Introduction

The adventures of King Arthur and his knights hold an honored place in literary and book history. The stories, at least in the Western world, have achieved mythic status, becoming part of the fabric of our collective unconscious. Even for those who have never read a single Arthurian tale, the themes, the grail quest and the names of Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere, and Gawain still resonate with meaning, underlying such contemporary pop culture masterworks as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. Lancelot, in particular, captures the imagination of many. He is undeniably a hero, perhaps the greatest of all King Arthur’s knights. Yet, he is a hero we can relate to because he struggles with all too familiar human desires and failings.

Lancelot first appeared on the pages of books in the 12th century, but it was in the 13th century that manuscripts featuring his story achieved widespread popularity (Loomis, 1975). At a time when books were a relative rarity due to the incredible expense, time and skill that went into their production, the popularity of secular Arthurian romance is significant. It raises many questions: What were the historical, cultural circumstances behind the popularity of Arthurian romances? Who was commissioning and purchasing these manuscripts? What was characteristic of these manuscripts?

This study attempts to answer these questions through examination of a manuscript of Lancelot Proper (MS UCB 107), a lengthy vernacular rendition of Lancelot’s story in French. Part of the University of California at Berkeley’s medieval manuscript collection, it is illuminated, dates back to about 1300 and was likely produced somewhere in northern France. The university purchased it at a Sotheby’s auction in 1967. At the time, only three out of a total of nearly eighty Arthurian manuscripts containing Lancelot Proper existed in American collections (Sotheby’s & Co., 1967), which made it a noteworthy purchase. However, perhaps because there are better preserved and more richly decorated examples of Lancelot Proper readily available for study, not much scholarly attention has been devoted to this particular manuscript. It raises as many questions as it answers. For these very reasons, it is a fascinating work to examine, giving us a peek into a time and place very different from our own. Yet, through the lens of the familiar Lancelot story, we find a powerful point of connection between the past and the present.

UCB 107 Manuscript images courtesy of the Digital Scriptorium