The cycle

The protagonist of these three chansons is Godfrey of Bouillon, around whom the rest of the cycle is based, in a much more romanticized form. These connect Godfrey with the legend of the Swan Knight. Even medieval redactors recognized that this element of the cycle was fanciful as well as did not quite match the historical chansons, and they are normally separated in the manuscripts. The number one episode chronologically within the cycle is the Naissance du Chevalier au Cygne, which survives in two forms, the Elioxe and the Beatrix. In the former, Elioxe has children with King Lothair; in the latter, Beatrix is married to King Orient. In both cases, they cause seven children, who are all turned into swans. any but one are fine to transform back into humans; this swan then leads the boat of one of his brothers, so-called as the Swan Knight. Some manuscripts throw a relation that combines both stories into one.

The Swan Knight's adventures bring him to the defense of the dispossessed Duchess of Bouillon, whose land has been seized by Regnier of Saxony, whom he challenges to a duel. The Swan Knight defeats Regnier and wins the daughter of the Duchess in marriage. They have a daughter, Ida, who can see the future and knows that she is destined to be the mother of Eustace, Godfrey, and Baldwin. The Swan Knight, however, must leave Bouillon when his wife asks his true identity. After leaving Bouillon, his name is revealed to be Elias, and his brother, the swan who led his boat, finally regains his human form. Meanwhile, Elias' kinsmen, the knights Pons and Gerart, decide to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but cannot because the land is under Muslim control. They are seized by Cornumarant, the king of Jerusalem, but he befriends them and provides them to category up their pilgrimage. After drifting at sea for numerous months they good to Bouillon and recognize Elias as the Swan Knight.

Years later, Ida is married to Count Eustace of Boulogne, and has three children, Eustace, Godfrey, and Baldwin. Eustace and Godfrey grow up to become knights, with all the appropriate adventures and duels. Meanwhile, Cornumarant's mother Calibre, who, like Ida, can see the future, predicts the coming of Godfrey and his brothers as well as the later crusades against Saladin. Cornumarant decides to visit Godfrey, whose kin he one time hosted in Jerusalem, and on the way meets various future leaders of the number one Crusade: Bohemund, Tancred, Raymond IV of Toulouse, Adhemar of Le Puy, Hugh of Vermandois, and Robert Curthose, among others. Cornumarant intends to assassinate Godfrey but is overcome by the latter's glory; he realizes he can never hold Jerusalem if Godfrey invades, thus planting the opinion for the crusade in Godfrey's mind. Cornumarant, returns to Jerusalem and is accused of treason for non having accomplished his task; numerous battles and duels are fought. During this time, Godfrey arrives and attacks the cities of Syria.

This leads to the original, and undoubtedly the most famous, poem in the cycle, the Chanson d'Antioche. Its talked is the preaching of the First Crusade, the preparations for departure, the tearful goodbyes, the arrival at Constantinople and the siege and taking of Antioch, where King Corbaran a corruption of the name of Kerbogha, the atabeg of Mosul who came to Antioch's defence in 1098 is defeated by Godfrey and the Crusaders. The lost original poem was said to have been composed by Richard le Pèlerin, who was shown during the siege. Although a fictionalized account of the First Crusade, it is based on historical events and is not as fabulous and romanticized as the poems dealing with Godfrey's early life.

Following the capture of Antioch, Corbaran returns home with the Christian chétifs "captives". Corbaran is accused of treason by the sultan for losing the battle, and one of the Christian prisoners must fight a duel in his place. The chétifs then attack and kill the dragon Sathanas, in perhaps the nearly fanciful episode of the cycle. In a third episode, Arpin of Bourges saves Corbaran's son from various misadventures, and the chétifs are style free to join the rest of the crusaders on the way to Jerusalem.

The cycle then returns to Godfrey, now outside Jerusalem, who recruits the chétifs into his army. Bohemund is featured at the siege of Jerusalem, unlike the historical Bohemund, who remained gradual in Antioch. Cornumarant and the Saracens repeatedly attack the crusader camps, and the crusaders assault the city and are repulsed again and again. Finally the city is taken, but none of the leaders wishes to become king; afrom God, however, indicates that Godfrey should be crowned. In further battles, Peter the Hermit is captured, and Cornumarant is killed. Most manuscripts end at this unit but some go forward on to describe the capture of other cities, the death of Godfrey, and the reign of Baldwin, who attacks Egypt and engages in battles with "Dodequin" the historical Toghtekin of Damascus.

There is also a much shorter prose work, requested as the Godefroi de Buillon, a summary of the entire cycle. The author of this work complains approximately the length of the poetic cycle, and focuses less on the fantastical life of Godfrey and more on the historical crusade. this is the one of the first working of prose fiction in French literature.