Leon Gautier

Chivalry, a collection of romantic tales written by the supposed medieval poet Nicolas of Caen, is the fifth installment in James Branch Cabell’s Biography of the Life of Manuel. The stories take place in medieval France and England, and involve royal figures from history. The theme of courtly love, where a knight preserves honor and stays true to his mistress, is common thread throughout. Characters take on the role of troubadour, singing of their love and devotion. The subtitle “Dizain des Reines” refers to a type of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century French poetry featuring ten-line stanzas. Here, it corresponds to the ten stories and their respective queens. Chivalry was written in 1909. Later, Cabell developed the idea of arranging some of his works into a biographical series that traces the life and legacy of the fictional Dom Manuel. He revised Chivalry in 1921 to work Manuel into the storyline and connect it to his other works.

"La chevalerie est apparue il y a environ mille ans. Un peu plus tard, entre 1160 et 1220, sous le règne du roi Philippe Auguste, dans la moitié Nord de la France, le pays où elle s'est formeé, elle se montre en pleine vigueur, dans la verdeur de son pour l'observer, recueillant toutes les traces que les chevaliers ont laussées de leur passage, mous appliquant à les suivre à la piste."--Description de l'éditeur.

Annotated version of the 11th-century epic poem (chanson de geste) based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, during the reign of Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature and exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th to 16th centuries.