History Main / ChivalricRomance

* ''Literature/LeMorteDArthur''

->''"Fairy damsels met in forest wide\\
By knights of Logres, or of Lyones,\\
Lancelot or Pelleas, or Pellenore."''
-->-- '''Creator/JohnMilton'''

Plentifully supplied with [[RoyalBlood kings and queens]], [[PrincessProtagonist princesses,]] [[KnightInShiningArmor knights]] [[TheDulcineaEffect doing noble deeds]] [[CourtlyLove on the behalf of]] the [[BeautyEqualsGoodness beautiful]] DamselInDistress, [[KnightErrant wandering the lands in search of quests,]] receiving orders from [[DamselErrant mysterious women with knowledge of the perils and evils of the land,]] meeting with [[TheFairFolk ambiguous though lovely fairy ladies]] and [[SolitarySorceress enchantresses,]] fighting [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]], [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants,]] [[WildMan wild men of the woods,]] {{bears|AreBadNews}}, [[PantheraAwesome lions,]] or [[BlackKnight other knights]] ([[TheTourney often in tourneys,]] with [[StandardHeroReward the prize sometimes being the hand of]] the princess).

Many tales later collected as {{Fairy Tale}}s or ballads are first found in romances, although we do not know how close they are to the OralTradition of their own times. This usage is also the root of the names RuritanianRomance, and PlanetaryRomance, and is why the term is sometimes used for tales of magic and larger-than-life characters, such as Shakespeare's late comedies, which are sometimes called his romances. See also {{Wuxia}} for the Chinese equivalent.

Many tales later collected as {{Fairy Tale}}s or ballads are first found in romances, although we do not know how close they are to the OralTradition of their own times. This usage is also the root of the names RuritanianRomance, and PlanetaryRomance, and is why the term is sometimes used for tales of magic and larger-than-life characters, such as Shakespeare's late comedies, which are sometimes called his romances.

* The 5 Arthurian romances of Creator/ChretienDeTroyes

** ''{{Literature/Cliges}}''

** ''Literature/PercevalTheStoryOfTheGrail''

* The romances of Creator/ChretienDeTroyes

* ''Literature/ErecAndEnide''
* ''{{Literature/Cliges}}''
* ''Literature/YvainTheKnightOfTheLion''
* ''Literature/LancelotTheKnightOfTheCart''
* ''Literature/PercevalTheStoryOfTheGrail

* ''Literature/LancelotTheKnightOfTheCart''

Many tales later collected as {{Fairy Tale}}s or ballads are first found in romances, although we do not know how close they are to the OralTradition of their own times. This usage is also the root of the names RuritanianRomance, and PlanetaryRomance, and is why the term is sometimes used for tales of magic and larger than life characters, such as Shakespeare's late comedies, which are sometimes called his romances.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: A very common trope of the time period. Not only are good characters always beautiful, but beauty is taken as evidence of goodness ''in-universe.''

* ThePromise: Making, and keeping, oaths is of enormous importance in chivalry.

* ''Literature/TheChronicleOfDukeErik'' reads a bit more closely to Literature/TheIcelandicSagas, but there's still plenty of CourtlyLove, Single Combat (the refined Jousting kind, not the rough and though Viking ''Holmgång'',) and even some [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian references.]]

Myth/ArthurianLegend (part of the Matter of Britain) is among the best known, but in medieval times, there were also those about UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}} (the Matter of France) and UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat (the Matter of Rome). The association could be rather loose, with tales from UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar falling into the Matter of Rome, and despite the claim that these encompassed all romances, there were also "non-cyclical", independent romances, such as the ''Constance'' tales (all with the same basic plot as Creator/GeoffreyChaucer used), and the tales of El Cid Campeador, the national hero of Spain. If the era was earlier, do not expect any resemblance to the actual earlier society/ Alexander the Great invariably appeared as a feudal king. This is how King Arthur ended up a KnightInShiningArmor.