Chretien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes 

(or Chréstien). Born circa 1130, in Troyes; died there circa 1191. French poet who wrote verse in the style of the trouvères of northern France and translated Ovid's Art of Love and Metamorphoses.

Chrétien's best works are the courtly romances Erec and Enide (c. 1162), Cliges (c. 1164), Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart (c. 1168), Yvain, or the Knight of the Lion (c. 1172), and Perceval, or the Tale of the Grail (c. 1182). They inspired numerous imitations and adaptations. In his works Chretien used the legends about King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. But these legends are only a colorful background for depictions of real life, the amorous experiences of the main characters, and important social conflicts.

WORKS

Les Romans de Chrestien de Troyes, vols. 1–4. Paris, 1953–63.
In Russian translation:
In Khrestomatiia po zarubezhnoi literature srednikh vekov. Moscow, 1953.

REFERENCES

Istoriia frantsuzskoi literatury. vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946. Pages 110–17.
Deks, P. Sem’ vekov romana. Moscow, 1962.
Frappier, J. Chrestien de Troyes. Paris, 1957.

A. D. MIKHAILOV