The Matter of Britain

This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.

Verse romances built around King Arthur's court, a body of material later writers called the Matter of Britain, gave medieval romance its most durable repertoire: the knightly quest, courtly love for an often unattainable lady, magical or supernatural encounters, and single combat as a test of honor. The twelfth century French poet Chretien de Troyes wrote the most influential of these verse romances, introducing or popularizing figures including Lancelot and the Holy Grail quest, and his versions were adapted, translated and expanded across French, German and English literature for centuries, carrying Arthurian romance's conventions forward long after Chretien's own lifetime.