Cart
A simple cart, but in Arthurian legend, it was more than a tool for transport. Those forced to ride it - traitors, criminals, or losers of duelst - lost their honor and legal rights.
Introduction#
In Arthurian legend, the cart was a utilitarian object, used to transport people or goods. However, in Chrétien de Troyes’s Lancelot, or Le Chevalier de la Charrete (late 12th century), the cart also had a strongly negative social and symbolic connotation. Those forced to ride in a cart—traitors, murderers, the losers of judicial combats, thieves, and highway robbers—lost all legal rights and social honor, and were effectively erased from courtly society.
Alternative Names | La Carete, Charete, Charrette, Karete
Cultural Significance#
Chrétien explains that the reputation of the cart contributed to a superstition in twelfth-century France: seeing a cart in one’s path was considered an ominous sign, comparable to encountering a black cat in later European folklore. This cultural weight helps explain why even heroic knights, such as Lancelot, felt hesitation at the thought of riding in one, even when doing so was necessary to rescue Queen Guenevere from Meliagrant.
Role in Romance#
In Chevalier de la Charette, the cart serves as a narrative device highlighting social shame, justice, and the tension between chivalric duty and personal pride. Lancelot’s acceptance of the cart for the sake of honor and love demonstrates his courage and devotion, elevating an otherwise mundane object into a symbol of moral and social trial.
Sources#
Lancelot, or Le Chevalier de la Charrete | Chrétien de Troyes, late 12th century
