Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes is widely recognized as the father of Arthurian romance and a pivotal figure in Western literature. His works, composed in French in the late twelfth century, showcase a learned approach and a taste for dialectic likely acquired through his education. Simultaneously, his writing reveals a warm human sympathy that animates his characters and situations, bringing them to life. While drawing upon Celtic myth and setting his narratives in the timeless reign of King Arthur, he imbues them with the society and customs of his own era, and his unfinished final work notably introduces the mysterious Grail to literature.