This course explores the genre of medieval romance, beginning with the French verse romances of the twelfth century and concluding with later medieval English works. We will consider romance alongside its neighboring genres of hagiography and historiography, its role in the history and theory of fiction, and its relationship to key concepts including secularity, vernacularity, sexuality, religion, and race. Primary texts will include romances by Chrétien de Troyes, Thomas of Britain, Hue de Rotelande, Heldris of Cornwall, and Thomas Malory, as well as a range of anonymous works. French texts will be studied in translation, and prior experience with Middle English is not expected.