For other uses see Paladin (disambiguation).

A paladin is one of the twelve legendary chivalrous retainers of Charlemagne (the Twelve Peers) in medieval chansons de geste and stories of romance. They are thus loosely based on historical Frankish retainers of the 8th century and events such as the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and the confrontation of the Frankish Empire with Umayyad Andalusia in the Marca Hispanica.

The word is from the Latin word palatinus "palace official". The palace in question is the Carolingian court; compare the titles of "mayor of the palace" and "count palatine". The original Middle French form is palaisin. The English paladin was loaned into Early Modern English from the Italian form, paladino, because late medieval treatments of the "Matter of France" were mostly by Italian authors such as Ariosto and Tasso.