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The first quest, 1182

The first quest, 1182. Situations of the text Chr é tien de Troyes Structures. 1182, situations of a text. The beginnings of vernacular literature Text and performance The Anglo-Normand world The birth of “romance” The Celtic material The transmission.

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The first quest, 1182

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  1. The first quest, 1182 Situations of the text Chrétien de Troyes Structures

  2. 1182, situations of a text • The beginnings of vernacular literature • Text and performance • The Anglo-Normand world • The birth of “romance” • The Celtic material • The transmission

  3. “French” literature before Chretien de Troyes • Latin and French • Sacred and profane • Lives of Saints: Séquence Sainte-Eulalie, Xth century • Epics: Chanson de Roland, XIth • Lyrical poetry: Guillaume of Aquitaine

  4. A “writer”? • Troubadours and trouvères • A new culture: the castle, the nobility, the audience • Beginnings of the written secular literature • The “protectors”

  5. The Anglo-Norman kingdom • Eleanor of Aquitaine • Marie de Champagne • Philippe d’Alsace, count of Flaunders • A lay literature, both vernacular and noble • The building of new canons

  6. Eleanor of Aquitaine • 1122-1204 • Queen consort of France and England • Marriage to Louis VII of France 1137 • The second crusade • Annulment of first marriage 1152 • Marriage to Henry II of England 1152 • Revolt and Capture 1173-1174 • Years of imprisonment 1173 - 1189 • Regent of England 1189 1199 • Retreat in Fontevraud Abbey

  7. Louis VII of France Henri II Plantagenest

  8. The kingdom of France • In the XIIth c, the Kingdom of France was • small • centered on Paris and the surrounding area • Its kings : overlords of all the feudal lords • One of the most powerful of these the Duke of Aquitaine, who was also Duke of Gascony and Count of Poitiers.

  9. French literature at ... Camelot • The invention of a new audience • The use of vernacular language • The new genres: the “romance” matière antique matière réaliste matière de Bretagne

  10. The matter of “Bretagne” • Lais by Marie de France • Chrétien de Troyes • XIIIth century novels, in verse and in prose (The Vulgate Cycle) • The mingling of several cultures Celtic, classical, historical • A federating myth: Arthur

  11. The Arthurian legend • a dynastic and new myth in the XIIth c • a construction, on several centuries • the mingling of several cultures • a living myth

  12. The “arthurian cycle” • corpus of works, IXth to XVth century • Several generations, several languages • Both novels and histories • A King: Arthur; the Round Table; the founding of England

  13. Sources for the Arthurian cycle • Gildas, VIth c, De excidio et conquestu Britanniae (Vth, but no name) • Annales Cambriae • 1137 Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae : Merlin, Arthur, Round Table • 2 writers: Wace, Chrétien

  14. Wace • Brut ; the bridge between the “historical matter” and the mythical one. His source: the Historia • Love stories: Uther is in love with Igraine... • Twelve years of peace • Mentions the round Table

  15. Chrétien • “Confluence” of cultures • Starting points of the novels: Arthur’s court • BUT Arthur is not the main character • He is even depicted as a “recreant”, a lazy King, an erratic judge... • Novels upon the Knights, not their King... • First mention of Lancelot, of the Grail

  16. Chrétien de Troyes • Known by his works • Connected with Troyes c. 1160-1181 (patronage of Marie de Champagne) • 5 major works and lost poems

  17. ･Erec and Enide, c. 1170 • ･Cligès, c. 1176 • ･Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, and･Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, both written simultaneously between 1177 and 1181. • ･Perceval, the Story of the Grail, written between 1181 and 1190, left unfinished.

  18. Other works? • Guillaume d'Angleterre (an attribution that is no longer believed) • Philomena, the only one of his four poems based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses that has survived ( introduction to Cliges) • King Mark and Iseut

  19. Chretien’s legacy • the “conjointure” • the beginning of a cultural tradition, brought to the written world • the Grail (four continuations at least)

  20. Celtic influence • Fairies, spells, enchanters • Names (Peredur, Geraint and Enid,Olwen, the Welsh Mabinogion) • Geography

  21. Our Tale • 9000 lines and 4 continuations at least • 9500-19500 l. “Wauchier de Danain”: Gawain • 13000 l. Wauchier de Danain: Perceval returns to the castle of the Grail, repairs the sword of Trebuchet but a flaw remains... • 17000 l. Gerbert: Tristan • 10000l. Manessier, “joie de la Cour”, Calogrenant, Perceval ascends the throne of the Fisher King

  22. The Grail: Chrétien’s creation? • The caldron of Dagda (Daga Devos) • A gem (Wolfram of Eschenbach) • Robert of Boron, L’estoire dou Graal” • La queste del saint Graal, 1220

  23. Christianization of a Celtic myth: the perilous seat

  24. Structures A first part • The forests of Wales • King Arthur’s court, knighthood • Gornemant • Blanchefleur • Fisher King • Return to Arthur’s court

  25. A second part • The loathly lady (Celtic type) • Quests for the Knights of the Round Table • Gawain and his adventures • The castle of the women (Gawain’s mother, grandmother and sister) • Perceval meets a hermit, his uncle. • The narrative returns to Gawain and ends

  26. Implications of a title • Title and incipit • The reading pact • Initiations, mystic or courtly guides • DISCUSSION TOPIC

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