Arthurian Romances Read Free

the Third Crusade in September of 1190. Chrétien may have abandoned the poem after learning of Philip’s death, or his own death may well have occurred around this time.
    Apart from the dates 1159 and 1191, nothing else concerning Chrétien’s biography can be fixed with certainty. Allusions in
Erec
to Macrobius and the Liberal Arts, to Alexander, Solomon, Helen of Troy and others, coupled with similar allusions in other romances, suggest that he received the standard preparation of a
clerc
in the flourishing church schools in Troyes, and therefore must have entered minor orders. The style of his love monologues, particularly in
Cligés
, shows familiarity with the dialectal method of the schools, in which opposites are juxtaposed and analysed, as well as with the rhetorical traditions of Classical and medieval Latin literature. It is possible, however, that he derived his style and knowledge of Classical themes uniquely from works available to him in the vernacular, without having undergone any special training in Latin, since all of the Classical stories to which he alludes had been turned into Old French by 1165. The elaborate descriptions of clothing and ceremonies in several of his romances can likewise be traced to contemporary works composed in French, particularly to Wace’s
Roman de Brut
and the anonymous
Eneas
and
Floire et Blancheflor
.
    Circumstantial evidence also strongly suggests that Chrétien spent some of his early career in England and may well have composed his first romance there. References to English cities and topography, especially in
Cligés
but indeed in all of his works, show that the Britain of King Arthur was the England of King Henry II Plantagenet. Moreover, there is a close link between Troyes and England in the person of Henry of Blois, abbot of Glastonbury (1126–71) and bishop of Winchester (1129–71). This prelatewas the uncle of Henri the Liberal of Champagne, at whose court we have seen Chrétien to have been engaged. Henry of Blois had important contacts with Geoffrey of Monmouth and William of Malmesbury, two medieval Latin writers who, more than any others, popularized the legends of King Arthur that Chrétien was to introduce to the aristocratic public.
    An even closer tie to Henry II’s England has been proposed in the case of
Erec and Enide
, in which the coronation of Erec at Nantes on Christmas Day may be a reflection of contemporary politics. In 1169 Henry held a Christmas court at Nantes in order to force the engagement of his third son, Geoffrey, to Constance, the daughter of Conan IV of Brittany. This court had significant political ramifications for it assured through marital politics the submission of the major Breton barons, a submission Henry had not been able to attain by successive military campaigns in 1167, 1168 and 1169. The guest list at the coronation of Erec includes barons from all corners of Henry II’s domains but, significantly, none from those of his rival Louis VII of France. Two other details from this coronation scene lend credence to such an identification: the thrones on which Arthur and Erec are seated are described as having leopards sculpted upon their arms, and the donor of these thrones is identified as Bruianz des Illes. Leopards were the heraldic animals on Henry’s royal arms, and Bruianz des liles has been positively identified as Henry’s best friend, Brian of Wallingford, named in contemporary documents as Brian Fitz Count, Brian
de ínsula
, or Brian de l’lsle. It thus seems plausible that
Erec
was composed at the behest of Henry II to help legitimize Geoffrey’s claim to the throne of Brittany by underscoring the ‘historical’ link between Geoffrey and Arthur. This would place its composition shortly after 1169 while memories of the Nantes court were still fresh. Such a dating corresponds well with what we know about the composition of Chrétien’s other romances,