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In the medievalrelating to the Middle Ages in Europe, a period from about A.D. 500 to 1500 legends about King Arthur of Britain and his knights, Lancelot is the greatest knight of all. In time, however, Lancelot's love for Guinevere, the king's wife, leads him to betray his king and sets in motion the fatal events that end Arthur's rule.

Lancelot is generally considered to be a French contribution to the Arthurian legendsstories about the life and court of King Arthur of Britain. He first appears in the romancesin medieval literature, a tale based on legend, love, and adventure, often set in a distant place or time of the French writer Chrétien de Troyes in the 1100s. However, some students of mythology see Lancelot as a later version of