Chrétien de Troyes or Chrestien de Troyes , fl. 1170, French poet, author of the first great literary treatments of the Arthurian legend . His narrative romances, composed c.1170-c.1185 in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, include Érec et Énide; Cligès; Lancelot, le chevalier de la charette; Yvain, le chevalier au lion; and Perceval, le conte del Graal, unfinished (see Parsifal ). Chrétien drew on popular legend and history, and imbued his romances with the ideals of chivalry current at the 12th-cen...