CHAPTER FIVE
The Middle Ages Part Three:
Chrétien De Troyes and Marie De France
“Come through the garden to-night and speak with me at yonder window, when everyone inside has gone to sleep. You will not be able to get in: I shall be inside and you outside: to gain entrance will be impossible. I shall be able to touch you only with my lips or hand, but if you please, I will stay there until morning for love of you.” 140
— Lancelot, or The Knight of the Cart by Chrétien De Troyes
Lancelot or The Knight of the Cart
Ah, yes, where would the great romance of Arthurian legend be without the French? Chrétien was a twelfth-century poet who gave the legends a softer side that would have the ladies swooning for centuries by adding in the love affair between Guinevere and Lancelot, and he was
