The first known troubadour, Guilhem IX of Aquitaine, VII Count of Poitou, was a versatile man who fought against the Moors in Spain, lost an army on his way to the First Crusade, and for a time, like his great-grandson Richard C ur de Lion, possessed more land and power in France than the king himself. His poetry reflects the hatred of convention and love of the unexpected that marks his life. In its easy swing between self-mockery and seriousness, idealised love and bawdy laughter, it introduces into troubadour poetry a sense of conflict which, after Guilhem's death in 1127, found a...
The first known troubadour, Guilhem IX of Aquitaine, VII Count of Poitou, was a versatile man who fought against the Moors in Spain, lost an army on h...
Originally published in 1981, this book provides an interpretation of the five Arthurian romances of Chretien de Troyes. It attempts to show the ways in which this most enigmatic and influential of medieval romance-writers reveals his ideas about man, society and God. The evolution of these ideas is studied in texts ranging from Chretien's earliest known romance, Erec and Enide, through Cliges, Lancelot and Yvain, to the unfinished Perceval or Le Conte du Graal. Dr Topsfield demonstrates the importance of Chretien de Troyes for the development of the genre of medieval romance, and the...
Originally published in 1981, this book provides an interpretation of the five Arthurian romances of Chretien de Troyes. It attempts to show the ways ...
