Beginning with an introduction that examines the portrayal of Lancelot and Guinevere from their origins to the present day, the sixteen essays in this collection deal with varied topics including feminist readings of the characters' representations and the depiction of the lovers in medieval manuscript illuminations, in film, and in other visual arts.

A queen who helped define the cultural landscape of her era. As duchess of Brittany [1491-1514] and twice queen of France [1491-98; 1498-1514], Anne de Bretagne set a benchmark by which to measure the status of female authority in Europe at the dawn of the Renaissance. Although at times a traditional political pawn, when men who ruled her life were involved in reshaping European alliances, Anne was directly or indirectly involved with the principal political and religious European leaders of her time and helped define the cultural landscape of her era. Taking a variety of cross-disciplinary perspectives, these ten essays by art historians, literary specialists, historians, and political scientists contribute to the ongoing discussion ofAnne de Bretagne and seek to prompt further investigations into her cultural and political impact. At the same time, they offer insight of a broader nature into related areas of intellectual interest - patronage, the history of the book, the power and definition of queenship and the interpretation of politico-cultural documents and court spectacles - thereby confirming the extensive nature of Anne's legacy. CYNTHIA J. BROWN is Professor of French at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Essays demonstrating that Arthur belonged to the whole of Europe - not just England. The European dimensions of Arthurian literature form the focus of this special issue of Arthurian Literature, derived from sessions held at the International Conference in Utrecht (2005). It brings out in particular the supranational coherence of the Arthurian genre, and the ways in which its motifs appear throughout European literature. Questions discussed here include the function of Perceval in a variety of Arthurian romances, the character of Gauvain in the French, Dutch and English traditions, the narrator in different versions of the Prose Lancelot, and the concept of 'youth' in Scandinavian and Old French romances. BART BESAMUSCA and FRANK BRANDSMA lecture at Utrecht University. Contributors: BART BESAMUSCA, FRANK BRANDSMA, CORA DIETL, SARAH GORDON, LINDA GOWANS, MARJOLEIN HOGENBIRK, SUSANNE KRAMARZ-BEIN, NORRIS J. LACY, MARTINE MEUWESE, STEFANO MULA, JOSEPH M. SULLIVAN,LORI J. WALTERS.

New editor, new directions: the series broadens its scope to encompass European literatures other than French and English; still, however, "an indispensable component of any historical or Arthurian library". NOTES AND QUERIES This new volume of Arthurian Literature, the first under its new editor Keith Busby, is devoted to the Roman van Walewein(The Romance of Walewein [Gawain]) by Penninc and Pieter Vostaert, an undisputed gem of Middle Dutch literature which has recently become accessible to an English-speaking audience through translation. Essentially a fairy-tale written into Arthurian romance, it presents a Gawain quite different to the man found in the English Sir Gawain and the Green Knightor the French Gauvain. Expert readings of the Walewein, especially commissioned and collected by BART BESAMUSCA and ERIK KOOPERof the University of Utrecht are provided by a group of renowned scholars, contributing to the on-going critical appraisal of the Walewein. KEITH BUSBY is George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the Center for Medieval and Renaissane Studies, University of Oklahoma. Contributors: BART BESAMUSCA, ERIK KOOPER, WALTER HAUG, DOUGLAS KELLY, NORRIS J. LACY, MATHIAS MEYER, AD PUTTER, FELICITY RIDDY, THEA SUMMERFIELD, JANE H.M. TAYLOR, BART VELDHOEN, NORBERT VOORWINDEN, LORI WALTERS