Robert de Boron 1378973 225546037 2008-07-14T06:45:54Z Jaraalbe 261435 reclassify {{French literature (small)}} '''Robert de Boron''' (also spelled in the manuscripts "Bouron", "Beron") was a [[French language|French]] poet of the late [[12th century|12th]] and early [[13th century|13th]] centuries, originally from the village of [[Boron, France|Boron]], in the [[arrondissement]] of [[Montbéliard]]. He was the author of two surviving poems in octosyllabic verse, ''[[Joseph of Arimathea|Joseph d'Arimathe]]'' and ''[[Merlin]]''; ''Merlin'' survives only in fragments and in later versions rendered in prose. The two are thought to have been part of a trilogy (or [[tetralogy]]) which also contained a verse ''[[Perceval]]'', and possibly a ''Mort Artu'' (Death of [[King Arthur|Arthur]]). The "Didot ''Perceval''", a retelling of the Percival story similar in style and content to Robert's other works, may be a prosification of the lost sections. Robert de Boron is the first author to give the [[Holy Grail]] myth an explicitly [[Christianity|Christian]] dimension. According to him, [[Joseph of Arimathea]] used the Grail (the [[Last Supper]] vessel) to catch the last drops of blood from [[Jesus]]'s body as he hung on the cross. Joseph's family brought the Grail to [[Avalon]], identified with [[Glastonbury]], where they guarded it until the rise of King Arthur and the coming of Perceval. What is known of his life come from brief mentions in his poems. At one point in ''Joseph d'Arimathe'', he applies to himself the title of ''meisters'' (medieval French for "clerk"); later he uses the title ''messires'' (medieval French for "knight"). At the end of the same poem, he mentions being in the service of Gautier of "Mont Belyal"; Pierre Le Gentil identifies this noble with one Gautier de Montbéliard (the Lord of Montfaucon), who left in 1202 to take part in the [[Fourth Crusade]], and died in [[Palestine]] in [[1212]]. Le Gentil also argues that the mention of Avalon shows that he wrote ''Joseph d'Arimathe'' after [[1191]], when the monks at Glastonbury claimed to have discovered the coffins of [[King Arthur]] and [[Guinevere]]. His family is unknown, though the second author of the ''[[Prose Tristan]]'' claimed to be Robert's nephew, calling himself "Helie de Boron". This is taken more as an attempt to drop a famous name than a genuine accreditation, however. Although Le Gentil describes him as a "poet endowed with boldness and piety but with mediocre talent", his version of the Grail myth was adopted by almost all of the later writers of the [[Matter of Britain]]. Robert de Boron appears as the [[fictional character]] Boron in [[Umberto Eco]]'s novel ''[[Baudolino]]''. ==Resources== *Pierre Le Gentil, "The Work of Robert de Boron and the ''Didot Perceval''", chapter 19, in ''Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, A Collaborative History'', (ed. R.S. Loomis). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959. ==External links== * {{gutenberg author| id=Robert+de+Boron | name=Robert de Boron}} * [http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/arthur/boron.html Robert de Boron at Early British Kingdoms] [[Category:People from Franche-Comté]] [[Category:Arthurian literature]] [[Category:French fantasy writers]] [[Category:French poets]] [[Category:Medieval poets]] [[Category:12th century French writers]] [[Category:13th century French writers]] [[cy:Robert de Boron]] [[de:Robert de Boron]] [[es:Robert de Boron]] [[fr:Robert de Boron]] [[gl:Robert de Boron]] [[it:Robert de Boron]] [[ru:Робер де Борон]]