Bramimonde is a character in The Song of Roland

The Song of Roland

The Song of Roland is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th to 14th centuries...

. Bramimonde is the Queen of Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

, wife of King Marsile

King Marsile

Marsile is a character in The Song of Roland. He is the pagan king of the Saracens. He first appears in Stanza 1 as losing the war against Charlemagne, and asks his barons for counsel...

 and mother of Jurfaleu the Blond.

Bramimonde is introduced as an unwavering supporter of the Saracens, her husband and the betrayal of Roland

Roland

Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...

; going so far as to kiss his betrayer, Ganelon

Ganelon

In the Matter of France, Ganelon is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Muslims, leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word inganno, meaning fraud or deception....

, in a show of support that was customary at the time. Over the course of the work, she becomes greatly disillusioned with her Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 faith, as seen in this passage where she grieves over the loss of her husband's right hand by Roland:

"When the Queen Bramimonde heard that her lord had returned, she hurried to him. Then, as she listened to his woful tale, and saw his shattered wrist, from which the right hand was gone, she wept aloud and made a great moan. With terrible curses she cursed Charlemagne and France, and she cursed her own heathen gods and idols. Then she threw the image of Apollin down, taking from him his crown and sceptre and trampling him under foot. "Oh, wicked god," she cried, "why hast thou brought such shame upon us? Why hast thou allowed our king to be defeated? Thou rewardest but ill those who serve thee."

The images of Tervagan and Mahomet too she caused to be beaten and broken in pieces, and flung to the pigs and dogs. Never were idols treated with such scorn. "

Upon Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

's army's successful destruction of her city's mosques and synagogues, the forced baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 of her people, the crushing defeat of Baligant

Baligant

In The Song of Roland, Baligant is the Emir of Babylon , who tries to aid the defense of Zaragoza from Charlemagne. He is sometimes described as a man from ancient times. He is killed in the ensuing battle...

, and finally the death of her husband, she readily admits defeat. She is captured and taken to Aix upon her surrender and, unlike her subjects, is allowed to convert to the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

faith by 'parable and sermon' in recognition of her noble lineage. She was baptised as 'Juliana'.