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| La Mort Artu | |
|---|---|
| Name | La Mort Artu |
| Author | Unknown |
| Language | Old French |
| Date | c. 12th century |
| Genre | Arthurian romance, prose romance |
| Subject | Arthurian legend, King Arthur's death |
La Mort Artu La Mort Artu is a medieval Old French prose romance that narrates the death of King Arthur and the fall of Camelot in the tradition of the Matter of Britain, associated with cycles such as the Vulgate Cycle and the Post-Vulgate. The work survives in several manuscript witnesses and has been transmitted alongside texts like the Mort Artu episodes in the Alliterative Morte Arthure and echoes in later works by authors connected to Chrétien de Troyes, Robert de Boron, and the Lancelot-Grail tradition. Scholars place its composition in the 12th or 13th century and link its themes to controversies visible in sources such as the Prose Lancelot, the Stanzaic Morte Arthur, and continental adaptations used by prose redactors like Wolfram von Eschenbach and Thomas Malory.
La Mort Artu recounts the climactic campaign against Mordred and the fatal battle at Camlan leading to the wounds and death of King Arthur. It belongs to a corpus that includes texts like the Vulgate Cycle, the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and the Anglo-Norman romances circulating in courts such as those of Henry II of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and medieval patrons influenced by the Plantagenet and Capetian dynasties. The narrative interweaves figures from the chivalric repertoire—Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Sir Bedivere, Sir Agravain—and objects such as the Holy Grail and Excalibur that recur in genres shaped by scribes, compilers, and translators across France and England.
Surviving witnesses of the tale appear in multiple medieval manuscript codices preserved in repositories like the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the British Library, and regional archives associated with traditions from Normandy and Aquitaine. Textual transmission shows affinities with the Vulgate Lancelot and later compilations that informed the Post-Vulgate redaction, while variant readings recall elements found in the Alliterative Morte Arthure and printed exemplars that influenced Caxton and William Caxton's reception of Arthurian texts. Philologists compare dialectal features and orthography to place witnesses alongside scribal networks linked to centers such as Paris, Rouen, and Poitiers and to examine interpolations traceable to scribes who worked on manuscripts of Chrétien de Troyes and Robert de Boron.
The narrative opens with political tensions between Arthur and Mordred, intensified by the absence or lapse of authority following campaigns like those against Lancelot's exile, echoing episodes found in the Prose Lancelot. Conflict escalates through betrayals involving knights such as Agravain and Medraut that lead to a general breakdown of order at Camelot, culminating in the final battle at Camlan where Arthur confronts Mordred. Key scenes include moments of chivalric combat invoking figures like Galahad, Percival, and Bors, and the handing over or loss of relics and arms such as Excalibur and the Holy Grail that mark the transition from heroic sovereignty to tragic dissolution. The conclusion depicts Arthur's mortal wound, the conveyance to mystical isles presided over by queens like Morgan le Fay or Nimue, and the return of surviving knights like Bedivere to a changed kingdom.
Principal characters align with the Arthurian roster: King Arthur as sovereign hero, Mordred as usurper or traitor, Sir Lancelot as conflicted champion, Sir Gawain as paragon of kinship and vengeance, Sir Bedivere as loyal retainer, and female figures such as Guinevere, Morgan le Fay, Nimue, and Elaine of Corbenic who mediate fate and magic. Secondary actors include knights and nobles recurrent in related cycles—Galahad, Percival, Bors, Agravain, Gaheris, Tristan in some redactions, and ecclesiastical personages like Merlin whose prophetic role and fate intersect with motifs from the works of Robert de Boron and the prophetic sequences of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Major themes encompass the fall of chivalric order, the tension between personal loyalty and public duty, and the interplay of magic and providence as framed by relics such as the Holy Grail and talismans like Excalibur. The text participates in debates visible in the Vulgate Cycle and the Post-Vulgate Cycle over Lancelot's adulterous relationship with Guinevere and the consequent collapse of Arthur's realm, echoing narrative strategies found in the romances of Chrétien de Troyes and the moral exempla circulating in courts patronized by monarchs such as Louis VII of France and Henry II. It also reflects historiographical currents tied to chronicles like Geoffrey of Monmouth's work and continental reinterpretations by writers such as Wace and Robert Wace.
La Mort Artu influenced later medieval and early modern treatments of Arthurian apocalypse, informing compositions in Middle English such as the Alliterative Morte Arthure and the Stanzaic Morte Arthur, and shaping narrative material later adapted by Sir Thomas Malory in the Le Morte d'Arthur. Its motifs and episodes circulated through manuscript compilations, vernacular translations, and courtly performance traditions that reached audiences associated with patrons like John of Gaunt and scribes active in the milieu of William Caxton. Modern scholarship situates the text within studies by medievalists working on the Arthurian legend, textual criticism, and reception history in research hubs including Oxford University, Cambridge University, and institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Composed in Old French prose, the work employs rhetorical conventions and formulaic diction typical of Arthurian romance, drawing on narrative techniques found in the works of Chrétien de Troyes and later prose redactors of the Vulgate Cycle. Linguistic features include dialectal markers traceable to scribal centers in Northern France and lexicon resonant with contemporaneous courtly literature patronized by figures like Eleanor of Aquitaine and produced by scriptoria connected to monastic and secular workshops known from codicological studies.