Medieval France
. Eloquent witnesses to the renaissance of the 12th century and its desire to explore and integrate the riches of the Orient, along with the treasures of its classical past and the matière de Bretagne, the Greco-Byzantine romances explore a variety of settings around the Mediterranean basin.
While these romances may differ widely in tone and orientation, they each demonstrate the West’s fascination with an exotic and fabulous world, opened up by travel reports and crusades, renewed commercial interests, and desire for political expansion. Among the most important are the anonymous Floire et Blancheflor, Guillaume de Palerne, and Partonopeu de Blois, Hue de Rotelande’s Ipomedon and Protheselaus, Aimon de Varennes’s Florimont, Chrétien de Troyes’s Cligés, and Gautier d’Arras’s Eracle.
Matilda T.Bruckner
[See also: AIMON DE VARENNES; CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES; FLOIRE ET BLANCHEFLOR’, GAUTIER D’ARRAS; GUILLAUME DE PALERNE; HUE DE ROTELANDE; PARTONOPEU DE BLOIS]
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