Thirteenth-century France saw the construction of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris to house the Crown of Thorns and other Relics of the Passion which had been purchased by King Louis IX. As a result, a fictitious history that explained how Charlemagne had rescued these Relics from the Saracens and brought them to Paris gained widespread popularity in later medieval France. This history was in the form of an epic poem entitled the Chanson de Fierabras, of which English translations were also made. The history was, in addition, taken to Ireland, where the Irish translation, Sdair Fortibrais developed a wide circulation. However, the Irish text had as its source a Latin translation of the French epic poem. This Latin text is preserved only partially in a unique Irish manuscript of the fifteenth century. It is assumed to be the work of an Irish cleric due to the non-appearance of this version of the story outside Ireland. Hitherto unedited, the principal aim of this project is to provide an edition of the Latin text that lies between the French epic and the Irish text, and then to discuss the position of the story in the Irish literary tradition. The first part of this thesis is entitled 'The Irish Fierabras- the Historical and Literary Framework', divided into five chapters. The first chapter asks why a certain selection of literary texts were translated into Irish during the later Middle Ages, and how they were representing the literary tastes of contemporary France. A comparison is then made with the translation literature of English, Welsh and Old Norse, leading to the conclusion that the history of the Relics of the Passion was the major reason for the interest in the Fierabras story in Ireland as in England. The second chapter outlines the spread of the Fierabras story in France, England and Ireland from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, noting any political reasons as to why the story may have been popular at any one time. The third chapter considers how the subjects of the Fierabras story were used elsewhere in the Irish tradition in order to see if any political interpretations may be applied. The results are inconclusive. The fourth chapter demonstrates that the Irish text is a close translation of the Latin, which is itself an economical translation of the French poem. The final chapter notes how the Latin text can be considered a scholastic text of the early fourteenth century, and asks if it was the work of one particular author, by comparison with another datable text. The second part, 'Manuscript, Text and Translation', is centred upon the edition of the Latin text. The edition presents the text as it is written in the manuscript, with appropriate emendations - an 'editio princeps'. The title of the text in the manuscript, Gesta Karoli Magni, is preserved. The edition is prefaced by a description of the manuscript, along with the editorial principles. It is noted how the text is preserved on one quire that would probably have been followed by a similar quire, now lost. The edition is followed by a textual apparatus, in which the editorial corrections are explained, and some further notes. A reasonably literal translation lies at the end, in which the difficulties in the Latin text are clarified as far as possible.

Despite its apparent popularity in fifteenth-century Ireland—as attested by its presence in eight manuscripts—Stair Fortibrais, the Irish adaptation of the twelfth-century chanson de geste Fierabras has received very little scholarly attention. This fact proves especially unfortunate since the text possesses particular relevance for two important trends in recent scholarship, one concerning Celtic Studies and the other more broadly Continental in scope. In the case of the former, researchers have begun to consider how translations can inform the interpretation of the greater corpus of medieval Irish literature. The latter relates to an interest in the person of Charlemagne himself as a pan-European figure. As an Irish translation of a poem from the geste du roi, Stair Fortibrais has much to contribute to both these academic discussions. Because the text remains relatively unknown, this thesis is by design intended largely as a scholarly introduction to the material. It seeks to present data about the text and serve as a guide to some of its most important themes. The Introduction will provide basic information about Stair Fortibrais and its Hiberno-Latin source Gesta Karoli Magni and their unique place amongst Irish translation literature. The body of the thesis is composed of four chapters. The first examines all manuscripts containing the Irish adaptation as well as the single codex featuring its Latin source. More specifically, it considers how its placement within the manuscripts provides guidance for interpreting the text. All three remaining chapters compare the Irish adaptation—and, where appropriate, its fragmentary Latin source—with Fierabras. The second chapter discusses additions, reordering, reduction/omission and substitution in Stair Fortibrais in an attempt to determine the adaptor’s translation technique, with a particular emphasis on patterns in his approach. The penultimate chapter analyses the adaptation’s treatment of some of the chanson de geste’s important themes. It is divided into three sections: Character Studies, Religion and the Supernatural and Religion and Historiography. The final chapter studies topics both political—rank and feudal duties— and cultural—family, unity, and moderate behaviour— which appear to have particularly interested the adaptor but which do not feature prominently in the French poem. The conclusion of the thesis will postulate that, through a series of subtle but carefully-considered alterations, the adaptors not only translated but also re-appropriated their source material for its Irish audience. It will also briefly consider some of the numerous avenues for additional exploration of the tradition of Charlemagne in Ireland.

Performances of Fitrabras and the other Schubert operas have been very rare. Parts of Fierrabras were given in concert form in Vienna in 1853 and again in 1858. The first stage production was in Karlsruhe, February 9, 1897, but the music was revised for that performance by 0. Neitzel and the text by F. Mottl. The text was translated into French for a production in Brussels in 1926. A concert version was also heard in London in 1938. None of these performances, with the possible exception of the one in Brussels, was in the original version. It has always been assumed that the work could not be performed as it stands; at any rate, no one has ever tried. True, there are certain problems in production, especially in the rapid shift of scenes in the third act, but modern stage technique could undoubtedly conquer such difficulties easily.