ROMANCE originally signified any composition in the romance langliage, or dialects which superseded the Latin after the ,fall of the Westeni Empire. [RossA:sCs: LANGUAGE.] As however, in course cf time, the Trouveres of North France composed a number of poems containing fictitious narratives of war and love, and their Lays became popular all over France and in the ueigbbouring countries, the name of romance was more particularly applied to all compositions, whether in verse or prose, in any language, which treated of marvellous or uncommon incidents, and the name has been retained to this day in several European languages to signify a fictitious narrative. The Italians and French call a novel " un romanzo," " un roman." But the French call an historical ballad " une romance," in the feminine gender. The distinction between romance and the modern novel is shown under NOVEL. The appellation romance in a narrower sense is applied to those compositions which refer to the ages of chivalry, either real or supposed. [Cnivairmi 4- The oldest romances in this latter sense appear to have been legendary stories concerning Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and they were of English origin; but the original narratives, if they ever existed in writing, which is doubtful, are lost. The earliest romantic legends which have come down to us are of the 12th century : Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin Chronicle of England; Turpin's Latin Chronicle of France ; Wace's Le Brut,' a metrical romance concerning the fabulous history of England, in Norman French; Le Roman du Rou,' by the same writer, concerning Rollo and his successors ; and 1 Reali di Francis,' in Italian prose. To these may be added the Latin romance of Gualtieri, found in the Chronicle of La Novalesa, which relates to the wars of Attila; next in order of date conies Guido della Colonna's War of Troy,' and Mathew Paris's account of the Round Table. The 'Roman do la Rose' was written under St. Louis of France. At that time chivalry was established over all Europe, and the writers of romance introduced the customs and manners of chivalry into their narratives of events, reel or supposed, long ante cedent to the existence of chivalry.
The vast subject of romantic literature, in its general and more extended sense, may be divided into the following branches :-1, Romantic ballads and traditional songs, which appear, to be the oldest form, and which have existed among most nations in their primitive state. The songs of the ancient bards, and those concerning Arminitis,
which are mentioned by Tacitus (' Antral.' ii. 88, and 'German:, 2); the German Niebelungen; the poems of Antar, and others before the sem of 310h:untried; the song of Roland, mentioned by the chroniclers of Charlemagne; and the old Spanish romantic ballads, all belong to this class. 31. do Tressan collected several fragments among the mountaineers of the Pyrenees, which seem to belong to Roland's Cautilena,' or war song. 2, The narrative romances of chivalry con cerning the deeds of Arthur and the peers of the Round Table. 3, The romances concerning the supposed wars of Charlemagne against the Saracens. 4, The Spanish and Portuguese romances concerning the fabulous exploits of Amadis and Palmerin. 5, The classic romances concerning Jason, Hercules, Alexander, those heroes having been transformed into knights of chivalry. 6, The epic romances of the Italians in the 15th and 16th centuries. [Peter, in Moo. Div.] 7, The spiritual or religious romances concerning the miracles of saints and the death of martyrs, such as the Coutes divots of the French, the Golden Legend,' &e. 8, The pastoral romance, which Cervantes ridiculed, and which afterwards gave rise in the 17th century to the interminable and dull romances of La Calprenede, Madame de Scudery, and others, in which perfection of beauty and pure spiritual love are the chief ingredients. 9, The comic romances, which were written chiefly as parodies of the heroic and chivalrous romances. Such were those of Rabelais, Cervantes, Mendoza, and Scarron. 10, The political romances, such as Te'ldinaque, Sethos, &c. 11, The supernatural romance, like the Castle of Otranto," The Old English Baron ;' in which may be included those of Mrs. Radcliffe, where a supernatural impression is given by inadequate natural causes. 12, Lastly comes the modern novel, which forms a distinct species, as it does not deal in the marvellous and supernatural, but represents men conformably to the manners of the age in which they lived.