I'm rather interested in the fellowship of Charlemagne. I recently started to/ tried to read the Song of Roland but as I speak little to no french and the old, lyrical english is very hard to read/ interpret as a non-native speaker it's rather hard getting anything out of it. So I thought asking here would be a better solution.
What are the names of the paladins we know of and where were they from?
It is mostly spoken of the twelve paladins, were there actually (only) that much?
Did they get replaced, for example had Roland a successor after his death?
Were they exclusively nobles/ What was their social standing besides being a confidant of Charlemagne?
Were they all Franks? If not, how came a foreigner into such a position?
Were they even all exclusively Christian? If so (and I guess they were), were they especially devout?
How did anyone even get into the position of being named a paladin? What merits did they have? Roland was/ is called especially chivalrous, brave, etc, is that what was expected?
What were their duties/ What did they actually do? Were they just specially good fighters, did they lead armies, had they diplomatic or administrative missions?
At last, any interesting trivia or stories about any of them?
I know it's hard to differentiate between fact and fiction regarding this topic, but I'm thankful for any answer. I really don't mind lyrical sources, I'd even apprechiate it (though it would be nice to disclaim it).
Also, any recommendations for more information?
Sad to say, the Twelve Paladins (more often in English, the Twelve Peers) as you've encountered them are a literary creation.
The actual Charlemagne certainly had advisors surrounding him. But the Peers as a group come out of the chansons de geste songs starting in the late eleventh century--the Song of Roland being the most popular. The story is set around a heavily fictionalized version of a battle that really did happen in 778, the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. Unfortunately, that tells us a lot more about what 11th-13th century authors saw as good qualities in a soldier and knight, than what Charlemagne saw as good qualities.
If you're still interested in the literary characters, it's a fun bit of trivia that the Twelve Peers aren't always the same twelve, and sometimes there are more and less than twelve. A couple of them have names that show up in actual history. The biography~~/legend~~ Life of Charlemagne by Einhard states that a "Hruodlandus", one of the lords or governors under Charlemagne, was killed in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. Archbishop Turpin--sometimes one of the Peers, sometimes a non-Peer character depending on which chanson--probably takes his name from Tilpinus, Archbishop of Rheims at the time of the battle. But that's about it. Their personalities are the invention of the author.
The historical Charlemagne did have some friendly contacts with the Islamic world. Apparently, he received a gift of an elephant from Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. However, it is very unlikely that the Holy Roman Emperor would have had a non-Christian in his immediate circle.
In some of the chansons, however, one of the Peers is Fierabras. In the story, Fierabras is a Spanish Muslim who originally fights against Oliver (another Peer), but eventually converts to Christianity and fights for Charlemagne. That, again, reflects later medieval values: we can have a Muslim knight, but only after he converts to Christianity.
Actually, Fierabras ends up one of the most popular characters from the chansons. He gets a name-check in Don Quixote; later authors develop his story into its own legend that becomes one of the most popular books in Renaissance France; the German poem Parzival basically plucks Fierabras ("Feirafiz") away from Charlemagne and plops him into the King Arthur legend!
If you are interested, Penguin Classics publishes a version of the Song of Roland that is in verse (lyrical) form, but modern English. Maybe you would find that more readable? Its introduction is also very good.
If you're more interested in the actual Charlemagne and his world, Marios Costambeys and Matthew Innes, The Carolingian World, is a really good primer, and fairly accessible even outside an academic library.
(You might want to post a second question about the (actual) Charlemagne's advisors more directly, so the early medieval specialists here can fill you in. Unfortunately I'm much better with the later Middle Ages' fantasies of it.)
They were originally knights or counts of the palace, i.e. they were attached to Charlemagne personally instead of being lord of some estate and they held assorted positions in his kingdom. For example, the historical Roland's job was to defend the border with Brittany.
For the most part though, they were a literary invention based on later ideas and ideals of chivalry and were a kind of French counterpart to the Knights of the Round Table.
Some of them have a basis in history and some don't. There are traditionally 12 Paladins and their names vary, except for Roland.
According to Bulfinch's Mythology, they were: Roland (aka Orlando), Rinaldo (or Renaud) of Montauban, Duke Namo of Bavaria, King Salomon of Brittany, Archbishop Turpin, Astalpho of England, Ogier the Dane, Malagigi the Enchanter and Florismart.
Others included in various tales Oliver, Huon of Bordeaux, Fierabras, and the traitor Ganelon.
Aside from The Song of Roland, other major literary works featuring them are Orlando Inammorato by Boiardo and Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. There are also inumerable Chansons de Geste like The Song of Roland detailing their exploits, but a lot of them have not been translated outside of academic circles.
They were eclipsed in popularity by Arthuriana (especially in the Anglophone world) in the 19th century, thanks to the Pre-Raphealities and Tennyson. Conversely, the historical Charlemagne and Carolingians have attracted greater interest in the last several decades, both because of the impressiveness of their acheivements and as a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation post-war European unity (after World War Two, for example, the City of Aachen began awarded the Charlemagne Prize or Karlspreis to the statesman believed to have contributed the most to European unity).