Designed by the monk,
Pantaleone, built by Duke Roger, of Apulia in 1163, completed
1166-67. Chrétien died in 1180. Between 1160 and 1170 he was at the court of
Marie de Champagne. The floor is contemporary with Chrétien. The story of King
Arthur was most likely brought to Otranto by the Normans who had occupied what
is now Puglia and Sicily since the early eleventh century.
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The very first
example of Arthurian imagery may be these mosaic pavements (Otranto Cathedral, Puglia ,
c.1165
Contemporary with
Chretien de Troyes
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Otranto. Detail of the mosaic in the cathedral. Photo
by Giuseppe and Pierluigi Bolognini, from ''Il mosaico di Otranto,
Biblioteca medioevale in immagini'' by Grazio Gianfreda, Edizioni Grifo
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| Otranto Cathedral |
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