Blancandrin

A chief counsellor of Marsile.

It was Blancandrin who masterminded the false peace treaty between his king and Charlemagne. Blancandrin offered to be the peace envoy for Marsile, in order to gain peace with Charlemagne. There, he met Ganelon, but the real plan was to get the Frankish army to leave Spain. Blancandrin even offered his own son as hostage to Charlemagne; his son's death was better than his king losing his freedom and kingdom.

When Blancandrin noticed Ganelon's treacherous nature in his return to Saragossa, he urged Ganelon to betray Charlemagne and the Franks. Together with Ganelon and Marsile, they formulated the plan to ambush the Twelve Peers and the troop of 20,000 strong Frankish warriors, hoping that Charlemagne losing his nephew would force the Franks to leave Spain in defeat. However, Marsile and Blancandrin underestimated Charlemagne's desire to avenge the slaughter of the Twelve Peers and twenty thousand knights.

Blancandrin was not mentioned as taking part in the Battle of Rencesvals; after he returned to Saragossa, he was not heard of again in the chanson.