Jean d'Arras, Le Roman de Melusine

Margaret Harp (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Ed. by Matthew Siôn Lampitt, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.01: French Writing and Culture: Old French to the Middle Ages , 500-1400.
Vol. editors: Marianne Ailes (University of Bristol), Matthew Siôn Lampitt (University of Bristol), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1392 - c. 1394

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Romance

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Jean d’Arras’

Melusine; or The Noble History of Lusignan

is an influential French prose work dating from 1393. Both a dynastic origin story and a medieval romance, it tells of the powerful fairy Melusine, reputed matriarch to the Lusignan family and founder of multiple castles, monasteries, towers, and villages in the Poitou region of western France. D’Arras’ version has become a principal French legend. It is rooted in the historical and social realities of fourteenth-century Europe, recounting the lives of Melusine’s husband and sons as they establish kingdoms throughout Europe and defend Christendom against the Saracens. Composed during the Hundred Years War and within recent memory of the Black Death, this account of the extensive Lusignan dynasty also reflects the political…

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2131 words

Citation: Harp, Margaret. "Le Roman de Melusine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 August 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41219, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Jean d'Arras, Le Roman de Melusine

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