After centuries of ecclesiastical domination of letters and the production of manuscripts, the writing and illumination of a secular work of prose such as Lancelot Proper represents a notable cultural shift. Indeed, prior to the 13th century, many secular and pagan works from previous eras had been destroyed to provide surfaces for devotional material (Avrin, 1991). What about France in the 13th century led to the production of a secular prose manuscript written in vernacular French like our Lancelot Proper (henceforth UCB 107)? For one, France was the heart of European civilization and political power. Its capital city, Paris was arguably the most important city of its time, a seat of western European culture where learning and the arts flourished (Morrison, 2010). The Christian church and its authority were still very much central to society but its position was on the wane along with feudalism as courtly culture rose in prominence and the government was increasingly centralized in the monarchy.
The Crusades, which occurred primarily between the late 11th and the late 13th centuries, had served the death blow to feudalism. They had depleted the wealth of many feudal lords and nobles, forcing them to sell freedom to their peasants and to grant charters to towns in order to raise funds, essentially negating the system that had, up until this point, formed the basis of medieval society. Across Europe, this resulted in increased urbanization as peasants migrated to the growing towns and city centers. There, they had a chance to become educated and improve their financial standing as tradesmen and artisans. Cities became centers of wealth and economic strength. Schools that were once affiliated with Cathedrals became independent universities, eventually giving rise to the modern university system. These developments contributed to the diminishment of the Church’s power and created a context where secular culture could flourish. It is in this context that the production of a manuscript like UCB 107 becomes possible.
Until the 13th century, manuscripts were written, bound, illuminated and read almost exclusively in monasteries (Arvin, 1991). But, the economic wealth provided by a strong monarchy coupled with the spread of courtly culture and the increase in literacy resulting from urbanization, created an unprecedented demand for illuminated manuscripts, both sacred and secular, in the 13th century (Morison, 2010; Loomis, 1975). As demand grew among members of the court, nobility and the well-to-do bourgeoisie, more and more lay scribes and illuminators set up shop, turning profits especially in the creation of secular vernacular manuscripts such as chronicles, fabliaux, treatises and romances like Lancelot Proper (Loomis, 1975). In 1292, Paris alone counted at least seventeen lay illuminators among its residents (Loomis, 1975, p. 89).
These illuminated manuscripts were regarded as luxury items, to be appreciated by the new, increasingly educated, secular elites who took pleasure not simply in rich illumination, but in the act of reading itself, as characters previously mentioned in lines of poetry or briefly noted in histories gained whole works dedicated to their adventures written in exquisite calligraphy and expansive prose “deliberately spun out for the pleasure of long continued reading.” (Loomis, 1975, p. 91) The stage was set for the golden age of this art form, and the dates and location of our Lancelot Proper’s production fall squarely within this time frame: “The crucial period between about 1250 and 1315 saw the rise of the illuminated secular vernacular manuscript as a respected and treasured luxury product that established France as the center of this flourishing art form on the European stage” (Morrison, 2010, p. 91).
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