Robert de Boron

Carina Becker (Heinrich Heine Universität)

Ed. by Matthew Siôn Lampitt, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.01: French Writing and Culture: Old French to the Middle Ages , 500-1400.
Vol. editors: Marianne Ailes (University of Bristol), Matthew Siôn Lampitt (University of Bristol), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

Born c. 1150
Died c. 1250
Activity c. 1190-c. 1230

Places

Born in France
Active in France

Activities

Primary

Writer / Author

Resources

Boron's Works

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Robert de Boron was active in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in France. His authorship of the

Joseph d’Arimathie

[Joseph of Arimathea] and the

Merlin

[Merlin] makes him one of the earliest and arguably most important contributors to the Grail story and Merlin legend. Both texts were widely adapted, translated, and read throughout the Middle Ages and beyond.

Little is known about Robert de Boron’s life beyond what he reveals in his writing. In his Joseph d’Arimathie, Boron mentions that he is writing for a certain Gautier de Montbéliard (lines 3489–94; see also Le Gentil 1959). His surname corresponds to the name of a village near Montbéliard in Eastern France. Richard W. Barber (2004) compares Boron with other medieval authors who wrote about the Grail and who

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1746 words

Citation: Becker, Carina. "Robert de Boron". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 February 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15002, accessed 11 December 2024.]