Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette

Chrétien de Troyes

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Résumé

Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la Charrette was composed in the late 12th century by Chrétien de Troyes and finished by Godefroi de Lagny (from the text: «Le clerc Godefroi de Lagny a achevé La Charrette. Mais que personne ne lui reproche d'avoir continué le travail de Chrétien, car il l'a fait avec le complet accord de Chrétien qui l'a commencé.»: traduction de Daniel Poirion in Chrétien de Troyes, Œuvres complètes, Gallimard, La Pléiade, 1994, p. 682). It was finished around 1180 (sources: The Princeton Charrette Project at Princeton University and The Charrette Project 2 at Baylor University)This poem was the first to introduce Lancelot as one of the leading figures in the King Arthur legend. It describes the adulterous relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur - and the willingness of Lancelot to submit to the humiliation of being transported in the cart, the shameful vehicle used to carry men to their death on the gallows, in order to discover news of the abducted Queen Guinevere.