This Companion presents fifteen original and engaging essays by leading scholars on one of the most influential genres of Western literature. Essays on the origins of romance in French and English courts are complemented by articles that trace the transmission and evolution of these stories throughout Europe. The volume provides a clear introduction for students and fresh perspectives for scholars on topics ranging from manuscripts to gender roles in chivalry and courtly love. An introduction, a chronology and a bibliography of texts and translations complete this lively, useful overview.

This study focuses on the relationship between Old French verse romances and the women who formed a part of their audience, and challenges the commonly-held view that all courtly literature promoted the social welfare of the noblewomen to whom romances were dedicated or addressed. Using reader-response theory, feminist criticism and recent historical studies, Roberta Krueger provides close readings of a selection of texts, both well-known and less well-known, to show an intriguing variety of portrayals of women: misogynistic, idealizing and didactic. She suggests that romances not only taught...