors since 1214, and finally since 1356, and, in addition to the Saxon elector, one of two deputies of the emperor in his absence . ( Imperial Vicar )
Modern times
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Even in modern times, people were honored as “paladins” by monarchs , especially in Great Britain and the German Empire of Bismarckian . Even Hitler called his "second man in the state" Hermann Goering "Paladin".
poetry
The twelve knightly followers of Charlemagne in the medieval French epic ( chanson de geste ) from the 11th century onwards are later referred to as “paladin” in poetry .
These fictional characters are freely based on historical Franconian followers of the 8th century and influenced by historical events such as the confrontation of the Franconian Empire with the Umayyads in the Marca Hispanica and the battle at the Roncesvaux pass .
The paladins in medieval literature
The twelve paladins are named differently in different novels, often more than twelve appear. What all stories have in common, however, are the paladins Roland and Oliver.
In medieval literature, the stories about the paladins of Charlemagne were in no way inferior in popularity to the legends about King Arthur and the knights of the round table . In the literature of the Renaissance , Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso in particular contributed to the dissemination of the material.
The twelve paladins of Charlemagne are given the following names in the song of Roland :
- Roland , nephew of Charlemagne and the main hero of the stories
- Oliver, Roland's friend and strongest ally
- also Gérin, Gérier, Bérengier, Otton, Samson, Engelier, Ivon, Ivoire, Anséis, Girard
The story was later also used by the Italian novels by Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso, who used the Italian term paladino and slightly modified the names. The variants of the shapes and the expression paladino established by the Italians were later used in Hispanic Baroque poetry, particularly in 1624 in the great epic El Bernardo by the Mexican Bernardo de Balbuena .
Paladin as a synonym
In a figurative sense, the term is used to denote a bold, unwavering believing knight and brave hero who has made it his business to fight against evil .
Based on passages from the Roland song, Paladin is a synonym for “the best friend” in most western languages. So titled in Roland's song Charlemagne Roland with the words: "... my paladin, my best friend" when he received the news of Roland's death.
The term is used, also mockingly, to denote a loyal follower or follower of a person.
Reception in modern fantasy literature and role-playing games
In Fantasy - RPGs Paladins are holy knights of the church or sent by a deity or a god to act on their sense and in the name of honor. Her image is characterized by a radiant appearance and heroic poses. They are often depicted with cutting and stabbing weapons and in splendid armor, which may be surrounded by an aura. Often they also have angelic wings on their backs. They also act with supporting spells, especially healing spells, and forms of magic that are directed against the respective evil. The far-reaching rights from history can be found in these transfers into fantasy.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ For the story see Brockhaus multimedial 2004, Paladin
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↑ Stefan Marthens: First Paladin of the Führer and Second Man in the Empire . Paderborn 1985, ISBN 3-506-77474-3 .
Wolfgang Paul: Hermann Goering: Hitler's Paladin or Puppet? London 1998, ISBN 1-85409-429-7 . - ↑ Duden: [1]