Medieval Romance — Chivalric Tales from Chrétien to Malory
Defining the Romance Genre and Its Origins
Romance is the most important and characteristic literary genre of the high and late Middle Ages, the narrative form that shaped the literary imagination of Europe for more than three centuries and left a permanent mark on every subsequent narrative tradition. The term “romance” originally referred to works written in the French vernacular as opposed to Latin, but it came to designate a particular kind of narrative: a tale of adventure, love, and chivalric testing, typically set in an idealized or fantastical past, often involving the court of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Romance emerged in twelfth-century France in the work of poets such as Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France, and the anonymous authors of the romans d’antiquité, who adapted classical stories of Thebes, Troy, and Aeneas into the new vernacular form. The new genre spread quickly across Europe, and by the fourteenth century romance was the dominant narrative form in England, represented by works such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Havelok the Dane, King Horn, and the many English adaptations of French Arthurian romances. The conventions that defined the genre proved remarkably durable and productive: the quest that structures the hero’s journey and tests his courage, loyalty, and courtesy; the love story that motivates heroic action and provides the reward for success; the intervention of magic, enchantment, and the supernatural; the idealized courtly world that represents the highest aspirations of chivalric culture; and the testing of the hero’s identity and worth through adventures that reveal his true nature.
Chrétien de Troyes and the Creation of Arthurian Romance
Chrétien de Troyes, writing at the court of Marie de Champagne in the 1170s and 1180s, is the first great master of the medieval romance and the figure who established virtually all the conventions of the Arthurian tradition that would be followed by generations of later writers. His five surviving romances — Erec and Enide, Cligès, Yvain (The Knight of the Lion), Lancelot (The Knight of the Cart), and the unfinished Perceval (The Story of the Grail) — transformed the Arthurian material from the chronicle tradition of Geoffrey of Monmouth into a sophisticated literary form capable of exploring the subtlest questions of love, honor, identity, and spiritual aspiration. Each of Chrétien’s romances tests its hero in a different way: Erec must learn to balance married love with his duties as a knight; Yvain discovers the proper relationship between knightly adventure and domestic responsibility; Lancelot (in a poem that may reflect the influence of Marie de Champagne’s views on love) subordinates all other values to his devotion to the queen; and Perceval must learn that true knighthood involves spiritual as well as worldly achievement. Chrétien’s treatment of these themes is characterized by psychological sophistication, structural balance, and a style that combines vivid narrative with reflective commentary. His romances established the pattern of the “double cycle” — the hero leaves the court, undergoes adventures, and returns transformed — that would become the standard structure of Arthurian romance.
Marie de France and the Breton Lais
Marie de France, writing in the later twelfth century probably in England, composed a collection of twelve lais that represent a distinct and important contribution to the romance tradition. Unlike Chrétien’s long romances, Marie’s lais are short narrative poems that focus on a single episode or situation, often involving love, magic, and the supernatural. The lais are characterized by their brevity, their psychological insight, and their focus on the inner lives of their characters, especially women. The most famous of Marie’s lais include Lanval, the story of a knight loved by a fairy mistress; Bisclavret, the story of a werewolf; and Laüstic, the story of a nightingale that becomes the symbol of a secret love. Marie’s work is notable for its sympathy for women and its exploration of the constraints that society places on female desire and agency.
The English Romance Tradition
The English romance tradition adapted French material for English audiences, often simplifying the sophisticated courtly themes of the French originals in favor of action and adventure. Havelok the Dane and King Horn are examples of popular English romances that combine elements of the folk tale with chivalric convention. The alliterative romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the masterpiece of the English tradition, combining the chivalric romance with the folk tale of the beheading game and the moral allegory of the temptation. The English romance tradition also produced the popular romances of the “Matter of England” — stories of English heroes such as Guy of Warwick and Bevis of Hampton that combined chivalric adventure with national pride.
Malory’s Le Morte Darthur
Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur is the culminating work of the English Arthurian tradition, a comprehensive narrative of the rise and fall of the Arthurian world that synthesizes the French Arthurian romances into a single powerful English narrative. Malory wrote his great work while imprisoned in the 1460s, and his perspective as a man who had experienced the violent politics of the Wars of the Roses gives his treatment of Arthur’s fall a particular urgency and depth. The work is divided into eight books that trace the story from Arthur’s birth to his death. Malory’s masterpiece is both a celebration of chivalry and a lament for its inevitable failure. The quest for the Holy Grail, in which only Galahad achieves the vision of the Grail, represents the spiritual perfection that lies beyond the reach of ordinary knighthood.
The Supernatural and the Marvellous in Romance
The supernatural is a defining feature of the medieval romance. Enchanted castles, magical objects, shape-shifting characters, and supernatural beings appear throughout the genre, creating a world in which the normal laws of nature do not always apply. The marvellous in romance serves several functions: it creates wonder and excitement, it tests the hero’s courage and resourcefulness, and it provides a way of exploring moral and spiritual themes that cannot be addressed through realistic representation alone. The Green Knight’s ability to survive decapitation in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a supernatural element that enables the poem’s moral testing. The magical fountain in Chrétien’s Yvain is a supernatural device that sets the adventure in motion. The Grail in the later romance tradition becomes a supernatural object of spiritual quest.
Love and Adventure in Romance
The relationship between love and adventure is central to the romance genre. In most romances, love is the motivation for adventure: the hero undertakes quests and performs deeds of prowess to win or to serve his lady. The love story provides the emotional center of the romance, giving the adventures meaning and direction. The testing of love through separation, danger, and temptation is one of the most common patterns of romance narrative. At the same time, adventure tests the worthiness of the lover: only the knight who is courageous, loyal, and courteous is worthy of the love he seeks.
The Romance Audience
The romance was a genre with a broad audience. The early French romances were composed for courtly audiences, but the genre quickly spread to a wider public. In England, romances were read by the nobility and the emerging middle classes. The popularity of the romance is attested by the large number of surviving manuscripts and by the references to romances in other medieval texts. The romance audience included both men and women, and the genre addressed the interests and concerns of both.
The Didactic Function of Romance
Although romance is a form of entertainment, it also served a didactic function, teaching the values of chivalric culture to its audiences. The romance presented models of knightly behavior, showing how a knight should and should not act, and it reinforced the ideals of the chivalric code through narrative example. The testing of the hero — his encounters with temptations, challenges, and moral dilemmas — provided a framework for exploring the meaning of knightly virtue and the consequences of its failure. The romance thus functioned both as entertainment and as a form of ethical education.
FAQ
What is a medieval romance? A narrative of chivalric adventure and love, typically set in an idealized or fantastical past.
Who was Chrétien de Troyes? The first great romance writer, who established the conventions of Arthurian romance in the late twelfth century.
What is the Matter of Britain? The body of Arthurian legend and romance that forms the most important subject of medieval romance.
What is the best English medieval romance? Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is generally considered the finest English medieval romance.
How does romance end? Usually with marriage, the restoration of order, or the hero’s death.
Who was Marie de France? A twelfth-century poet who composed short narrative lais focusing on love, magic, and female experience.
What is Malory’s Le Morte Darthur? The definitive English version of the Arthurian legend, composed in the fifteenth century.
Internal Links
- Read the masterpiece in Sir Gawain.
- Explore the Arthurian tradition in Arthurian Legend.
- See the chivalric ideals in The Chivalric Code.