Studies in English Volume 10 Article 7 1969 Judith Augusta and Her Time Allen Cabaniss University of Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/ms_studies_eng Part of the European History Commons, French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, and the Medieval History Commons Recommended Citation Cabaniss, Allen (1969) "Judith Augusta and Her Time," Studies in English: Vol. 10 , Article 7. Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/ms_studies_eng/vol10/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in English by an authorized editor of eGrove. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Cabaniss: Judith Augusta and Her Time JUDITH AUGUSTA AND HER TIME by Allen Caban iss Preliminary Note. A middle English poetic romance, “The Erle of Tolous,” composed about the middle of the fourteenth century, may distantly reflect memory of an affair between Count Bernard of Barcelona and Empress Judith, second wife of Louis the Pious. Claiming to derive from a “lay of Bretayne,” it seems to be a garbled, semi-legendary account, but except for the name of “Syr Barnard,” all historical details have been lost. See Thomas C. Rumble, ed., The Breton Lays in Middle English (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1965), 135-177, for the text. The following essay is a survey of the actual record. * * * On October 3, 818, the dour court of Emperor Louis the Pious was gloomier than usual. Louis had just arrived on Octo ber 1 at Angers from a fierce struggle with rebellious Brittany.