The popularity of Arthurian verse romances

Abstract

It is still not possible to say how many Arthurian texts in verse the canon of French literature may once have included in addition to those considered here. Some may still be found in the future, but in total there were probably not many more than have survived today in complete or fragmentary form. An attempt was made by Gaston Paris to infer more lost French originals on the basis of the whole corpus of Arthurian literature in Europe. His procedure is not always convincing; his argumentation is influenced by nationalist thinking which is very much inclined to deny any personal powers of invention to non-French authors in the sphere of Arthurian literature; as far as he is concerned, their necessary dependence on a lost Old French source is beyond question. The history of French Arthurian literature in verse extends over more than two hundred years, from Wace, Chretien de Troyes and Marie de France right through to Froissart. It is certainly true that the popularity of the genre was in constant decline during this period, especially in terms of the literary creative process and the popularity of Arthurian material amongst authors. This is confirmed by a glance at the chronological table, although this summary also reveals that a first golden age from approximately 1155 until the composition of Chretien's Conte du Graal was followed by a second creative period during the years 1204 until 1250, which also produced high-quality literary works.