Charlemagne's Twelve Peers
In the medieval French chansons de geste and material associated with the Matter of France that tell of the exploits of Charlemagne and his knights—such as The Song of Roland -- the elite of the imperial army and Charlemagne's closest advisors were called "The Twelve Peers". The exact names of the peers vary from text to text. In The Song of Roland (Oxford edition), the peers are: Roland, Olivier, Gerin, Gerier, Berengier, Oton, Samson, Engelier, Ivon, Ivoire, Anseïs, and Gérard de Roussillon (Charlemagne's trusted adviser Naimes and the warrior-priest Turpin are, however, not included in the 12 peers in this text; neither is Ganelon the traitor). The number of peers is thought to parallel the twelve apostles.
Read more about this topic: Peerage Of France
Famous quotes containing the words twelve and/or peers:
“When I was twelve years old I thought up an odd trinity: namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Devil. My inference was that God, in contemplating himself, created the second person of the godhead; but that, in order to be able to contemplate himself, he had to contemplate, and thus to create, his opposite.—With this I began to do philosophy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“He could not have been tried by a jury of his peers, because his peers did not exist.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)