Doon de Mayence was a fictional hero of the Old French chansons de geste and later French prose renditions such as (1501) and or (1530).
Doon de Mayence is also the name of the third cycle of the Charlemagne romances, grouping together works that deal with feudal revolts.
The chason de geste about the exploits of Doon himself (Doon de Maience) came later than the chansons about other rebels (Cf. below). The first half, a separate romance dealing with his romantic childhood, is a fiction dating back to the 13th century, while the second half of the poem, detailing DoonâÂÂs wars in Saxony, is perhaps based on historical events.
The manuscripts of the chason de geste are:
The cycle (or grand geste) of Doon de Mayence, also called the Rebellious Vassal Cycle () and loosely defined, artificially grouped together a number of chansons de geste that had to do with legendary "rebel barons" opposing Charlemagne, which originally did not have a unified story underlying all of them, but forcibly connected together by inventing fictitious genealogical ties. These rebel baron tales had their historical models who were generally active before (or after) Charlemagne's reign, thus, the insolence shown by the robber baron hints that "Charlemagne" is used in the tale in name only, and actually represents his weaker successors.
The historical model for this rebellious "de Mayence" family is pre-Carolingian, namely the betrayers of the Merovingian monarch Sigebert III: Sigebert's subjects from Mayence (Mainz) who turncoated during the battle fought against Duke Radulf on the banks of the Unstrut in Thuringia, as documented in the Chronicle of Fredegar (iv. 87). Legends of these men were later developed in Italy into a series of stories about criminals.
Other poems that make up Doon de Mayence cycle include the chansons of Ogier the Dane, the four sons of Aymon, and Huon of Bordeaux,Girart de Roussillon, Raoul de Cambrai There is also the poem of his son , the sequel to Doon de Maience, where Gaufrey is in turn the father of Ogier.}
Poems such as and Tristan de Nanteuil now classified as belonging to the Nanteuil cycle (outside the 3 major cycles), but they are still attached to the Doon cycle as the poems about Gaufrey's other children.
The poems about Aymon's nephews (Renaud's cousins) Maugis (Maugis d'Aigremont) and Vivien 'amachour de monbranc (about 1100 verses) are attached to this cycle, but and its sequel are categorized under the Guillaume d'Orange cycle.
The poems Auberi le Bourguignon, Gormond et Isembart are also categorized under the Rebellious Vassal Cycle.
Doon was probably one of the last characters to be clearly defined compared to Ogier, etc., and his chanson Doon de Maience was drawn up partly with the view of supplying a suitable ancestor for the other heroesâÂÂin modern terms, a prequel.
Doon had twelve sons, of whom the most noteworthy are:
The history of these figures is given in Doon de Mayence, Gaufrey, the romances relating to Ogier, Aye dâÂÂAvignon, the fragmentary Doon de Nanteuil, Gui de Nanteuil, Tristan de Nanteuil, Parise la Duchesse, Maugis dâÂÂAigremont, Vivien lâÂÂamachour de Monbranc, Renaus de Montauban (or Les Quatre Fils Aymon) and Huon de Bordeaux.