Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart: summary of the courtly-chivalric romance by Chretien de Troyes. Plot, characters and themes.
The author of the work Lancelot and the Knight of the Cart is Chrétien de Troyes (lived in the second half of the 12th century), a French poet.We know little about him: his linguistic traits most likely place him in Champagne. We also know that he worked at the court of Troyes and that only in the last part of his life did he become associated with Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders , to whom he dedicated Perceval .
He was part of the group of lyric poets from Northern France who were influenced by the poetics of courtly love, developed by the troubadours of Southern France.
Chrétien de Troyes, works
The production of Chrétien de Troyes , considered the greatest medieval writer before Dante , includes, in addition to two love songs of the troubadour type, also five chivalric romances belonging for the narrated subject matter to the Breton cycle .
They are, in chronological order
- Erech and Enide ,
- Cligès ,
- Lancelot or the knight of the cart ,
- Ivan or the knight with the lion ,
- Perceval or the story of the Grail .
Two of these novels are unfinished: the conclusion of Lancelot was in fact entrusted to Geoffroy de Lagny , and Perceval was interrupted at the poet’s death and continued by more than one author.
Other works are also remembered:
- A version of Ovid’s Ars amandi ,
- three narrative texts
- The metamorphosis of the hoopoe, the swallow and the nightingale (the only one that has come down to us), which develops the Greek myth, re-proposed by Ovid, of Tereus, Progne and Philomela.
The authorship of the novel in verse Guillaume d’Angleterre , which is inspired by the legend of Saint Eustace, is disputed . The first two chivalric romances of certain authorship, namely Erec and Enide and Cligès , develop the theme of chivalric value and perfect love, that is, conjugal love, according to a model different from the troubadour one (i.e., love destined for a woman who is not one’s own).
The troubadour’s conception of love is instead approached by Lancelot , which, like Perceval , develops a different and more complex theme, through enigmas and symbols typical of medieval culture, which expresses a spirituality that directly links, without mediation, chivalric values to the highest spiritual reality.
Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart: Summary
Lancelot was composed in the years after 1160, the period in which the author began to compose his works .
The period in which the events take place is the Early Middle Ages, a period between two others: in this case the ancient age and the modern age. The term Middle Ages appeared for the first time in the title of a 1688 work by the German historian Christoph Keller (or Cristoforo Cellarius), even if it had apparently been coined by the humanist Flavio Biondo in the Historiarum ab inclinatione Romanorum imperii decades , a work written around 1450 and published in 1483. This term is used to indicate the period of barbarism, stasis, and obscurantism that, according to the author, had followed the splendors of classicism revived by Humanism .
This conception of the Middle Ages as a period of darkness has long persisted in modern culture, but in the twentieth century the wealth of innovation and cultural elaboration that developed between the fifth and fifteenth centuries was finally revealed.
A single dimension makes the entire period homogeneous: in that millennium, Europe was born as we know it .
The conventional name is still used for terminological convenience, but it is too generic. For this reason the medieval period is increasingly divided into at least two large sub-periods:
- Early Middle Ages (5th century)
- Late Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
For convenience, it is also useful to make a distinction in the Late Middle Ages between the 11th-13th and 14th-15th centuries.
Lancelot, plot
While King Arthur was holding a banquet in honor of the Ascension, an evil knight arrived to announce terrible news: he had taken many of Arthur’s villagers prisoner and to free them, the queen would have to follow him with a knight. If he defeated him, then all the villagers and the queen could return to their own land.
The seneschal Keu then made it known to the king that he was leaving the court. Queen Guinevere begged him not to commit such a foolish act, but he replied that he would grant the queen’s prayers only if the king would let him do what he asked. The king agreed, but the man’s proposal shocked him: Keu wanted to accompany the queen to the unknown knight .
After arming himself, the seneschal set out. Later, Arthur and his nephew Galvano decided to follow them along the road, after seeing his horse arrive with traces of blood. It was then that Galvano met a new knight who, left without a horse, had humiliated himself by riding on a “Carretta”, then designated for the transport of criminals.
Gawain followed the knight and arrived at a castle where a woman offered them hospitality. The next day Gawain and his companion decided to leave, having seen a procession of people (including the queen) marching in front of the house where they had spent the night. Having met a girl on the way, they tried to get her to tell them where the wicked knight was taking Arthur’s bride: she showed them two roads, both dangerous.
They decided to split up: Galvano would pass through the dangerous Sunken Bridge , the other through the Sword Bridge .
After many adventures, the Knight arrived at the Sword Bridge and crossed it, although with much pain and fatigue. Having entered the kingdom of the good king Baudemagu , he clashed with his son Meleagant to free the queen and those that the wicked youth held prisoner.
The young man defeated the evil adversary but did not kill him, since the queen had asked for mercy, grieving for the soul of Baudemagu, who did not want to see her son die.
Guinevere, in honor of that victory, made known the name of the Knight of the Cart, that is, Lancelot of the Lake . All the exiles and Arthur’s wife (who one night betrayed her husband with Lancelot) returned to their land while Lancelot went in search of Gawain.
Unfortunately, the Knight of the Cart was taken prisoner by Meleagant while the unfortunate man’s companions returned home with Galvano, unaware of everything.
During his captivity, promising his keeper that he would return, Lancelot took part in a tournament organized by Arthur where he came into contact with Guinevere and where, obviously, he won.
After a long time, a young girl went to look for him and brought him back to Court to defeat Meleagant, who wanted to fight him. She found him imprisoned in a tower, took him home to restore his strength, and Lancelot was finally able to kill his enemy and return to serve the king and queen, surrounded by the good and joy of all.
Characters, themes, worldview in Lancelot
In the story, the characters presented all belong to high social classes: kings, queens and princes (Arthur, Baudemagu, Guinevere, Meleagant…); knights and vassals (Lancelot and the other characters he challenges to duels throughout the story); ladies, barons and seneschals.
The only character in the story who does not have a noble title or live in a comfortable situation is the monk that Lancelot meets on his journey, when the protagonist lifts the lid of a sarcophagus that will allow him to free any of his fellow countrymen exiled in the kingdom of Baudemagu.
Personages
We can divide the characters into two categories:
- Main characters: Lancelot, a knight in the service of King Arthur; Meleagant, the wicked and mean son of Baudemagu.
- Most interesting secondary characters: Guinevere, Arthur’s wife who, however, deeply loves Lancelot; Baudemagu, a good king whose son Meleagant had taken Guinevere as a prisoner; Keu, seneschal in the service of the king of the round table; Gawain, a brave knight at Arthur’s court.
Themes
The book is entirely focused on the adventures that Lancelot must face to save Guinevere. To complete his mission, he will be subjected to many acts of violence and endless trials that will also lead him to climb on the “Carretta”, a vehicle used only by criminals.
Love, having surpassed Reason, induces Lancelot to use it: in doing so, he covers himself with shame and ridicule, even breaking the code of chivalry.
Worldview and ideals
In the work, many ideals emerge that push a man to compromise his life and his reputation for love.
Courage, infinite devotion to his beloved, strength, passion, are the qualities that stand out most in Lancelot. Also very important is the sense of hospitality that people show throughout the story.
Setting of the story
The story takes place in Brittany , a historical and administrative region of France between the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west and the English Channel to the north.
In ancient times the region was called Armorica and was populated, in the 6th century BC , by a confederation of Celtic tribes . The Romans, under the command of Julius Caesar, occupied it in 56 BC , and annexed it to the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis . In the 5th and 6th centuries, after the retreat of the Romans, some groups of Britons (Celts native to Britain), fleeing from the invading Angles and Saxons, took refuge in the north-western area of Armorica and gave the region the name of Brittany
The Britons (later called Bretons ) converted the Armorican Celts to Christianity
In the 7th and 8th centuries, numerous small principalities were established in Brittany , which, at the beginning of the 9th century, accepted the suzerainty of Charlemagne. In 846, Nominoé, who had unified the country, led the Bretons against the Emperor Charles II the Bald and won their independence.
In the second half of the 9th century, the Bretons recognized the suzerainty of the Norman dukes, and in 922 Geoffrey, Count of Rennes, proclaimed himself Duke of Brittany. In 1171, through marriage alliances, the duchy passed to Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of Henry II of England. It returned to a branch of the French dukes of Rennes at the beginning of the 13th century. In 1491, when Anne of Brittany inherited the duchy and married Charles VIII of France, Brittany was temporarily united with France. The union was ratified by a treaty in 1532, during the reign of Francis I.
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