Medieval Romance

THE ROMANCE AND ITS ORIGINS Medieval romance was a popular genre mainly translated from French models (see, for example, the tales of Chrétien de Troyes: “Lancelot, ou le chevalier à la charrette” - in English “Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart”, dealing with Sir Lancelot’s love for Guinevere or “Perceval ou Le Conte du Graal – in English “Perceval, the Story of the Grail”). The word “romance” literally means “written in a language derived from the language of the ancient Romans (Latin)” – in this case, French. Medieval romances developed during the 12th and early 13th centuries and it was the expression of the cultivated French aristocracy.

CHARACTERISTICS The main theme of medieval romances are the KNIGHTS’ DEEDS. Medieval romance consists of tales in verse about CHIVALRY, FIGHTING, LOVE and ALL SORTS OF WONDERS and SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS too: FAIRIES, DRAGONS, GIANTS and WIZARDS. It is a description of FEUDAL KNIGHTHOOD in its exterior and moral aspects (clothing, hunting,feasting; ethically, it praises the knights’ loyalty to their God, king and lady). The narrative framework into which the stories are set could be: a religious crusade; a conquest for the knight’s lord; the rescue of a captive lady.

THE SUBJECT MATTER OF ROMANCE The stories, traditionally called “MATTERS”, are divided into three groups: the MATTER OF FRANCE (Charlemagne, Roland, Roncesvalles); the MATTER OF BRITAIN (Brittany was a region in northern France → King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table); the MATTER OF ROME (classical mythology and history: Troy, Alexander the Great). MORTE D’ARTHUR by Thomas Malory is the best example of an English medieval romance which talks about King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table.