The Romance of the Rose - Oxford World's Classics

Guillaume de Lorris's own introduction to his allegorical account of the progress of a courtly love affair gives no indication of the eventual scale and scope of the work, which became the most popular and influential of all medieval romances. In the hands of Jean de Meun, who continued de Lorris's work., it asssumed vast proportions and embraced almost every aspect of medieval life from predestination to the right way to deal with premature hair-loss,,,