French Arthurian Romance

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Edward Donald Kennedy (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.01: French Writing and Culture: Old French to the Middle Ages , 500-1400.
Vol. editors: Marianne Ailes (University of Bristol), Matthew Siôn Lampitt (University of Cambridge), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Literature Topic
Movements, styles and periods (literature)

Dates

Date of occurrence c.1150- c.1450

Places

France (Location)

Resources

Recommended Reading

Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes wrote the first romances about King Arthur during the second half of the 12th century, probably in the following order: Erec et Enide, Cligés (or Cligès), Le Chevalier de la charrette (Lancelot), Le Chevalier auLion (Yvain), and Le Conte du Graal (Perceval). They would have been intended for readers/listeners in France and England, where Anglo-Norman was the language of the aristocracy for about 300 years after the Conquest. Erec et Enide and Cligés, in particular, are associated with England through geographical and political allusions, and the former is often dated ca. 1170 because details concerning E…

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6611 words

Citation: Kennedy, Edward Donald. "French Arthurian Romance". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 September 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19348, accessed 28 November 2024.]

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