ABSTRACT
Chretien de Troyes' third romance, Lancelotor the Chevalier de la Charrette, is the romance, which most poignantly raises the question of patronage. On the basis of this work and its dedicatory introduction to Countess Marie of Champagne it has often been concluded that Chretien was regularly in the employ of Marie, or at least associated in some long-term capacity with the comital family. Further, his use of the toponym 'Troyes' to identify himself, has been considered incontrovertible evidence that he not only wrote in Troyes, but originated there. Yet, as underscored in my introduction, the use of the name Chretien would seem to indicate that he was a 'New Christian.' Changing ones name was not only common in instances of conversion, but also upon receiving a prebend, or assum ing new ecclesiastical duties . IfChretien had been a regular of the court of Champagne, he did not dedicate other works to Countess Marie or appear in the elaborate census of the court of Champagne's vassals and retinues. In fact, there is not a single reference to this prolific and influential romance writer in any of the historical sources for the twelfth century, and only a couple of his contemporaries even mention him . This is peculiar in light of the fact that Chretien de Troyes is the originator of one of the most enduring literary traditions of all time. The same remarks can be made with respect to his absence from archival records relating to the court of Flanders at the time he is assumed to have written for Philip of Alsace, the Count of Flanders. If generations of scholars have not been able to confirm Chretien's regular attachment to any particular seigniorial family or ecclesiastical house-despite the wealth of charters maintained
by religious institutions, the earliest keepers of civil records-perhaps a connection has been ignored with a particular family or religious house which did not previously seem important in light of his assumed association with the court of Champagne, and countess Marie. However, it is not improbable that records identifying Chretien could simply have been lost or destroyed during a period of historical instability, or during the fire of 1188 that ravaged the city.
