Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes was a twelfth-century French poet and one of the most influential figures in the development of Arthurian romance and medieval European literature. Active in the courts of Champagne and Flanders, he helped give literary form to stories of knights, quests, love, honour, marvels, and moral testing. His surviving romances are among the earliest and most important works to shape the traditions associated with King Arthur and the Round Table.Chrétien's works include Erec and Enide, Cligès, Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, and Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Through these romances he contributed decisively to the literary development of Lancelot, courtly love, knightly adventure, and the Grail tradition. His influence extends across medieval literature, Arthurian legend, French literature, romance, fantasy, and later retellings of chivalric adventure.