Wace, Roman de Brut [A History of the British]

Judith Weiss (University of Cambridge)

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)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1155

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Epic
Poetry (any)
Romance

Resources

The twelfth-century Norman poet Wace occupies an important place in medieval historiography and had an incalculable influence on medieval romance. By translating Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “history” of Britain, the Historia Regum Britanniae, into his French verse Roman de Brut, he instantly allowed the layman as well as the clerk access to the “information” that Britain, settled by Brutus the grandson of Aeneas, had a long and proud history whose climax was the reign of king Arthur. Wace’s work led in turn to the thirteenth-century English translation by La3amon and to numerous other Anglo-Norman and English “Bruts”; it also provided the starting-point and inspiration for the flowering of Arthurian romance.

…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2621 words

Citation: Weiss, Judith. "Roman de Brut". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 March 2001 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2345, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Save this article