The Chastity Test in the Lai du Cor and the Conte du Mantel

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this paper will be firstly to indicate the popularity of the chastity-testing theme in European medieval literature. This will be followed by an examination of the characters portrayed in two such texts, the Lai du Cor of Robert Biket and the anonymous Conte du Mantel. On the basis of this study, it will then be possible to ascertain at what stage in the development of the Arthurian romance these two poems were composed.</p>