Henry II. of Anjou and England. It is a matter of history that both mother and daughter were active agents in fostering that view of the social relations of the sexes which found its most famous expression in the “Courts of Love,” and which was responsible for the dictum that love between husband and wife was impossible. The logical conclusion appears to be that the Charrette poem is a “Tendenz-Schrift,” composed under certain special conditions, in response to a special demand. The story of Tristan and Iseult, immensely popular as it was, was too genuine—(shall we say too crude?)—to satisfy the taste of the court for which Chrétien was writing. Moreover, the Arthurian story was the popular story of the day, and Tristan did not belong to the magic circle, though he was ultimately introduced, somewhat clumsily, it must be admitted, within its bounds. The Arthurian cycle must have its own love-tale; Guenevere, the leading lady of that cycle, could not be behind the courtly ladies of the day and lack a lover; one had to be found for her. Lancelot, already popular hero of a tale in which an adventure parallel to that of the Charrette figured prominently, was pressed into the service, Modred, Guenevere’s earlier lover, being too unsympathetic a character; moreover, Modred was required for the final rôle of traitor.
But to whom is the story to be assigned? Here we must distinguish between the Lancelot proper and the Lancelot-Guenevere versions; so far as the latter are concerned, we cannot get behind the version of Chrétien,—nowhere, prior to the composition of the Chevalier de la Charrette is there any evidence of the existence of such a story. Yet Chrétien does not claim to have invented the situation. Did it spring from the fertile brain of some court lady, Marie, or another? The authorship of the Lancelot proper, on the other hand, is invariably ascribed to Walter Map (see Map), the chancellor of Henry II., but so also are the majority of the Arthurian prose Romances. The trend of modern critical opinion is towards accepting Map as the author of a Lancelot romance, which formed the basis for later developments, and there is a growing tendency to identify this hypothetical original Lancelot with the source of the German Lanzelet. The author, Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, tells us that he translated his poem from a French (welsches) book in the possession of Hugo de Morville, one of the English hostages, who, in 1194, replaced Richard Cœur de Lion in the prison of Leopold of Austria. Further evidence on the point is, unfortunately, not at present forthcoming. To the student of the original texts Lancelot is an infinitely less interesting hero than Gawain, Perceval or Tristan, each of whom possesses a well-marked personality, and is the centre of what we may call individual adventures. Saving and excepting the incident of his being stolen and brought up by a water-fairy (from a Lai relating which adventure the whole story probably started), there is absolutely nothing in Lancelot’s character or career to distinguish him from any other romantic hero of the period. The language of the prose Lancelot is good, easy and graceful, but the adventures lack originality and interest, and the situations repeat themselves in a most wearisome manner. English readers, who know the story only through the medium of Malory’s noble prose and Tennyson’s melodious verse, carry away an impression entirely foreign to that produced by a study of the original literature. The Lancelot story, in its rise and development, belongs exclusively to the later stage of Arthurian romance; it was a story for the court, not for the folk, and it lacks alike the dramatic force and human appeal of the genuine “popular” tale.
The prose Lancelot was frequently printed; J. C. Brunet chronicles editions of 1488, 1494, 1513, 1520 and 1533—of this last date there are two, one published by Jehan Petit, the other by Philippe Lenoire, this last by far the better, being printed from a much fuller manuscript. There is no critical edition, and the only version available for the general reader is the modernized and abridged text published by Paulin Paris in vols. iii. to v. of Romans de la Table Ronde. A Dutch verse translation of the 13th century was published by M. W. J. A. Jonckbloet in 1850, under the title of Roman van Lanceloet. This only begins with what Paulin Paris terms the Agravain section, all the part previous to Guenevere’s rescue from Meleagant having been lost; but the text is an excellent one, agreeing closely with the Lenoire edition of 1533. The Books devoted by Malory to Lancelot are also drawn from this latter section of the romance; there is no sign that the English translator had any of the earlier part before him. Malory’s version of the Charrette adventure differs in many respects from any other extant form, and the source of this special section of his work is still a question of debate among scholars. The text at his disposal, especially in the Queste section, must have been closely akin to that used by the Dutch translator and the compiler of Lenoire, 1533. Unfortunately, Dr Sommer, in his study on the Sources of Malory, omitted to consult these texts, with the result that the sections dealing with Lancelot and Queste urgently require revision.
Bibliography.—Lanzelet (ed. Hahn, 1845, out of print and extremely difficult to obtain). Chrétien’s poem has been published by Professor Wendelin Foerster, in his edition of the works of that poet, Der Karrenritter (1899). A Dutch version of a short episodic poem, Lancelot et le cerf au pied blanc will be found in M. Jonckbloet’s volume, and a discussion of this and other Lancelot poems, by Gaston Paris, is contained in vol. xxx. of Histoire littéraire de la France. For critical studies on the subject cf. Gaston Paris’s articles in Romania, vols. x. and xii.; Wechssler, Die verschiedenen Redaktionen des Graal-Lancelot Cyklus; J. L. Weston, The Legend of Sir Lancelot du Lac (Grimm Library, vol. xii.); and The Three Days’ Tournament (Grimm Library, vol. xv.) an appendix to the previous vol. (J. L. W.)
LANCET (from Fr. lancette, dim. of lance, lance), the name
given to a surgical instrument, with a narrow two-edged blade
and a lance-shaped point, used for opening abscesses, &c. The
term is applied, in architecture, to a form of the pointed arch,
and to a window of which the head is a lancet-arch.
LANCEWOOD, a straight-grained, tough, light elastic wood
obtained from the West Indies and Guiana. It is brought into
commerce in the form of taper poles of about 20 ft. in length
and from 6 to 8 in. in diameter at the thickest end. Lancewood
is used by carriage-builders for shafts; but since the practice of
employing curved shafts has come largely into use it is not in
so great demand as formerly. The smaller wood is used for
whip-handles, for the tops of fishing-rods, and for various minor
purposes where even-grained elastic wood is a desideratum.
The wood is obtained from two members of the natural order
Anonaceae. The black lancewood or carisiri of Guiana (Guatteria
virgata) grows to a height of 50 ft., is of remarkably slender
form, and seldom yields wood more than 8 in. diameter. The
yellow lancewood tree (Duguetia quitarensis, yari-yari, of Guiana)
is of similar dimensions, found in tolerable abundance throughout
Guiana, and used by the Indians for arrow-points, as well as
for spars, beams, &c.
LAN-CHOW-FU, the chief town of the Chinese province of
Kan-suh, and one of the most important cities of the interior
part of the empire, on the right bank of the Hwang-ho. The
population is estimated at 175,000. The houses, with very few
exceptions, are built of wood, but the streets are paved with
blocks of granite and marble. Silks, wood-carvings, silver and
jade ornaments, tin and copper wares, fruits and tobacco are
the chief articles of the local trade. Tobacco is very extensively
cultivated in the vicinity.
LANCIANO (anc. Anxanum), a town and episcopal see of the
Abruzzi, Italy, in the province of Chieti, situated on three
hills, 984 ft. above sea-level, about 8 m. from the Adriatic coast
and 12 m. S.E. of Chieti. Pop. (1901) 7642 (town), 18,316
(commune). It has a railway station on the coast railway, 19 m.
S.E. of Castellammare Adriatico. It has broad, regular streets,
and several fine buildings. The cathedral, an imposing structure
with a fine clock-tower of 1619, is built upon bridges of brickwork,
dating perhaps from the Roman period (though the inscription
attributing the work to Diocletian is a forgery), that span the
gorge of the Feltrino, and is dedicated to S. Maria del Ponte,
Our Lady of the Bridge. The Gothic church of S. Maria Maggiore
dates from 1227 and has a fine façade, with a portal of 1317
by a local sculptor. The processional cross by the silversmith
Nicola di Guardiagrele (1422) is very beautiful. In S. Nicola
is a fine reliquary of 1445 by Nicola di Francavilla. The church
of the Annunziata has a good rose window of 1362. The
industries of the town, famous in the middle ages, have declined.
Anxanum belonged originally to the tribe of the Frentani and
later became a municipium. It lay on the ancient highroad,
