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| The Accolade Edmund Blair Leighton, 1901 Public Domain |
It is frustrating that we know very little of Chrétien’s life. He was writing between 1160 and 1172, and it is suggested that he had a position as herald-at-arms at the court of his patroness in the city of Troyes. His patroness was the Countess Marie de Champagne, daughter of Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Familiar to us all will be the notion of Courtly Love: this was also a concept running through Chrétien’s work.
Marie played a major part in taking this romantic ideal and promoting it as fashionable behaviour. Devotion and courtesy featured, but so did adulterous love. It should be remembered that adultery was considered amongst the gravest of sins by the medieval church. But Marie’s influence, and perhaps that of her mother, created a surge of interest amongst European aristocracy. (One commentator describes her as ‘this celebrated feudal dame’, a description which, to my eternal regret, conjured up a medieval Mae West on first reading.)
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| The End of the Song Edmund Blair Leighton, 1902 Public Domain |
Chrétien wrote in Old French, rather than Latin. He composed at least five romances and two lyric poems. The word ‘romance’ also comes to us from this period. The Old French word romanz was first used in a literary sense to distinguish words written in vernacular French (romanz) from those in Latin.
So how did Chrétien happen on tales of King Arthur for inspiration? It would seem that Chrétien, like all good writers of historical fiction, liked a bit of a borrow from the past. Irish, Welsh and Breton legends have some mentions. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae, written in 1137, introduced the Arthurian legend to continental Europe. This was a Latin history written in prose. Anglo-Norman poet Wace produced Roman de Brut in 1155, a version of the history now in French couplets.
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| King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table Michael Gantelet, 1472 Public Domain |
Wace’s King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table (Wace’s is the first known mention of the Round Table; Chrétien has that for Camelot) were undoubtedly a more refined bunch than those written of previously. But they were still a group of fighters, rather than lovers. If his version were a historical novel, it would have swords and sandals on the cover, no question. It would take Chrétien to bring on the cover with the headless lady in the big dress.
In Chrétien’s romances we have knights riding out on adventures, fighting bravely against other warriors, monsters and magical creatures. And of course, the knights are also in pursuit of the love of their fair lady, often a love they lose, only to fight to get it back again. This latter storyline might be familiar to readers of the contemporary romance genre. But forget stereotypical images of swooning ladies. Chrétien doesn’t hold with damsels in distress. His ladies can be just as courageous and daring as his knights. When one considers the powerful woman that was one of Chrétien’s patrons, along with other powerful female patrons, this is hardly surprising.
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| God Speed! Edmund Blair Leighton, 1900 Public Domain |
So what of the romances? First is Erec et Enide, with its straightforward tale of love, estrangement and reconciliation on an adventure-filled journey. It is set in Brittany and depicts King Arthur sitting on a throne emblazoned with a leopard. Such court scenes may have been inspired by Henry II’s Christmas 1169 court at Nantes in Brittany.
Second is Cligès, which is written against the background of the Tristan and Iseut story. It is an adulterous tale in which Cligès falls in love with Fenice, his uncle’s wife. She feigns her death with a magic potion, so they can be together.
Third up is Lancelot, or The Knight with the Cart. By far the most famous romance of Chrétien’s, it is the first tale of the adulterous love between Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. Though she is cruel to him, he obeys her every command and wish. Readers may not be familiar with its name, The Knight with the Cart. It is so called because in his search for Guinevere, Lancelot rides in a cart meant for convicted criminals. He is concerned for his honour (albeit briefly), but she is very displeased that he would hesitate in his search for her.
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| The Parting of Sir Lancelot & Guinevere, 1874 Julie Margaret Cameron Public Domain |
Fourth is Perceval, a very lengthy yet not completed tale. Again, it introduces a story which has inspired so many, many more tales of searches and quests: the quest for the Grail.
Last, but by no means least, we have Yvain, or The Knight with the Lion. It is a spectacular romance and adventure, with a lion, a giant, a magic fountain and the widow who falls in love with Yvain, her husband’s killer.
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| In Time of Peril Edmund Blair Leighton, 1903 Public Domain |
Lancelot and Guinevere. The Grail. King Arthur. Camelot. Chivalrous knights. All part of the popular cultural imagination, thanks to Chrétien de Troyes. We may not know much about him. But my goodness: we know about his stories. We are still retelling them today.
References:
De Troyes, Chretien: Arthurian Romances, Penguin Classics (1991)
Encyclopaedia Brittanica: Chrétien de Troyes
Jones, Terry & Eriera, Alan: Medieval Lives, BBC Books (2004)
Lindahl, C., McNamara, J & Lindow, J. (eds.): Medieval Folklore, Oxford University Press (2002)
Norton Anthology of English Literature: Chrétien de Troyes: www.norton.com
Weir, Alison: Eleanor of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England, Vintage Books (2007)
This is an Editor's Choice Post and was first published on February 1, 2015
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Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State), she now lives in northwest England with her husband, daughter and a Facebook-friendly dog.
As well as blogging and editing for EHFA, she is a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers The Big Thrill magazine, reviews fiction & non-fiction for the Historical Novel Society and is part of the HNS Social Media Team. Find out more by visiting www.empowell.com.
I studied medieval French under Glyn S Burgess at Liverpool the best part of 30 years ago. I still remember a fascinating lecture he gave, in which he reconstructed elements of Chrétien's life and personality from the clues in his poetry. That one lecture is the principal reason I still enjoy reading medieval history and literature!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder and for drawing attention to the continuing influence of Chrétien and his beautiful poetry.
Paul Fogarty
You're so welcome, Paul. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It is, for me, extraordinary that Chrétien is not better known, given what he wrote. So much of the credit goes to later writers. It's great to be able to spread the word, even if only in a small way!
DeleteWonderful post! Shared! :)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Marsha: I'm so pleased you liked it!
DeleteMaybe Chrétien isn't better know because what people consider quintessential Arthur is written by Malory? Who of course based his work on Chrétien's. Just idle speculation! Anyway, great article, thanks for writing this. I actually wrote part of my dissertation on Yvain or the Knight with the Lion, thanks for reminding me of it, it's a great story I've been meaning to read again sometime.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely comments. I think you're absolutely right about Malory. And I love that he called his work “the whole book of King Arthur and his noble knights of the Round Table”, but William Caxton re-titled it Le Morte Darthur for the first printed edition in 1485. Caxton clearly knew a thing or two about marketing! Yvain is wonderful and yet nothing like as well known as some of the others, so I made my villain obsessed with his story in my novel. Much of the villain's internal narrative is taken from Yvain, so, yes, like Malory, I'm plundering poor old Chrétien too!
DeleteSorry it took me so long to read this. It's a wonderful summary! I have to admit one of my favorite tales is "Erec et Enide" because it's not about adulterous love but love between husband and wife. I need to read Yvain, though. I don't know it and it sounds intriguing. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have read the books online free of charge. They are as interesting and valuable as the science of History and Art
ReplyDeleteThere are some translated results here: http://www.loyalbooks.com/download/text/Yvain-or-the-Knight-With-the-Lion-by-Chretien-De-Troyes.txt I can'tell say how well done they are, but they'really considered public domain, and therefore, free.
DeleteThanks for the fascinating post... great reading. Your book also sounds intriguing. Thanks so much. I Tweeted and shared.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Curiously enough, the world's only surviving medieval wall paintings depicting sir Lancelot of the Lake and his marvelous exploits have been preserved in situ in Poland, in the 14th century ducal tower of Siedlęcin. I highly recommend an online course offered by the Jagiellonian University, Cracow, thanks to which you're going to learn more about the unique paintings and the tower: http://www.oer.uj.edu.pl/course/view.php?id=35&lang=en
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