Chrétien de Troyes was born around 1135, likely in the Champagne region of France. He became the most important French poet of the 12th century and is credited with creating the modern novel form through his Arthurian romances, which combined Celtic mythology with contemporary courtly values and Christian ethics.

Chrétien's five major romances, including Lancelot, Yvain, and Perceval, established the Arthurian romance genre and introduced characters and themes that would dominate European literature for centuries. He developed the technique of interlace narrative and psychological characterization that distinguished romance from earlier epic forms. His works directly influenced Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the Welsh Mabinogion, and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, creating a continuous literary tradition spanning multiple languages and centuries.