C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Benoît de Sainte-Maure (Twelfth Century)
Benoît de Sainte-Maure (be-nwä’ dė sant-mōr). A French trouvère and chronicler of the twelfth century; born in Touraine. He wrote in about 42,000 octosyllabic verses a ‘Chronicle of the Dukes of Normandy’ to the year 1135. To him is usually ascribed the ‘Romance of Troy,’ founded on the story of the siege of Troy, as written by Dictys Cretensis and Dares; it was translated into the languages of western Europe, notably into Latin by Guido delle Colonne (thirteenth century). Boccaccio, Chaucer, and ultimately Shakespeare are indebted to Benoît for the story of Troilus and Cressida.