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Chrétien de Troyes (Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages)

Early Life

Information about Chrétien de Troyes comes almost solely from indirect evidence in his works, and scholarly speculation has led to much controversy on this subject. A dedication in Lancelot: Ou, Le Chevalier de la charrette (c. 1177; Lancelot, 1914) to Marie de Champagne and another in Perceval: Ou, Le Conte du Graai (before 1191; Perceval: Or, The Story of the Grail, 1914) to Count Phillipe of Flanders, suggest that the poet was connected with the courts of Champagne in Troyes and in Flanders. Like most courtly clerks in this period,...

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