Chrétien de Troyes

Engraving that is thought to show Chrétien de Troyes in his work studio (1530)

Chrétien de Troyes (Modern fr; Old French: Crestien de Troies fro; fl. c. 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère. He was known for writing about many Arthurian people. He wrote about Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. He wrote many chivalric romances. Some of his works were Erec and Enide, Lancelot, Perceval and Yvain. They were some of the most important works in medieval literature. His book structures were important in creating a modern novel.

Life

There is not much known about his life. He was probably from Troyes, or was connected to it. Between 1160 and 1172 he served at the court of his patroness Marie of France, Countess of Champagne. Later, he served the court of Philippe d'Alsace, Count of Flanders. His name, which meant "Christian from Troyes", might be a pen name of a person who converted from Judiasm to Christianity.

Sources

• Loomis, Roger Sherman (1991). The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol. Princeton. ISBN 0-691-02075-2

Bibliography

• M. Altieri, Les Romans de Chrétien de Troyes: Leur perspective proverbiale et gnomique (1976, A G Nizet, Paris).
• Jean Frappier, "Chrétien de Troyes" in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959. ISBN 0-19-811588-1
• Jean Frappier, Chrétien de Troyes: The Man and His Work. Translated by Raymond J. Cormier. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1982.
• Idris Llewelyn Foster, "Gereint, Owein and Peredur" in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959.
• K. Sarah-Jane Murray, "A Preface to Chretien de Troyes," Syracuse University Press, 2008. ISBN 0-8156-3160-X
• Gerald Seaman, "Signs of a New Literary Paradigm: The 'Christian' Figures in Chrétien de Troyes," in: Nominalism and Literary Discourse, ed. Hugo Keiper, Christoph Bode, and Richard Utz (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1997), pp. 87–109.
• Albert W. Thompson, "The Additions to Chrétien's Perceval" in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959
• Karl D. Uitti, Chrétien de Troyes Revisited, Twayne: New York, 1995. ISBN 0-8057-4307-3
• Haidu, Peter; Tomaryn Bruckner, Matilda (2020). Philomena of Chrétien the Jew: the semiotics of evil. Legenda. ISBN 978-1-78188-929-9. OCLC 1255369712.

This article incorporates material from an essay by W. W. Comfort, published in 1914.

Other websites

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chrétien de Troyes" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 273.
• Works by Chrétien de Troyes at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Chrétien de Troyes at Internet Archive
• Works by Chrétien de Troyes at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• The Charrette Project 2 at Baylor University
• Dictionnaire Électronique de Chrétien de Troyes complete lexicon and transcriptions of the five romances of this Old French author by ATILF/CNRS-Université de Lorraine and LFA/University of Ottawa
• El Grial, including poetry by Chrétien de Troyes set to music by Capella de Ministrers & Carlos Magraner
• Bibliography of his works on Archives de littérature du Moyen Âge