Godefroi de Leigni
Encyclopedia
Godefroi de Leigni was a clerk and an associate of Chrétien de Troyes
during the 12th century, presumably at the court of Marie de Champagne
. He finished Chrétien's romance Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
after Chrétien abandoned it for unknown reasons.
Godefroi was presumably born in the village of Leigni, now called Ligny
, in the modern Belgian province of Namur
, or was at least intimately associated with it. Chrétien states at the beginning of Lancelot that Marie de Champagne had commissioned him to compose the poem, and Godefroi says at the end that with Chrétien's blessing, he had brought the work from line 6132, where Lancelot
has been trapped behind a wall by Meleagant, to its conclusion some thousand lines later.
Most scholars have tended to believe Godefroi when he says he was following an outline left by Chrétien when he completed the poem (Chretien states he is following a text provided by Marie of Champagne
). However French language scholar Roberta Krueger reads Godefroi as a scribal persona created by Chrétien himself, a "fictional clerky author figure conceived by [Chrétien]" to "tie up" his adulterous love plot in a homosocial literary bond that craftily ignores the heterosexual tension the work has sought to create.
There has been much speculation about why Chrétien left the poem where he did. Some suggest that he, Medieval France
's greatest treater of married love, did not approve of the adulterous subject. Others hold that he was uninterested by a subject thrust upon him by his patroness, preferring to spend more time on Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
, a poem he wrote at the same time as Lancelot.
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Perhaps he named himself Christian of Troyes in contrast to the illustrious Rashi, also of Troyes...
during the 12th century, presumably at the court of Marie de Champagne
Marie de Champagne
Marie of France , Countess of Champagne was the elder daughter of Louis VII of France and his first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.- Family :Marie's younger sister was Alix of France....
. He finished Chrétien's romance Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart is an Old French poem by Chrétien de Troyes. Chrétien probably composed the work at the same time as or slightly before writing Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, which refers to the action in Lancelot a number of times...
after Chrétien abandoned it for unknown reasons.
Godefroi was presumably born in the village of Leigni, now called Ligny
Ligny
Ligny is a village in the municipality of Sombreffe . It is known as the site of the Battle of Ligny, when Napoleon defeated Blücher two days before the battle of Waterloo while Wellington and Marshal Ney were engaged at Quatre Bras...
, in the modern Belgian province of Namur
Namur (province)
Namur is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and on France. Its capital is the city of Namur...
, or was at least intimately associated with it. Chrétien states at the beginning of Lancelot that Marie de Champagne had commissioned him to compose the poem, and Godefroi says at the end that with Chrétien's blessing, he had brought the work from line 6132, where Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
has been trapped behind a wall by Meleagant, to its conclusion some thousand lines later.
Most scholars have tended to believe Godefroi when he says he was following an outline left by Chrétien when he completed the poem (Chretien states he is following a text provided by Marie of Champagne
Marie of Champagne
Marie of Champagne was the Empress consort of Baldwin I of Constantinople.-Family:She was a daughter of Henry I, Count of Champagne and Marie of France, Countess of Champagne. Her maternal grandparents were Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine.Her brothers were Henry II of Champagne and...
). However French language scholar Roberta Krueger reads Godefroi as a scribal persona created by Chrétien himself, a "fictional clerky author figure conceived by [Chrétien]" to "tie up" his adulterous love plot in a homosocial literary bond that craftily ignores the heterosexual tension the work has sought to create.
There has been much speculation about why Chrétien left the poem where he did. Some suggest that he, Medieval France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's greatest treater of married love, did not approve of the adulterous subject. Others hold that he was uninterested by a subject thrust upon him by his patroness, preferring to spend more time on Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
Yvain, the Knight with the Lion is a romance by Chrétien de Troyes. It was probably written in the 1170s simultaneously with Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, and includes several references to the action in that poem...
, a poem he wrote at the same time as Lancelot.