Chrétien de Troyes was a French author and soldier who lived from 1160 to 1191. He was famous for writing about Arthurian characters like Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval, and the Holy Grail. Some of the most famous works of medieval writing are Chrétien's chivalric romances, such as Erec and Enide, Lancelot, Perceval and Yvain, and others. People see his use of framework, especially in Yvain, as a step toward the modern novel. We don't know much about his life, but he seems to have been from Troyes or very close to it. Gaston Paris thought he might have been a herald-at-arms at the court of his patroness Marie of France, Countess of Champagne, from 1160 to 1172. Marie was the daughter of King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine and married Count Henry I of Champagne in 1164. He then worked for Philippe d'Alsace, Count of Flanders, at his court. According to Urban T. Holmes III, Chrétien's name, which means "Christian from Troyes" in English, could be the stage name of a Jewish person who converted to Christianity and was also known as Crestien li Gois.
