This paper aims to analyse and interpret the motif of the long-awaited knight (le chevalier desirré) in two Old French romances of the Round Table: Lancelot by Chretien de Troyes (ca. 1177–1181) and The Quest of the Holy Grail, written in prose by an anonymous author in the first half of the 13th century. Essentially different in their purport and in the portrayal of the Arthurian society, these works display an interesting array of the variants of the motif under scrutiny. In Chretien’s romance the motif of the long-awaited knight gives rise primarily to the effect of surprise and astonishment, additionally enhancing the protagonist’s uniqueness. It does not, however, create any spiritual or metaphysical space for the events. On the contrary, it serves the purpose of presenting the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere as idolatry, where the sacred is subordinate to the profane. In The Quest of the Holy Grail, on the other hand, the motif is fundamentally important for the doctrinal dimension of the text, by illustrating the dialogical interaction of literature with spirituality, and revealing the peculiar theology of depth inscribed in the narrative or in the utterances produced by the protagonists. The universe of the novel thereby opens to the deeper layers of correspondences and meanings, so that the novel can be considered a kind of locus theologicus: the locus where literature encounters the theological thought of the epoch. In both novels, the motif in question is one of the most crucial factors systematizing the diegetic world, impacting on the dynamics of the narrative and the meaning conveyed by the novels. It also appears to be reminiscent of another popular medieval motif of Restitutor Orbis, i.e. a figure of the Messianic character, reshaping the world that requires to be reshaped, or, as was the case of Galahad in The Quest of the Holy Grail, introducing a new order to the Arthurian world, represented by the idea of the new chivalry of the Kingdom of Heaven: chevalerie céleste.

In his Confessions, Saint Augustine formulates the idea of human time as distentio animi (extension/distraction of the soul/spirit), which he contrasts with divine eternity. The opposition between the temporal and subjective ‘earthly’ and the eternal ‘heavenly’ is part of the Augustinian ‘analogical matrix’ that has been part of the framework of Western thought for more than a millennium. Medieval thought on time is situated within this framework, although other influences should also be added (e.g. the archaic conception of cyclical time perceptible in the liturgy), and its characteristic duality is reflected in literary texts. This article aims to demonstrate the exceptional complexity and originality of the reflection on time in Thomas of England’s Tristan, as well as its links with the Augustinian matrix. The analysis focuses on a double temporality contained in the narrative: one, linear and subjective at the same time, tends inexorably towards death; the other  ntroduces a dimension of eternity through the ideal of love, represented by the golden ring, whose role goes beyond a symbolic function, since it can revive the past and determine the future. In this way, Thomas offers a substitution of the elements of the Augustinian matrix, replacing the divine absolute by that of the fin’amor raised to the level of the spiritual ideal.

This article analyses the role of the past references in the Book of the Marvels of the World written in the 13th century by Marco Polo, a Venetian explorer and merchant who travelled through Asia and had his memories written down by Rustichiello da Pisa. At the beginning, the characteristics of the text and its complexity are presented. In the following section, the role of descriptions relating to the future and to the present is shown. Then, a number of levels are distinguished through which references to the past are situated in the narrative. One level is through a description of the circumstances in which the text was created. Another level is through a report from the Polo family’s first trip to the East. The next level is the story of Marco’s journey with his father and uncle. Finally, there is also a time level where all the references to the history of the lands visited by the author are situated. Marco Polo attempts to show interesting stories related to the lands he has visited, using intertextual references to myths and legends familiar to Europeans of his time. Some stories are intended to show how the rule of Kublai Khan changed the image of Asia and to highlight the development of civilization related to the expansion of the Mongol empire.

The goal of the paper is to distinguish and characterize various motifs of time in love poetry of the 13th century poet Chiaro Davanzati. The main research question addressed in the study is “How does the lexeme tempo contribute to the construction of the courtly love discourse in Davanzati’s poetry?” or, in other words, “How can this kind of analysis inform our understanding of the lover and his relationship with the lady”. This problem is approached in this study by categorizing the poems under scrutiny into three classes according to the time perspective, which can be the present, the past, and the future.

The analysis is based on a number of sources, including Menichetti’s critical anthology, texts on medieval lyrical poetry in Italy, such as those by Fenzi and by Ventura, and also studies grounded in Italian linguistics (e.g. M. S. Micheli). The selection of sources was motivated by the fact that Chiaro is to some extent a forgotten poet and the recent studies dealing with his poetry focus mostly on the influence of troubadours on the Florentine bard. The motif of love and its various facets in Davanzati’s poems has been however largely underresearched, and this study is aimed to remedy this gap.

The paper starts with a concise presentation of the poet’s work in the context of his epoch, and moves on to investigate the motif of time within three thematic units, i.e. the time of agony, the time lost and the time anticipated, corresponding to the present, the past and the future as mentioned above. The analysis indicates that the perception of the past by the lover depends on his relationship with the lady. The lover may consider the past “the time lost”, and yet be hoping for happiness in the future, regardless of his lady’s behaviour. A similar attitude can be traced in the poems oriented towards the future. Perhaps the most important conclusion following from the analysis is that the time frame of lyrical poetry is invariably situated in the present regardless of the time perspective adopted as the time of reflection on the experience is always the present.

This article aims to review and summarise previous research on the chronology of the medieval occitan narrative text Le Roman de Flamenca in two aspects: dating the text and dating the time of the action.

The state of research makes it possible to identify the main ways of interpreting the chronology of the text: in terms of the time of its composition, as a work from the first or second half of the 13th century; while in terms of determining the time of the plot of Flamenca, it is dated by various authors to the first half of the 12th century, the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, or the first half of the 13th century. Among the main arguments used to support these hypotheses are the organisation of the text’s chronology around the liturgical calendar and the absence of the feast of Corpus Christi in that calendar, the description of the coat of arms of the Bourbons, attempts to identify the characters of the text as historical figures, and references to political events of the period. On the basis of an analysis of the data collected, the rejection of implausible and poorly argued concepts, and additional arguments related to the participation of the novel’s protagonist Guillaume in the war in Flanders, the author establishes the most probable dating range of Le Roman de Flamenca as 1287–1293, and the time of action as 1217–1224.

In conclusion, an interpretative problem is presented that is closely related to the chronological issue of the text: the different perspectives on the novel as a current novel of manners or a novel of historical character. The analysis carried out here supports the conclusion that Le Roman de Flamenca is a text describing the golden age of the trobar from the perspective of its period of decline and decadence.

L’Avision de Christine, a 15-century text by the medieval 15th-century writer Christine de Pizan, communicates a didactic and political message. One of its parts, which serves the purpose of building the position and authority of the writer, is Christine’s personal complaint, presented from the perspective of a widow and writer struggling with everyday adversities and limitations of being a woman. A departure point for this article is Virginia Woolf ’s famous essay A Room of One’s Own, in which conditions indispensable for a successful writer are described: the titular room with a lock, income, access to privileges normally enjoyed by men, such as being able to travel, to make observations, to live a vagabond life, and to have independent social life. 524 years prior to the publication of Woolf ’s essay, Christine de Pizan makes a similar point. For years she had been struggling for financial stability, having to support her mother, children and niece. She provides a detailed account of her ordeal with courts in law, but also emphasizes that her role of a daughter, wife and mother has impeded her ambition to be a writer: first, full education was not accessible to her, then raising her children and household duties became her primary commitment, and finally providing for her family takes all her energy. Her path to her own room is not only full of obstacles, but it also requires a lot of determination. When she finally locks herself in her study, Christine can do what she has longed for so long: reading and writing. The construal of her persona in the text of the speculum principis genre legitimizes her presence in the public discourse. Her complaint manifests not only unprecedented sincerity of a woman, but also surprizingly mature reflection of a writer, affirming her otherness and desire to produce novel ideas and words. In this way, Chistine de Pizan fits in a gap in the history of woman writers created by Virginia Woolf.

In his Advis donné au Roy de Navarre sur le reglement de sa façon de vivre (1583), Philippe Duplessis-Mornay encouraged his king, Henry III of Navarre (the future Henry IV of France), to abandon his old way of life and to commit himself to a new routine that would involve a rigorous organization of his day. The well-organized royal day would provide the most reliable proof that he would be a credible leader of the European Protestants and potentially also the heir to the throne of France. This Advis is rooted in the tradition of the “mirrors of the princes”, but it also seems to be inspired by the new reflection on the relations between the king and his court that was taking place at the time. Analyzed with this new perspective, Duplessis-Mornay’s text aims to prepare his king to take the reins of the court and to imitate in this the monarchies that had developed a complicated courtly protocol and étiquette. Although Duplessis-Mornay’s attempt turned out to be ineffective because Henri did not change his way of life, Advis indicates that these new models of courtly life were highly valued.

The goal of the article is to apply the concepts of time, patient waiting, and actions of unloved husbands to the characterization of the main protagonists of the novels The Princess of Cleves by Madame de Lafayette (1678) and The Count of Amboise by Catherine Bernard (1689). The questions addressed in the analysis are: How do the passage of time and patience affect the behaviour of unloved husbands? How does patience evolve when confronted with jealousy? What view of human nature follows from the observation of the unloved husbands? The questions are approached on the basis of an analysis of the plot and critical studies of the two novels and their cultural context. It should be noted that Madame de Lafayette’s novel has been extensively studied, but Bernard’s work is relatively little known.

Following the introduction, the first part of the article is devoted to Monsieur de Cleves, more specifically to the time when he is waiting for his wife’s love before the princess confesses that she has already conferred her feelings upon somebody else, the time of suffering, jealousy, the time of losing patience and finally the time of death. It is argued that Monsieur de Cleves passes the trial of patience, despite his despair driving him to cruelty and mischief. The second part of the article deals with Count of Amboise, and puts forth the thesis that he is only pretending to wait patiently for his wife-to-be to return his love. It is demonstrated that this protagonist is selfish and his motives are low, even when he sacrifices himself for Madmoiselle de Roye. He is lacking in patience and his behaviour is far from dignified.

In conclusion, the author of the article points out that although the unloved husband is a tragic figure in both novels, Monsieur de Cleves bears his suffering with dignity, showing patience and avoiding moral degradation, whereas Bernard’s protagonist epitomizes a destructive impact of emotional suffering, which reveals the dark and selfish side of human nature.