Sallie Oliver
6/10/15
Romance Literature and Guinevere
Entertainment played an important part of a lord's court by the 12th century in
Europe. Troubadours, female trobairitz, sang to their audience in vernacular, Old
Occitan, in form of idiosyncratic verse. By doing so, listeners were awed at the
complexity and distinctive manner of performance. Thematically, these songs carried
stories of eroticized love rather than a divine love for a Christian God. Cortezia, courtesy,
defined this genre had much of its strength in the power of European women of the late
Middle Ages. Since medieval romance literature originated via oral tradition, trouvères
serving as poet-composers were called upon in later generations and heavily influenced
by troubadours’ lyrics in the process to record narratives. Such is evidenced with
Chretien de Troyes and his construction, Lancelot in the twelfth century. In this piece,
Chretien fulfilled his role to the patron Marie of Champagne. While this poem serves
purpose in continuing traditional characterization of male and female mannerisms, it also
pushes boundaries of typical romance literature mainly through the actions of two
characters, Lancelot and Guinevere. These actors solidify the importance of female
patrons exemplified by Queen Guinevere’s adultery as well as her command for
wholehearted humility from her knight-lover, Lancelot.
Not many persons, male or female, enjoyed the luxury of literacy and thus could
not read manuscripts containing poetry in the late Middle Ages. However they were
decorated elaborately with pictures and read aloud by the literate. The aristocratic class
commissioned written love poems including a handful of powerful women in central and
