Editing Perceforest (section)

==Plot==
An extract from [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae|History of the Kings of Britain]]'' serves as a preface, in which refugees from [[Troy]] flee to the island of [[Great Britain|Britain]], and establish a new kingdom. Unlike in Geoffrey's narrative, however, that dynasty eventually produces a series of weak rulers who usher their kingdom into decline.

[[Alexander the Great|Alexander of Macedon]] and his Greek forces are on their way to the coronation of India's new king when they are blown off course in a storm. They arrive in Britain and discover the poor state of the country. Alexander takes charge and appoints the brothers Betis and Gadifer as kings of England and Scotland, respectively. He then leaves for [[Babylon]]. Betis renames himself "Perceforest," as one who dares to "pierce" and "purge" the evil forest to root out Darnant the Enchanter and bring freedom and justice to the land. Perceforest and Gadifer take on Darnant's descendants, a group of magic-wielding knights, and drive them out. However, the successful leadership of the two brothers is fated not to last, and native English and Scottish knights are forced to step into the breach to quell rebellion and fend off invasion.

Perceforest eventually regains his powers and, as king of Britain, creates a [[Chivalric order|chivalric]] society. Specifically, he founds the ''Franc Palais'' of free equals with the best knights, paralleling the [[Round Table (Camelot)|Round Table]]. ("Thus the romance would trace back the model of ideal civilization that it proposes, a model also for the orders of chivalry created from the 14th century onwards, to a legendary origin where the glory of Alexander is united with the fame of Arthur."<ref>Mihaela Voicu, ''Histoire de la littérature française du moyen âge'', xii.1, Bucharest, 2003 e-text (in French), 2014.</ref>) King Perceforest also abandons [[polytheism]] in favor of a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] god and, under the influence of the hermit Dardanon,  advances a new religion that will serve as a transition toward Arthurian Christianity. Meanwhile, Perceforest's knights, often with the help of a guardian spirit named Zephir, engage in heroic and romantic acts of derring-do in Britain as well as in the [[Low Countries]]. Tragedy comes to prevail as Perceforest's eldest son becomes infatuated with a Roman girl, whose treachery enables [[Julius Caesar]] to launch [[Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain|an invasion]] in which Perceforest and all his forces are annihilated and the kingdom is utterly destroyed.<ref>Nigel Bryant (translator), ''A Perceforest Reader: Selected Episodes from Perceforest: The Prehistory of Arthur's Britain'', Cambridge: D.S.Brewer, 2012, in the section "The Story."</ref>

The third generation comes to restore the land. Ourseau, a grandson of Gadifer, secures the [[assassination of Julius Caesar]]. Another grandson, Gallafur, marries Alexander's granddaughter, the "Maiden of Dragons", to give Britain a new royal house. Gallafur also embeds the sword in the stone that [[King Arthur|one of his descendants]] will draw out to become king. And it is Gallafur who casts out many of the enchantments that still plague Britain. Nonetheless, tragedy triumphs a final time in this work, as Britain is invaded by the Sicambrians, a group of [[Troy|Trojans]]. They destroy Alexander's Greek dynasty, leaving a void that only the coming of Arthur will fill. An elaborate [[frame story]] tells how the "Greek" manuscript was discovered by count [[William I, Count of Hainaut|William of Hainault]] in a cabinet at “Burtimer” Abbey; in the same cabinet was deposited a crown, which the count sent to king [[Edward III of England]].