Telling the Tale of Jaufre

For the first time in almost 800 years Anne Purbrick (under her performing name of Anne Lister) has brought the lively, engaging, and entertaining Tale of Jaufre off the library shelves and has been telling it to audiences. There are several mysteries about Jaufre – when and why was a story about King Arthur written for a king of Aragon, and why in Occitan? Investigating this 13th century story from the practical standpoint of a storyteller has produced a number of new insights and discoveries. This book explores the background in detail, from the manuscripts and fragments which have survived to the people for whom the story was created, as well as its extensive later history, and then discusses the decisions, the revelations and the difficulties of telling the story to 21st century audiences. The Tale of Jaufre is remarkably little known outside modern Spain and yet, as this book demonstrates, it has links to the extended family of Alienor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England, and therefore across Europe.