Chrétien de Troyes, active from the late 1160s, is generally considered one of the most influential writers in French literary history and a forefather of the novel. The surviving work by Chrétien de Troyes comprises five Arthurian romances: Erec et Enide (Erec and Enide), Cligès, Lancelot (also Chevalier de la Charrette, Knight of the Cart), Yvain (also Chevalier au lion, Knight of the Lion ) and Perceval (also Conte du Graal, The Grail romance). Two of these are unfinished: the Lancelot - apparently handed over by Chrétien to a continuator - and the Perceval, thought to have been interrupted by the death of the author. Two love songs have also been attributed to Chrétien, and the twelfth-century Lay of Philomena, a short narrative poem retelling the story found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, may have been an...
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Citation: Le Saux, Francoise. "Chretien de Troyes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 November 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5472, accessed 09 June 2026.]
