12th Century France was a fascinating place.

A lot was going on. Schools were beginning to separate from the cathedrals, and masters were becoming more independent. Aristotelian thought was experiencing something of a renaissance, as was the work of Arabic and Jewish thinkers. Government was centralizing, the economy strengthening, and universitites were starting to pick up steam. Literature, too, blossomed.

I started my study of Old French at the University of Dallas in their Graduate Humanities program. Over the next few years, I took a liking to Arthurian Romance and to Systematic Theology. At first glance, these are two very different fields of study. However, they came together remarkably well in my master’s thesis, which used Hugh of Saint Victor’s theory of historical allegory to provide an interpretive framework for the prologue to Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval and hence to the remainder of the unfinished roman.

If you’re curious to know more, see the table of contents below. Feel free to use it - with the appropriate citations, of course.